Form

General Register Office (GRO) application form guidance notes (accessible version)

Updated 8 August 2022

Applies to England and Wales

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland

For further information please contact GRO using one of the following options:

Website: www.gov.uk/bmdcertificates

Email: certificate.services@gro.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 1837

Section 1 – customer details

1.1. GRO customer account number – All new applications placed on the GRO order system will generate a customer number that you will find on your shipping note. Please quote this number on all subsequent orders. If this is your first order then please leave this blank.

1.2. Customer address – Please provide a delivery address for the certificate. If you are paying by credit or debit card this address must be the same as your card’s billing address. Company name: Please leave blank if registering as an individual.

1.3. Email address/telephone nos. – Please ensure that you include a telephone number or an email address in case we need to contact you about your order. Note that the @ symbol in your email address has been preprinted for you.

Section 2 – details of the event

This form provides guidance on how to complete a birth, marriage or death certificate application form. Guidance notes for adoption certificate applications can be found on the adoption certificate application form.

Birth certificates

2.1. Name of child – Full name of the child at the time of birth.

2.2. Place/date of birth – Required information for births registered in the last 50 years and for applications without a GRO index reference.

2.3. Names of mother/father/parent^{[footnote 1]} – Required information for births registered in the last 50 years.

2.4. For births registered in England and Wales, tick the appropriate box. If you are adopted and are applying for a copy of your own certificate please telephone 0300 123 1837 for further information on the application procedure.

Overseas – Applications for births registered overseas – please state the country of birth and the occupation of the father/parent. If the parent was serving in HM Forces, state branch, regiment and service number.

Marriage certificates

2.1. Names of parties – Forename and surname of at least one party and forename of other party at the time of marriage/civil partnership needs to be provided for GRO to be able to process your order.

2.2. Date of marriage – Required information for applications without a GRO index reference.

2.3. Place of marriage – Required information for applications without a GRO index reference.

2.4. Names of fathers – If known, please supply for applications without a GRO index reference.

Overseas – Applications for marriages registered overseas – please state the country and the occupation of both parties at the time of marriage. If the occupation was with HM Forces, state branch, regiment and service number.

Death certificates

2.1. Name of person – Full name of the person at the time of death.

2.2. Date of death/age at death – Required information for deaths of children (16 years old or younger) and for applications without a GRO Index Reference.

2.3. Names of mother/father/parent^{[footnote 1]} – Required information for deaths of children (16 years old or younger) registered in the last 50 years.

2.4. Place of death – Required information for applications without a GRO index reference.

Overseas – Applications for deaths registered overseas – please state the country and last occupation. If the occupation was with HM Forces, state branch, regiment and service number.

Section 3 – GRO index reference

Providing a GRO index reference is cheaper and will speed up your application. Please visit the GOV.UK website and click ‘start now’ to access the GRO Index of historical birth and death records. Alternatively, birth, death and marriage indexes for England and Wales are freely searchable on Free BMD, and indexes are viewable at the seven host libraries. Some county record offices, public libraries and family history societies also hold copies of GRO microfiche. For full details on searching the indexes, please see our leaflet “Discover your Family History” published on GOV.UK

There are no general rules for the indexing of events registered overseas; the following descriptions refer to the indexes for events registered in England and Wales only. For overseas applications please copy the overseas index reference as it appears in the index, in the space provided.

3.1. District name – The name of the district or the district number in which the event was registered.

3.2. Year/quarter – The year and quarter that the event was registered. Quarters should be specified by name. i.e. MAR , JUN, SEP or DEC rather than numerically.

3.3. Volume/page – For birth and death events registered before January 1993 and marriages registered before January 1994, entries are indexed by volume and page. You should prefix a single digit volume number with a leading 0 eg 6 = 06. The volume number may also include a letter suffix eg 06b. If the volume number is expressed as a Roman numeral please convert into standard number format eg VI = 06 or XXVI = 26.

3.4. Register/entry number – For birth and death events registered from January 1993 onwards and marriage events registered from January 1994 onwards, entries are indexed by register and entry number rather than by volume and page. These numbers are not required for events registered before those dates.

3.5. Date of registration – The month and year that the event was registered.

If you cannot provide an index reference you must supply at least the full name, date and place of event in section 2. We will conduct a search of the year quoted in section 2.2 of your application and one year either side.

Section 4 – other information

4.1. Your reference – You may include a personal reference here for your own cataloguing purposes. This reference appear on the certificate shipping note.

4.2. Priority dispatch – Place a cross in the supplied checkbox if you wish to use our priority service. Our standard service will dispatch orders in 4 working days if you have supplied a GRO index reference or in 15 working days without a reference. The priority service will be dispatched the next working day. Note: We will start to process orders received after 4pm the next working day. Choosing priority dispatch will affect the final price of your order.

4.3. Number of certificates – You can order more than one copy of the requested certificate, a full fee is payable for each one. In the case of birth events both short and full certificates are available.

Section 5 – payment information

For information on our current prices please refer to the booklet on GOV.UK ‘How to order and Pay for Civil Registration Records’ or visit the GOV.UK website, click ‘start now’ and select ‘Most Customers Want to Know’. The quickest, easiest and cheapest way to order a certificate is to go online using the GRO’s secure online ordering service and include a GRO index reference with your application.

5.1. Total value of application – The final price is affected by the dispatch service chosen and the number of certificates requested. Please note a full fee is payable for each certificate requested.

5.2. Cheque/postal order – Should be made payable to “HM Passport Office”. Please tick the appropriate tick box and list the cheque or postal order number. Please ensure your payment is for the correct amount. Refunds cannot be provided if over payment is less than £1.

5.3. Debit/credit card – If you are paying by debit/credit card please tick the appropriate checkbox and complete the boxes for card number, security number (the last three digits on the reverse of the card), expiry date and start date. Also include the name of the cardholder as it appears on the card. Complete the issue number if appropriate.

5.4. Refunds – If the GRO is unable to produce the certificate you require, you will receive a refund of the certificate fee, less a deduction to cover work incurred. This and any additional administration fees which you may have paid, if not applying online or not included a GRO index reference, are non-refundable. Refunds may extend the date that you hear back from GRO by up to five working days.

Please note that the application fee includes a return postal charge, therefore customers are NOT required to send an SAE with their application form or additional payment for postage. Once an order has been placed, there is no facility to either cancel or amend the application as all orders feed directly into our production process.

Please send completed application forms to the following address by post.

General Register Office PO BOX 2

Southport Merseyside United Kingdom PR8 2JD

For the purpose of detecting and preventing crime, information relating to an application may be passed to other government departments or law enforcement agencies.

1. Parent means the mother’s female partner who under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 is to be treated as a parent of the child. ↩ ↩²