Order Birth Certificate Online: UK Certificate Concierge
Birth, death, marriage, civil partnership and adoption certificates from any UK registry — ordered, apostilled and delivered. Fixed-fee from a Wigmore Street notary practice.
The two friction points we solve
Ordering a UK certificate looks simple on the General Register Office website — until it isn’t. Two situations stop people. First, you don’t have the GRO index reference number, so the order won’t process and you face a search fee with no guarantee of a result. Second, you need the certificate apostilled by the FCDO and couriered overseas — three transactions across two government bodies and a courier, none of whom talk to each other.
We handle both. As a regulated London notary practice, we conduct the GRO index search, place the order, walk it through the FCDO Legalisation Office for apostille, and dispatch by international courier. One fixed fee. One point of contact.
How does the order birth certificate online process work?
You complete a short online form, we send a fixed-fee quote, then we run the index search at the relevant UK registry, place the order, and deliver the certificate. For use abroad, we add the FCDO apostille and arrange international courier in the same transaction.
Tell us what you need
Submit an enquiry with your details. If you have the GRO index reference number, supply it. If not, we conduct the index search for you.
We order and verify
We submit the order to the General Register Office — standard service or priority service based on your deadline.
You receive the certificate
Delivered to the address of your choice. For overseas use, we apostille and courier in one transaction.
Get a Quick Quote
Tell us which certificate you need and we’ll come back with a fixed-fee quote within the hour. No obligation.
What certificates can you order through this service?
We order certificates from the General Register Office for England and Wales — birth, death, marriage, civil partnership and adoption. Whether you need a single copy of a certificate or you want to order certificates in bulk for probate, the same fixed-fee concierge applies. Any certificate can be apostilled by the FCDO for international use.
Birth certificates and a copy of a birth certificate
The most-requested certificate type. We order full birth certificate or short-form birth record from the GRO. The full version shows parents’ names, registered place of birth, and registration district — required for most passport, citizenship, and overseas applications. If you don’t have the GRO index reference number, we’ll search using the date of birth, full name, and where possible the mother’s maiden name.
Death certificates
Death certificates show date of death, place of death, and registered cause. Solicitors typically require multiple certified copies for probate; banks and pension providers each retain one. We can order any number of copies in a single transaction — see our detailed guide on how to obtain a death certificate for further information on death records.
Marriage certificates
Marriage certificates registered in England and Wales since 1837. The certificate shows both parties’ names, marriage date, registration district, and witnesses. For overseas authorities the certified copy must usually be apostilled — we handle that as a bolt-on. Civil ceremonies and religious ceremonies registered with the local register office are both covered.
Civil partnership certificates
Civil partnership certificates have been issued in England and Wales since December 2005, and from 2019 are available to opposite-sex couples as well as same-sex couples. The same fixed-fee process applies as for marriages and civil partnerships generally.
Adoption certificates
Adoption certificates are issued from the Adopted Children Register held by the General Register Office. Adoption records are restricted; certain certificates can only be ordered by the adopted person or with appropriate authority. We confirm eligibility before submitting the application form.
Which UK registry holds my certificate?
The UK has three civil registration registries. The right one depends on where the birth, death or marriage was originally registered, not where you live now. We order from all three on the same fixed-fee basis and have the certificate delivered to our London office for onward apostille and courier.
General Register Office (England & Wales)
The GRO holds birth, death, marriage and civil partnership records registered in England and Wales since 1837. Most enquiries we receive are GRO records. Standard service and priority service options apply, with a search fee where no GRO index reference number is supplied.
GRONI — General Register Office Northern Ireland
GRONI holds Northern Ireland records — births and adoptions from 1864, marriages from 1845, deaths from 1864. Records are ordered through NIDirect and posted to any UK or international address. We have GRONI certificates delivered to Wigmore Street, then apostille at the FCDO and courier to your destination.
NRS — National Records of Scotland
NRS holds Scottish records via ScotlandsPeople — statutory births, deaths and marriages from 1855 onwards, plus older parish records useful for family tree research. We arrange the order, delivery to London, and onward FCDO apostille and international courier in one transaction.
What is a Letter of No Trace?
A Letter of No Trace is a formal letter from the General Register Office confirming that, despite a thorough index search, no record of the requested birth, death, or marriage could be located. It is commonly used by solicitors and overseas authorities as evidence that a registration does not exist.
A no-trace letter is needed when an applicant cannot produce a birth or marriage certificate they expect to exist — typically for citizenship, probate, or overseas civil status purposes. The GRO, GRONI and NRS each issue equivalent letters after a paid index search has produced no result. We arrange the search, request the letter on a fixed-fee basis, and apostille it if required.
Can you apostille certificates for use abroad?
Yes. We add an FCDO apostille to any certificate ordered through this service. The FCDO Legalisation Office apostilles certificates from all three UK registries — GRO, GRONI and NRS — through a single Milton Keynes process. The apostille is a Hague Convention legalisation accepted by authorities in over 120 countries.
If your certificate is being submitted to a foreign embassy, immigration office, court, or overseas registrar, it almost always needs to be apostilled before it will be accepted. We bundle the apostille service and international courier with the original certificate order, so you avoid the multi-step round trip between the GRO, the FCDO, and a courier. For destinations outside the Hague Convention, additional consular legalisation may be required — we’ll flag this on your quote. See our certified and apostilled documents page for the wider service.
What information do I need to provide?
For a birth certificate: full name, date of birth, place of birth, and where possible parents’ names — particularly the mother’s maiden name. For a death certificate: full name, date of death, place of death. The more accurate the information, the faster the search.
If you already have the GRO index reference number — shown on existing copies of a certificate or returned with a previous order — please supply it. The reference number bypasses the search fee. Payment is by debit card, credit card or bank transfer; we don’t accept postal order. We’ll confirm the email address, delivery address, and whether the certificate is for official purposes requiring apostille.
Why choose Edward Young for UK certificate ordering?
- All three UK registries — GRO (E&W), GRONI (NI) and NRS (Scotland) on one transaction.
- Fixed-fee — quoted in writing before any work starts. No surprises.
- Regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury — England’s notarial regulator since 1533.
- One transaction, end to end — registry order, FCDO apostille, international courier on a single quote.
- STEP-qualified principal — for executors, beneficiaries, and probate-related certificate orders we understand the wider estate context.
- Same-day in-house apostille for documents already in our possession; standard, priority service and express delivery times available.
- Wigmore Street, central London — five minutes from Bond Street and Oxford Circus.
Frequently asked questions
How long does GRO delivery take?
GRO standard service typically takes 4 working days, dispatched by first class post. Priority service is dispatched the next working day after processing. International courier adds 2–4 days by destination.
What is the GRO search fee?
A search fee applies when no GRO index reference number is supplied. The GRO conducts the search across the relevant year range; if no record is found, the search fee is retained but no certificate is issued. We can request a Letter of No Trace at that stage as further information for solicitors or overseas authorities.
Can I order from a local register office instead?
For very recent registrations (typically within the last 18 months) the local register office where the event was registered can sometimes issue a certified copy faster than the GRO. We can advise which route is faster for your specific date range.
Is a certified copy the same as the original?
A certified copy issued by the General Register Office is the standard certificate — there is no separate “original” held by the public. Every certified copy carries the GRO seal and is accepted as a primary document by UK and overseas authorities for official purposes.
Can I order a replacement certificate if I’ve lost the original?
Yes — the GRO process is the same whether you’re ordering a first copy or a replacement certificate. There is no surcharge for a replacement; you order another standard certificate or priority certificates on the standard fee.
Can I order older records for family tree research?
The GRO holds records for England and Wales from 1837 onwards. Older records take longer to search and are useful for family tree projects — we arrange these on the same fixed-fee basis. A baby loss certificate is a separate voluntary commemorative certificate available since 2024 — contact us directly for one of those.
Can you order a Scottish or Northern Ireland certificate from London?
Yes. We order certificates from GRONI (Northern Ireland) and NRS (Scotland), have them posted to our Wigmore Street office, then add the FCDO apostille and arrange international courier in one transaction. Registry fees vary by jurisdiction; the concierge fixed-fee is the same.
Edward Young Notaries & Lawyers
19 Wigmore Street, London W1U 1PH · 020 7499 2605 · notary@notarypubliclondon.co.uk
Regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury · Member of The Notaries Society · STEP-qualified · ACSP-registered
Read our Google reviews · Contact us
Order Your UK Certificate Today
One fixed fee. GRO order, FCDO apostille and international courier in one transaction.