Changes to Birth and Death Registrations Overseas
29 May 2014 04:24 PM
From 9 June 2014, the
Foreign & Commonwealth Office is changing the way that it registers the
births & deaths of British Citizens
overseas.
The process of registering the
births and deaths of British Citizens overseas will gradually be withdrawn from
British Consulates during 2014. Thereafter registrations will be carried out in
a central registration unit in the UK. The transfer of services will begin on 9
June 2014.
There are no changes to the
entitlement to register a birth or death. The processing time will remain the
same but you will need to allow extra time for documents to be sent to and from
the UK.
The transfer of this work will
start on 9 June and will affect all applications from the following countries
or territories:
Andorra Belgium France French
Guiana French Polynesia Germany Greece Guadeloupe Holy See Italy Liechtenstein
Luxembourg Martinique Mayotte Monaco Netherlands New Caledonia Portugal Reunion
San Marino Spain St Pierre and Miquelon Switzerland Wallis and Fortuna USA
UAE
We will transfer all remaining
countries in two further phases before the end of 2014.
Customers will find information
here on how to apply for a consular birth ordeath registration
Further
information
Consular birth registration is
an optional service and is only available to those born overseas who have an
automatic entitlement to British Nationality at birth. There is no legal
requirement for a consular birth registration and a local birth certificate
with a certified translation if necessary should be sufficient for all purposes
in the UK including applying for a passport. Similarly there is no requirement
for a consular death certificate – the local certificate should be
sufficient for winding up the affairs and obtaining probate in the
UK.
Centralisation of consular birth
and death registration into a single-purpose unit in the UK will allow the FCO
to provide a common online application procedure with credit card payment
facility, which will be more efficient and convenient for customers.
Centralisation will also help FCO staff overseas give greater focus to their
primary function of assisting British nationals in distress.