Pioneer your family’s path to dual citizenship. First 1,000 families: $100 per person—60% off the future price.

Claim my spot
Heritage Passport
Sign inUpload family treeFree eligibility test

Stop overpaying for vital-record requests.

Get the correct birth, marriage, or death request ready without letting the preparation charge disappear inside the government fee.

Compare your costs & routeBuild a family-line estimate
  • Fee layers shown separately
  • Route cautions stay visible
  • Prepared PDF within 48 hours
Heritage Passport showing where each required family record fits in a citizenship case
Inside Heritage Passport: the whole case estimate, not one teaser price.

Pay the state—not a mystery charge.

The certified record and the work of preparing its request are separate parts of the bill.

Government record fee

Set by the issuing office

The reviewed workbook sample spans multiple jurisdiction fee points. The exact office, record, copy type, and route still control the real amount.

  • Shown separately in every result
  • Never presented as Heritage Passport revenue
  • Paid with the submitted request

Preparation and delivery

The variable layer

The reviewed provider sample shows a wide spread in preparation charges before government fees. Known delivery charges are separated; unknown later charges stay unverified.

  • Different providers perform different services
  • Electronic agency ordering is labeled distinctly
  • No unverified charge is silently treated as zero

Most of the confusion happens before the envelope is mailed.

A search result can make a preparation charge look like the price of the certificate itself. Then the issuing-office fee, delivery, identity checks, or optional upgrades appear later. That makes unlike services look interchangeable.

  1. 1
    Start with the issuing office.

    Record age, event location, relationship, and intended use determine where and how you can request it.

  2. 2
    Separate preparation from fulfillment.

    A prepared form is not the certified record. VitalChek’s electronic agency path is not the same transaction as a prepared PDF.

  3. 3
    Count every request in the lineage.

    Repeated preparation and known delivery charges compound across the family line.

Take the transaction apart.

Choose a jurisdiction and count. The agency fee shown is a jurisdiction-level estimate; confirm the record and custodian route. Every result separates government, preparation, and known delivery charges.

Cost & route calculator

A jurisdiction-level estimate. Record type and subject status can change eligibility or routing, so confirm them with the custodian.

Heritage Passport · TreeKeeper

Prepared PDF; you submit
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$15.00
Known delivery
Not verified

Known total$45.00

Workbook: Database & Research!A6:G6; Cost Comparison Calculator!F7:F9

VitalChek

Electronic agency-order path
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$8.00
Known delivery
$15.50

Known total$53.50

Workbook: Database & Research!A7:G7; Cost Comparison Calculator!G7:G9

GOV+

Prepared-request path
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$67.00
Known delivery
Not verified

Known total$97.00

Workbook: Database & Research!A8:G8; Cost Comparison Calculator!H7:H9

Vital Records Online

Prepared-request path
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$29.00
Known delivery
$19.00

Known total$78.00

Workbook: Database & Research!A9:G9; Cost Comparison Calculator!I7:I9

USVitalRecords.org

Prepared-request path
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$125.00
Known delivery
$19.00

Known total$174.00

Workbook: Database & Research!A10:G10; Cost Comparison Calculator!J7:J9

Vital Forms Direct

Prepared-request path
Government
$30.00
Preparation
$79.00
Known delivery
$10.00

Known total$119.00

Workbook: Database & Research!A11:G11; Cost Comparison Calculator!K7:K9

Stack the actual requests

Each row is one jurisdiction-level record estimate. Fees repeat per request, matching the workbook model; record-specific eligibility and routing still require custodian confirmation.
01
02
Heritage Passport · TreeKeeper$85.50Known total; delivery not verified
VitalChek$102.502 requests with known delivery
GOV+$189.50Known total; delivery not verified
Vital Records Online$151.502 requests with known delivery
USVitalRecords.org$343.502 requests with known delivery
Vital Forms Direct$233.502 requests with known delivery

Don’t pay a premium for a postage stamp.

Government charges do not shrink because you use a provider. Compare the part of the bill that actually changes: preparation and known delivery.

Heritage Passport · TreeKeeper
$15.00 preparationDelivery not verified
VitalChek
$8.00 preparation$15.50 known delivery
GOV+
$67.00 preparationDelivery not verified
Vital Records Online
$29.00 preparation$19.00 known delivery
USVitalRecords.org
$125.00 preparation$19.00 known delivery
Vital Forms Direct
$79.00 preparation$10.00 known delivery

The colored bar is preparation. Government fees sit outside it and vary by jurisdiction.

The right form is only half the job. The right route matters too.

New York State and New York City are different custodians. Older records may sit with an archive or county. An ancestral request may need proof a self-request does not. The calculator surfaces a dated caution instead of pretending one online route serves everyone.

Inspect the evidence standard

RecordBirth certificate

PurposeCitizenship evidence

SubjectDeceased ancestor

Next checkCustodian + entitlement

$15.00 flat fee per request.

Included for all Heritage Passport members. No percentage markups. No inflated postage costs. No hidden agency add-ons.

Start your free caseRecalculate costs

What this page knows—and where verification still matters.

Dated evidence. Provider fees, delivery charges, jurisdiction examples, and formulas come from the checked-in workbook reviewed August 23, 2026. Prices and agency rules change.

Known-total rule. Unknown shipping and later-stage charges remain “Not verified.” They are excluded from the known total but never described as free.

Educational scope. This is not a personal document checklist, legal opinion, or promise that any provider serves every route.

Exact workbook provenance

Workbook SHA-256: abb47ff434729db8655aedd5c10ca5078dbf3b73ca057b55e0fb15bd25b16b28. Provider rows: Database & Research!A6:G11. Jurisdiction rows: Database & Research!A16:C28. Single-record formulas: Cost Comparison Calculator!F6:K13. Family formulas: Multi-Record Case Aggregator!G7:M19.