How to order birth certificates

A birth or adoption certificate can be ordered from the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) in the following ways.

Online

If you have a credit or debit card, you can order a certificate online through nidirect.

In person

You can apply in person by taking your application form to the General Register Office (GRO).

The General Register Office
Oxford House
49-55 Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4HL

The office is open Monday to Friday 9.30 am to 4.00 pm (excluding public, bank and all Northern Ireland government holidays). Please note that the office opens at 10.00 am on the first Tuesday of each month due to staff training.

District Registration offices

In addition to the GRO, some certificates are available from local District Registration offices. Certificates for births registered on or after 1 January 1997 are available from any District Registration Office in Northern Ireland, no matter where in Northern Ireland the event took place.

Applications to District Registration Offices must be submitted in person so please contact your local office for details of accepted payment methods.

District Registrars in Northern Ireland

By post

You can post your completed application form and fee to GRO:

The General Register Office
Oxford House
49-55 Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4HL

Application forms

By phone

If you have a Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card you can order certificates by phone on:

0300 200 7890 (within the UK) or (44 (0) 28 9151 3101 from outside the UK

You should have your card with you when you ring, as GRO will require your card number and expiry date. Certificates ordered by phone will be sent out by post or, on request, can be collected from the office.

By fax:

Fax your completed application form to:

028 9025 2120

Information required to obtain a copy of a birth certificate

full name of person whose birth certificate is required
date and place of birth (district or street and town)
names of parents (including mother's maiden name)
mother's address at time of birth

Information required to obtain a copy of an adoption certificate

full name of person whose birth certificate is required
date and place of birth
names of adoptive parents
name of Court which made the order and date of order

Fees

Full birth or adoption certificate £15.00

Where two or more certified copies of the same entry are applied for at the same time, the first copy will be charged at £15.00 and any additional copies at £8.00 each.

Short birth/adoption certificate £15.00

A short certificate shows only the surname, name, sex, date of birth and (in most cases) the district of birth. A short certificate is generally only accepted where evidence of age is required. To obtain either a UK or Irish Passport, a full birth/adoption certificate is required.

Statutory Purpose certificate £8.00

Certificates for education and social security purposes can be produced at a reduced fee. Proof from the Department of Education or Department of Health and Social Services must be included with your application. These certificates may only be used for the purposes provided.

Priority Certificate (certificate fee, plus £20.00)

On payment of a priority fee, telephone, online, postal and faxed applications received before 2.30 pm will be dispatched on the same working day. Applications received after 2.30 pm, at weekends or during public holidays will be dispatched on the next working day. Applications made in person at the General Register Office will be processed and available to collect within one hour.

Postage charges

The following amounts should be added to your payment to cover return postage costs:

Country	one certificate	two certificates	three certificates	four or more certificates
UK	0*	0*	0*	0*
Europe	£0.79	£1.14	£1.14	£1.49
Rest of the world	£1.16	£1.66	£1.66	£2.21

* £5.95 for guaranteed next day delivery within the UK

Payment

online, faxed and telephone applications can be paid by VISA (credit and debit), Mastercard or Maestro
if you apply in person, you can pay by cash, cheque, postal order or by using a valid Visa, Mastercard or Maestro (card-holder only) - an international money order in sterling is also accepted from those applying from outside the UK
if you apply by post you can pay by cheque or postal order made payable to 'The Registrar General' or by using a valid Visa, Mastercard or Maestro

Processing times

GRONI aims to process and dispatch certificates within the following timescales:

personal applications - ready for collection or posting in three working days
telephone applications - processed within 5 working days of the application being received, or on request can be collected on the third working day.
postal, online and faxed applications - processed within five working days of the completed application form and payment being received
priority applications will be dispatched by first class mail