State Offices

New Mexico Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
& Health Statistics
1105 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502

Mailing Address:
P.O Box 26110
140 East Front Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2308

Tel: (505) 827-0121
Tel: (505) 841-4183
Fax: (505) 827-2530
Email: doh-webmaster@state.nm.us
Website

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. United States Vital Records has additional research guidance on researching and using vital records.

A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the New Mexico Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred.

Remarks: All individuals requesting a certified copy of a record, must present/submit copies of positive signed identification, including, but not limited to, a driver's license, passport or other picture identification.

Options to obtain a certified copy:

In-Person - Counter Service for requesting birth certificates through the Santa Fe State Office is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Counter hours are subject to change during Holidays or other infrequent closings;

By Mail - The fee for a certified copy of vital record is $10 per certified copy. Please make your certified check or money order payable to "New Mexico Vital Records" in the exact amount. Do not send cash;

VitalCheck - Secured online applications to request for vital records, which accepts all major credit card payments, can be made through VitalCheck with an additional charge for their service.

Vital Records

Birth

Location:
New Mexico Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
& Health Statistics
1105 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502

Mailing Address:
P.O Box 26110
140 East Front Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2308

Tel: (505) 827-0121
Tel: (505) 841-4183
Fax: (505) 827-2530
Email: doh-webmaster@state.nm.us
Website

State law restricts access to the registrant's Immediate Family members or those who represent tangible proof of legal interest in the requested record.

Immediate Family means any of the following: mother, father, sibling, child, current spouse, or maternal or paternal grandparent. Paternal grandparent is eligible if father is listed on the vital record.

Fee: $10.00 per copy
Time-frame: State office has records since 1920 and delayed records since 1880.
Notes: Additional copies of the same birth records ordered at the same time of certification are $10.00 each.

Remarks: Only immediate family as defined is eligible.

Putative Father Registry

The Putative Father Registry was established by law to protect the parental rights of fathers who assume responsibility for children they may have fathered and to expedite adoptions of children whose biological fathers have not assumed responsibility for their children.

Fathers may affirmatively assume responsibility for their child by registering with the Putative Father Registry. The registry does not replace the filing of an Acknowledgement of Paternity form, which legally establishes paternity.

Remarks: The fee for the search is $12 or if the request is "Urgent", the search fee is $35. A request for a search of the registry may only be made by a court of competent jurisdiction; a department authorized by law to take actions affecting a child's health, safety or welfare; the petitioner's attorney or the mother of the child.

Adoptions

To amend a New Mexico birth certificate after an adoption:

• You must submit a duly completed and signed Certificate of Adoption, which has been certified by the clerk of court bearing all necessary information to locate the original Birth Certificate;

• Or, a certified copy of the Final Decree of Adoption together with the certified Report of Adoption, in which both must be certified by clerk of the district court that approved the adoption;

• Or, if an adopted child was born in the State outside New Mexico, Certificate of Adoptions form will be forwarded to the child's state of birth and no further action will be taken by the state of New Mexico.

Remarks: The fee for the amendment of the vital record is $10. The fee for a certified copy of the birth certificate is $10. The Report of Adoption must be completed in black ink and will not be accepted with alterations, cross outs or white out.

Foreign Born Adoption

If a child was born in a foreign country and was not a citizen of the United States at the time of birth and adopted by legal residents of the state of New Mexico, the State Registrar must receive the Final Decree of Adoption to establish a certificate of birth for that child.

The certified Final Decree of Adoption of a Foreign Born Child must provide the probable country of child's birth, the date of birth, and must order the New Mexico State Registrar to create a certificate of birth for the adopted child.

Remarks: The fee for the registration of the Foreign Born Adoption is $10. The fee for a certified copy of the birth certificate is $10.

Acknowledgement of Paternity

If the mother was unmarried at the time of the child's birth and no other name is listed on the Certificate of Birth as the father, the biological father's name may be added to the birth certificate by filing an "Acknowledgement of Paternity" statement. The Acknowledgement of Paternity statement must be sworn to by the biological parents in the presence of a notary public.

New Mexico Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics has revised the Acknowledgment of Paternity statement (AOP) Spanish version. You may download and print the blank AOP form directly from your computer.

Remarks: The fee for the amendment of the Vital Record is $10. The fee for a certified copy of the birth certificate is $10.

Death

Location:
New Mexico Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
& Health Statistics
1105 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502

Mailing Address:
P.O Box 26110
140 East Front Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2308

Tel: (505) 827-0121
Tel: (505) 841-4183
Fax: (505) 827-2530
Email: doh-webmaster@state.nm.us
Website

State law restricts access to death certificates to the deceased registrant's (also called decedent) Immediate Family members or those who represent tangible proof of legal interest in the requested record.

Immediate Family means any of the following: mother, father, sibling, child, current spouse, or maternal or paternal grandparent. Paternal grandparent is eligible if father is listed on the vital record.

Fee: $5.00 per copy
Time-frame: State office has records since 1920 and delayed records since 1880.
Notes: Additional copies of the same birth records ordered at the same time of certification are $5.00 each.

Remarks: Only immediate family as defined is eligible.

Marriage

Location:
New Mexico Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
& Health Statistics
1105 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502

Mailing Address:
P.O Box 26110
140 East Front Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2308

Tel: (505) 827-0121
Tel: (505) 841-4183
Fax: (505) 827-2530
Email: doh-webmaster@state.nm.us
Website

Marriage records were usually kept from the date each county was organized. You can obtain copies of the records from the clerk's office in the county where the marriage was performed.

Marriage records for Bernalillo, Chavez, Eddy, San Juan, Oterro, Quay, Roosevelt, and Curry counties for 1880 to 1920 have been published in Some Marriage Records of the State of New Mexico.

Time-frame: Since 1751 - 1918
Notes: Many of the marriages for the state are searchable online at no cost in the Western States Marriage Index.

Divorce

Location:
New Mexico Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
& Health Statistics
1105 South St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502

Mailing Address:
P.O Box 26110
140 East Front Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2308

Tel: (505) 827-0121
Tel: (505) 841-4183
Fax: (505) 827-2530
Email: doh-webmaster@state.nm.us
Website

Divorce records are available only from the clerk of the district court in the county where the decree was granted.

Fee: Varies
Remarks: The fee is for a certified copy. Make check payable to Clerk of the Superior Court.

Nearby Cemeteries (within a 5 mile radius)