Vital Records
Vital Records guides, updates, and how-tos from The VRO Blog.
Annulments: Whether a Record Exists, and What You Can Actually Get a Copy Of
An annulment treats a marriage as never validly formed, but it still creates a court record. Here is what exists, who holds it, and which document an agency actually wants.
Social Security Says You're Dead: How the Error Happens and How to Get It Reversed
Benefits stop, accounts freeze, and the fix runs through a field office that will only accept originals or agency-certified copies. Here is what to bring and what to ask for.
Enhanced Driver's Licenses: The Five States, and the One Trip They're Actually For
An EDL is a driver's license that also proves citizenship at a land or sea border. Five states issue one, and it will not get you on an international flight.
The 250th Anniversary Passport: How to Get One, and Why You Have to Show Up in Person
The commemorative passport costs no extra and is a fully valid passport, but it is issued only in person. That single constraint is what most applicants are unprepared for.
Utah Just Launched the First Full Digital Apostille — and Birth Certificates Are Excluded
Utah now issues e-Apostilles delivered by email. Vital records are the one category left out, which means a Utah birth or death certificate still travels on paper.
Two Name Changes, One REAL ID: Building the Document Chain the DMV Will Accept
A DMV needs a linking document for every name change between your birth certificate and your application. Married, divorced, remarried means two or three links, not one.
When Does a Vital Record Become Public? State Access Windows for Family Researchers
Some states open birth records after 75 years. One waits 125. Others never use a clock at all. Here is how the three models work and what several states actually do.
Vietnam Joins the Apostille Convention on September 11: What Changes for U.S. Documents
From September 11, 2026, a U.S. birth, marriage, or death certificate headed to Vietnam takes an apostille instead of consular legalization. Here is what changes and what does not.
When the Record Predates Statewide Registration: Genealogy Without a Birth Certificate
Statewide birth registration did not exist in most states until the early 1900s. If your ancestor was born before it reached their state, no certificate was ever created. Here is what stands in for it.