Ordering life event certificates

Order online

You can order life event certificates online. You will need a credit or debit card to use this service.

• Order a birth certificate online
• Order an adoption certificate online
• Order a marriage certificate online
• Order a civil partnership certificate online
• Order a death certificate online

If you would like to order a stillbirth certificate, visit the registering a stillbirth page.

Order by phone

If you have a credit or debit card you can also order a certificate by phone.

You cannot order a certificate for collection at the General Register Office over the phone. You can only do this if you go in person to the office and order over the counter.

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

Order by post or in person

If you do not have a credit or debit card, or you would like to order by post or in person, you can download and print out the relevant application form below.

• Birth certificate application form
• Adoption certificate application form
• Marriage certificate application form
• Civil partnership certificate application form
• Death certificate application form
• Commemorative certificate application form

You can send the application by post or bring it to the General Register Office in person.

If you order a certificate in person over the counter, you can ask to collect your certificate. See the processing times on this page for more information on collection times.

If you are paying for your certificate by cheque or postal order you should make it payable to ‘The Registrar General’.

• General Register Office for Northern Ireland

Types of certificate

Certified copies of certificates

You can order certified copies of birth, adoption, stillbirth, marriage, civil partnership and death certificates.

Long birth or adoption certificate

A long certificate shows the surname, name, sex, date of birth and (in most cases) the district of birth. It also shows details of the registered parents and their occupations.

You’ll need a long certificate for driving licence or passport applications

Short birth or adoption certificate

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 as proof of age.

Commemorative certificate

You can order a commemorative certificate to mark special occasions, such as a wedding anniversary or a significant birthday. The certificate is printed on specially-designed paper, mounted in a frame and comes in a custom-made presentation box.

Commemorative certificates are only available for births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths.

Please note that these certificates are for commemorating a significant event only and do not have any legal or evidential value.

Priority certificate

A priority certificate is one that is needed urgently. An additional fee will be charged for priority processing.

Statutory purpose birth certificate

A statutory purpose certificate is a birth certificate that you may be able to get for a reduced fee. They are usually certificates needed for education or social security purposes, for example claiming benefits or if you need a copy of your child’s birth certificate for registering at a new school.

You can’t order these certificates online. You must apply by post or in person.

You’ll need to provide proof with your application that the certificate is required for a statutory purpose. These certificates can only be used for the purposes provided.

Fees

Postage

Certificates are issued by second class post. Priority certificates are issued by first class post. Both first and second class postage is free if you are in the UK.

Priority and non-priority orders to go to addresses in the UK may take up to 3 working days from date of issue unless you have chosen to pay for next day delivery.

All certificates to go to addresses outside the UK (ROI/European/Rest of the World) are sent by international standard delivery. Please be advised this service is not tracked and may take up to 4 weeks from date of issue.

You can choose to have a priority certificate sent within the UK using Royal Mail's guaranteed next day delivery service(external link opens in a new window / tab). You will be charged a fee for this service.

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

* £6.20 for sending priority certificates by guaranteed next day delivery within the UK (£8.10 for commemorative certificates).

Processing times

GRONI aims to issue most non priority applications by the fifth full working day after receipt of the application, however it may take longer during busy periods.

See table below for processing times for priority certificates.

Priority applications will be issued by first class mail.

Collection

Applications for collection in person may only be made at the General Register Office in Belfast . Non priority applications will be ready to collect on the third working day.

While you wait

GRO offer a While You Wait Service for priority applications at the General Register Office in Belfast. Waiting times will be approximately 20 – 30 minutes.

If you fail to collect your certificate within three working days it will be posted out to the address you have provided.