GRO certificate copies and apostilles: costs, timings and limits

A copy of a birth, marriage, civil partnership, adoption or death certificate in England and Wales comes from the General Register Office (GRO). You order it on the GRO website; registering takes about ten minutes and you need a debit or credit card. A standard certificate costs £12.50. If the document is for use abroad, a copy alone is not enough: you order an apostille separately, and that is another £45, or £35 electronically.

Where do you order a certificate copy in England and Wales?

On the General Register Office website. The same service covers family-history research (ordering with a GRO index reference number) and passport applications. For a passport, GOV.UK lets you have the certificate sent straight to HM Passport Office: you need your application reference number, usually starting "PEX", and the address HMPO gave you.

ADV · A003We build websites for tradespeople and sole traders — £219Customers see your work and prices and message you straight away. Ready in 3 days, £219 instead of £438.Advertise here

You can also order by phone on 0300 123 1837 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm), by post on the relevant GRO application form, or from the local register office where the event was registered. GOV.UK finds that office by postcode. The service works for England and Wales only; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate routes.

What does a copy cost and how long does it take?

£12.50 per certificate, and extra copies are the same price. If you do not have a GRO index reference number, each search costs an extra £3.50.

The timing has a catch that is easy to miss. GOV.UK says certificates ordered with an index reference number are sent 4 days after you apply; without one, when GRO searches for the record itself, they are sent 15 working days after you apply. The priority service costs £38.50 and sends the certificate the next working day if you order by 4pm.

What if the document is needed abroad?

Get it legalised. The Legalisation Office checks the signatures, stamps and seals against its own records and, if they match, attaches an apostille — a stamped official certificate.

Documents from a public registry can be legalised: birth, marriage and death certificates, Companies House certificates, court documents sealed with a wet ink court seal, government department papers signed by an official, and medical certificates signed by a registered doctor. Other papers — a power of attorney, a contract, a qualification certificate, copies of a passport or driving licence — are accepted too, but a UK notary or solicitor must certify them first. Documents issued outside the UK cannot go through this service: they must be legalised in the country that issued them.

ONLYWAY NEWSLIVELife · 17.10Russian-language books in Britain: where to buy them and what delivery costsLaw · 17.10GRO certificate copies and apostilles: costs, timings and limitsTravel · 17.10Travel in London: daily and weekly Oyster and contactless caps by zoneMoney · 17.10Your bill went up mid-contract: when you can walk away without a penaltyLife · 17.10East Bank in Stratford: two free V&A museums, a theatre and BBC studiosHousing · 17.10Tenancy deposit: 5 weeks, 30 days and how to get it backJobs & Business · 17.10Disciplinary hearings and grievances at work: your rights, the deadlines and the cost of silenceJobs & Business · 17.10Payslip, P45 and P60: the paperwork your UK employer must give youLife · 17.10Care needs assessment in England: how to get help from your councilLife · 17.10V5C log book: changing your address, selling a car and getting a replacementONLYWAY NEWS · appInstall the ONLYWAY NEWS appFresh UK news, classifieds, key dates and exchange rates on your home screen, one tap away. Free.NewsClassifiedsCalendarRates

What does an apostille cost and how long does it take?

The fee is per document. The standard paper-based service is £45 plus courier or postage, usually up to 25 working days. An e-Apostille is £35 and up to 2 working days. Two further options are for registered businesses only: "Next-Day" at £40 and "Restricted Urgent" at £100, same day. If a document cannot be legalised, the fee is not refunded.

Courier costs for a paper apostille are separate: £6 per 1.5kg within the UK, £32 per 1.5kg to the European countries GOV.UK lists, and £42 per 1.5kg to the rest of the world. For a return address in the UK you can pay postage instead: include an A4 envelope with the address and enough UK stamps.

Why can a GRO certificate not get an e-Apostille?

GOV.UK excludes GRO documents from the e-Apostille list. No electronic apostille is issued for birth, death, marriage, civil partnership or adoption certificates, or any other General Register Office document, nor for ACRO police certificates and DBS certificates for England and Wales, disclosure certificates for Scotland and Northern Ireland, fingerprint certificates, or ACCA membership certificates. So a GRO certificate can only get a paper apostille — with the 25-working-day window and courier costs that go with it.

Where will finished documents not be sent?

Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. GOV.UK says so on the legalisation page and offers two ways round it: have the documents returned somewhere else and forward them yourself, or use the e-Apostille service where it is available. For GRO certificates the second route is closed, so only the first remains.

Before applying, check with whoever is asking for the document what they actually need: originals or certified copies, whose signature must be on them, a paper apostille or an electronic one, a single apostille for a group of documents or one for each. GOV.UK advises settling these questions first — redoing the work costs more.