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How to order marriage or civil partnership certificates

A marriage or civil partnership 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.

In person

By taking your application form to the General Register Office. 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.

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

District Registration Offices

In addition to the General Register Office, some certificates are available from local District Registration offices. Certificates for marriages registered after 1 April 2004 and all civil partnerships 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, please contact your local office for details of accepted payment methods.

By post:

By forwarding the application form and fee to:

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

The following application forms are available to download:

By phone:

If you have a Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card you can order by telephoning:

  • 0300 200 7890 (028 9151 3101 from outside Northern Ireland)

You should have your card with you when you ring in order to provide your card number and expiry date. All certificates ordered by telephone will be sent out by post, they cannot be collected from the General Register Office.

By fax:

Fax your completed application form to:

  • (028) 9025 2120

Information required to order a copy of a marriage certificate

  • full names of the married couple and bride's maiden name
  • date and place of marriage

Information required to order a copy of a civil partnership certificate

  • full names of both partners and any other surnames used before this partnership
  • date and place of civil partnership

What happens if the exact date is not known?

GRO can undertake a search provided they are given sufficient information about the person concerned. If insufficient information is provided this will inevitably lead to delays, the possibility of extra fees being incurred or the entry not being found. Searches will be made in the year quoted plus the two years either side unless a wider search is requested. A further fee will be required for every additional five years searched.

Fees

Marriage or civil partnership certificate (£14)

Where two or more certified copies of the same entry are applied for at the same time, the first copy will be charged at £14.00. Additional copies cost £8 each.

Priority certificate (certificate fee, plus £18)

On payment of the priority fee of an additional £18, 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 postage costs:

  one certificate two certificates three certificates four or more certificates
UK

0*

0*

0*

0*
Europe

£0.66

£0.98

£0.98

£1.27
Rest of the world

£1.08

£1.63

£1.63

£2.05

* £5.26 for guaranteed next day delivery within the UK

Payment

Online, faxed and telephone applications

You can pay by:

  • a valid VISA (credit and debit), Mastercard or Maestro

Personal applications

You can pay by:

  • cash
  • cheque
  • postal order
  • 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.

Postal applications

You can pay by:

  • cheque or postal order made payable to 'The Registrar General'
  • a valid Visa, Mastercard or Maestro

Processing times

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

Personal applications

  • ready for collection or posting in three working days

Postal, telephone, online and faxed applications

  • processed within seven working days of the completed application form and payment being received

Priority applications

  • dispatched by first class mail - a priority service is not available for marriages registered before 1922