How to Apply for a Long-Form British Birth Certificate From Abroad
All requests for birth certificates, whether made in country or from abroad, go to the General Register Office of England and Wales or the local register office of your birthplace. Requests for birth certificates always result in a long-form version as the GRO or local register office makes an exact copy of the original full birth record unless otherwise requested as a summary of the full record---a short birth certificate.
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Instructions
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Gather all pertinent birth information: name at birth; any additional names given a year after birth; sex; birthplace; names of parents, including mother's maiden name; occupation of father at time of birth, if available; year of registration; and the entry number in the register, also called the certificate index reference number.
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Refer to the GRO Index Reference web page for instructions to locate the certificate index reference number if you don't have it. Without this number, GRO and local register office staff must take extra time to fulfill requests---resulting in higher processing fees and a longer wait/mailing time frame for receiving a birth certificate.
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Click on the United Kingdom DirectGov link for the GRO contact information to clarify application procedures, retrieve application forms or order a long-form birth certificate. Click on the Local Register Office Search link to locate the one in the region where you were born if the GRO doesn't have the information that you need. Use the map to obtain contact information or link to the local register office website to clarify local procedures, retrieve any necessary local application forms if available online, confirm acceptable forms of payment for fees and/or submit your request.
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Fill out all necessary forms. The GRO supplies forms by email if you're applying via mail (post). Local register office requirements vary.
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Make your request online, via telephone or mail to the applicable office. To order online or over the telephone direct through the GRO, have a credit card handy to pay any applicable fees. To order by mail, send a check or money order (Postal Order/UK) in the correct exchange rate amount payable to the Identity and Passport Service with your request.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are working on a genealogical/family tree project, you can research birth registrations and full birth records dating, in some cases, back to 1837 if you have the GRO Index Reference number. Without this number, GRO staff can supply certificates dating only from 1900. The availability of any records/copies of birth certificates depends on past storage methods and level of record preservation.
