Dual Citizenship

What documents are required from a customer when they are applying for Dual Citizenship via Mail ONLY and need certified certificates?
 

  1. Copy of the Customer’s Identification (click here for acceptable forms of ID)
  2. Copy of the Customer’s Dual Citizenship Application.
       OR
  3. Letter from Embassy explaining need for certified certificates.
       OR
  4. If the Customer is going through a 3rd Party Agency to process their Dual Citizenship Application, Obtain a copy of the letter from the 3rd Party Agency on the Agency’s letterhead paper. 
  5. Copy of the decedent’s death record as support for the certified Birth Certificate being requested.
  • The certified Birth Certificate MUST be stamped “DECEASED” and the “Date of Death” of the deceased person stamped or written on the certificate before it is issued to the customer.
  • If a certified Birth Certificate is requested and the person is still living, then the customer applying for Dual Citizenship is not entitled to a certified copy of the person’s Birth Certificate unless the customer has submitted a Durable Power of Attorney with their request and ID.  Otherwise, the certified Birth Certificate must be obtained by the individual named on the record.

Note: The State of Illinois did not require parental information on Marriage License Applications until January 1968.

Include the following items in your Mail Order:

  • A completed Genealogy Request Form (indicate on the form that you need Certified documents). 
  • A check or money order payable to the “Cook County Clerk”.  Birth Certificates, Marriage License, and Marriage Applications are $15 each (additional copies of the same record cost $4 each).  Death Certificates are $17 (additional copies of the same record cost $6 each).
  • A self-addressed stamped envelope for your document(s) to be mailed to you. Note: Be sure to include your phone number with your mail request.

On average, mail orders are processed within 30-45 working days from the date the request is received by this office.

Mail your request to:

Cook County Clerk's Office
Bureau of Vital Records
P.O. Box 641070
Chicago, IL 60664-1070
Attention: Dual Citizenship