Search Unalaska Birth Records

Unalaska birth records are held by the State of Alaska through the Department of Health in Juneau. Unalaska is a remote island city in the Aleutian chain, home to about 4,300 people including the Dutch Harbor area. There is no local office on the island for birth certificates. Because Unalaska is only reachable by air or sea, online ordering through VitalChek is the most practical method for most residents. This page covers how to search for and order Unalaska birth records step by step.

About Unalaska Birth Records

Unalaska is one of the most remote cities in Alaska. It sits on Unalaska Island in the Aleutians, about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. The city includes Dutch Harbor, one of the busiest fishing ports in the country. Despite its size as a working community, Unalaska has no local office for vital records. All birth certificates in Alaska are kept by the Health Analytics and Vital Records Section, or HAVRS, in Juneau. This is the same statewide under Alaska Statute AS 18.50.

Unalaska falls within the Aleutians West Census Area. Census areas do not have borough governments. There is no borough clerk. The City of Unalaska website covers local city services, but birth records are handled only at the state level.

The VitalChek Alaska page is the most common way Unalaska residents get birth records. Since there is no road to Anchorage or Juneau, flying in just to pick up a birth certificate is not practical for most people. Online ordering solves that problem.

Ordering Unalaska Birth Records

Four methods exist. All go through the state. Use only one to avoid double charges.

Online through VitalChek is the top pick for Unalaska. Fill out the form, upload your ID, pay by card. VitalChek adds a service fee on top of the state's $30 charge. Orders ship in two to three weeks. Keep in mind that shipping to Unalaska from the mainland may add extra days. Track your package if you can, because the state says it is not responsible for items once shipped. General Delivery addresses should use tracked shipping methods.

Mail is cheaper but slower. Print the birth certificate request form, send it with your ID copy and payment to Health Analytics and Vital Records, P.O. Box 110675, Juneau, AK 99811-0675. Processing takes two to three months by mail. Mail from Unalaska to Juneau can be slow on its own, so add extra time. Fax orders go to (907) 465-3618 and follow the same schedule.

Walk-in service works at the Juneau office (5441 Commercial Blvd, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) and the Anchorage office (3901 Old Seward Hwy, Suite 101, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). If you fly to Anchorage, you can pick up your Unalaska birth record the same day. See the Alaska vital records orders page for details.

Who Can Get Unalaska Birth Records

Alaska is a closed-record state. Recent birth records are private. The state checks each request against an approved list.

You can order if you are the person named on the record (age 14 or older with ID), a parent listed on the certificate, a legal guardian with court papers, a third party with a notarized consent letter, or an attorney or government agency with a letter on letterhead. Under AS 18.50.310, birth records stay closed for 100 years after the birth date. After that, anyone can order a copy.

Every order needs a clear copy of a valid photo ID. The state accepts a driver's license, passport, military ID, state ID, Tribal or BIA card with photo, or school ID for minors. Many Unalaska residents hold Tribal ID through the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, and these work fine as long as they have a photo. Expired IDs are OK if less than one year expired. Call (907) 465-3391 if you have trouble with ID.

Unalaska Birth Certificate Costs

A certified copy costs $30. Extra copies at the same time are $25 each. Heirloom certificates cost $55, extras at $50.

Name changes and amendments cost $60, including one certified copy. An apostille for international use is $42 plus the record fee. Special research by HAVRS runs $75 per hour. Pay by check or money order for mail. Walk-in offices and VitalChek take credit cards. Note: The state will not refund duplicate orders if you submit through more than one method.

Birth Records and Unalaska Families

Unalaska has deep Aleut and Russian heritage. The Unangan (Aleut) people have lived on the island for thousands of years. Russian fur traders arrived in the 1700s, and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension, built in 1896, is still standing. Church records from the Russian era are among the oldest written records in the Aleutians. These are not the same as state birth certificates, but they can help prove a birth for very old records.

The CountyOffice.org Aleutians West page lists the basic process and fees for ordering birth records in the census area. The Ancestor Hunt site has free Aleutian Islands birth records from 1915 to 1952 in its online index. These can be useful for genealogy work involving Unalaska families.

The Alaska State Archives in Juneau keeps historical vital records from across the state. FamilySearch has scanned over 1.1 million of these in partnership with the archives. Many cover the Aleutian Islands. Under AS 18.50, birth records become public 100 years after the date of birth. Unalaska birth records from 1926 or before are now open to anyone for the standard $30 fee.

Historical Unalaska Birth Records

Alaska began formal birth registration in 1913. Before then, no government office tracked births in Unalaska. The Russian Orthodox church and local missions kept their own records going back to the 1700s. The Alaska State Archives genealogy page can help you find these old files. The archives holds vital statistics from 1816 to 1998.

The state About Vital Records page confirms that the office has records from the 1890s onward. But many events before 1930 were never formally filed. For Unalaska, this gap is especially large because of the island's remote location. Church records fill in some of those blanks, and the FamilySearch index may have what you need for early Unalaska births.

Unalaska Birth Records Resources

The CDC Where to Write page for Alaska is a federal reference for the state vital records office. It lists the mailing address, fees, and ID requirements. The CDC confirms that the state has records since the 1890s and that all requests must include a copy of a picture ID. This matches what the state says on its own site.

The HAVRS official page covers services beyond standard birth certificates. Delayed birth certificate applications are available for people born in Alaska whose births were never filed with the state. This can matter for older Unalaska residents or families from small Aleutian villages where birth registration did not always happen on time. Corrections and amendments go through the Special Services Unit at (907) 465-1200.

Unalaska residents should plan for extra shipping time when ordering by mail or VitalChek. The state is not responsible for lost packages once they ship. If you use General Delivery as your address, the state strongly recommends tracked shipping to avoid problems.