Applying for a certificate
Making an application
If the event occurred within the Royal Borough and you would
like to obtain a certified copy of a certificate from this office
then you have three options:
Application online
If you use the links above to complete the application form
online, one of our staff will contact you within five working
days to take the appropriate fee by credit/debit card. Please note:
we are not able to accept American Express.
Application in person
You may pay by cash or credit/debit card here at the Kensington
and Chelsea Register Office. Please note: we are not able to
accept American Express. Our opening hours for applications in
person are 9am - 3.30pm Monday to Friday. With a standard
application, certificates will be available for collection or
posting at 9am the next working day. If you have an urgent
application, we have a same day service
whereby certificates may be collected within one hour of ordering
upon payment of an additional search fee of £12.50
Application by post
If your application is made from within the UK then you should
enclose a letter/application form containing all the relevant
details, a postal order made payable to ‘R.B.K.& C.’ and a
stamped addressed envelope. Please do not send cash by post. If you
are applying by post from outside the UK then you may only pay
by international money order, in pounds sterling, made payable
to ‘R.B.K.& C.’ Please note: we are no longer able to accept
cheques.
You may find downloadable versions of our application forms
below:
Fees
| Birth, Death, Marriage and Civil
Partnership Certificates (when issued on the day of
registration) |
£4.00 |
| Short Birth Certificates (when issued
after the day of registration but from a register currently in
use) |
£7.00 |
| Standard Birth, Death and Marriage
Certificates (when issued after the day of registration but from a
register currently in use) |
£7.00 |
| Short Birth Certificates (when issued from
a vault deposited register) |
£10.00 |
| Standard Birth, Death and Marriage
Certificates (when issued from a vault deposited register) |
£10.00 |
| Civil Partnership Certificates (when
issued after the date of registration) |
£10.00 |
|
Same day service fee (for a certificate from a register
currently in use)
This fee incorporates a priority fee of £12.50 and
one copy of the certificate at £7.00. The
certificate will be made available for you to collect within 30
minutes of making payment.
|
£19.50 |
|
Same day service fee (for a certificate from a vault deposited
register)
This fee incorporates a priority fee of £12.50 and
one copy of the certificate at £10.00. The
certificate will be made available for you to collect within 30
minutes of making payment.
|
£22.50 |
As a rule of thumb only the most recent events are recorded in
current registers, all other events are recorded in registers that
have been completed and archived in the vaults. If you are in doubt
as to which fee will apply to your application then please feel
free to contact this office and a member of staff will be happy to
advise you.
The full postal address for all correspondence and applications
is:
The Kensington and Chelsea Register Office
Chelsea Old Town Hall
Kings Road
Chelsea
London SW3 5EE
To help us process your application as quickly as possible:
Give us as much information as possible
The more information you give us about the register entry of
which you need a copy, the better. Please note that General
Register Office references are different to those held locally, and
applications quoting the GRO reference will be returned
unsearched.
However we cannot undertake searches of an indefinite or
protracted nature. Usually a search in the index, covering a period
not exceeding five years, will be made but only where accurate
details of the particular registration have been given. If a wider
search is required it may be necessary for you to undertake a
General Search here at the Chelsea
Register Office.
Send separate postal orders for multiple certificate
requests
If you are making applications for multiple certificates (for
example, one birth and two marriage certificates) then it will
speed the administration if you can include a separate postal
order for each and every application. If we are unable to find
an entry we will return your unused postal orders to you.
Always include a stamped addressed envelope for return
This guarantees the correct address and postcode are on the
envelope, and ensures your application does not go astray.
The Same Day Service takes priority
Please bear in mind that family research will not take priority
over more urgent applications such as birth certificates for
passport applications, marriage certificates for legal purposes,
etc. unless you are using our same day
service. A standard ancestral research application can
sometimes take as long as three weeks to process.