Birth registration: caseworker guidance
Tells HM Passport Office staff about birth registration and how to deal with applications where the birth is not registered, registered late or re-registered.
Documents
Details
This guidance tells HM Passport Office staff working on applications:
- about birth registration, re-registration, late registration and unregistered births
- how to deal with an application if the customer’s birth was:
- not registered
- re-registered
- registered late
Updates to this page
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This guidance has been updated to add a new section called Who can register a birth in the UK, to tell examiners who can register a child’s birth and in the Re-registration: after marriage or civil partnership section to confirm, from 13 July 2026 the General Register Office (GRO) and General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) will not change a child’s name following their parent’s subsequent marriage or civil partnership. In these cases, the parents must change the child’s surname by a deed poll or change of name deed.
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Updated the birth registration guidance. A full list of changes can be found in the guide.
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Changes are detailed in the 'changes from last version of this guidance' section.
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Updated the Birth registration guidance, a list of the updates can be found in the guide.
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Birth registration guidance has been updated. A list of changes can be found in the guidance.
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First published.
Update history
2026-09-16 15:10
This guidance has been updated to add a new section called Who can register a birth in the UK, to tell examiners who can register a child’s birth and in the Re-registration: after marriage or civil partnership section to confirm, from 13 July 2026 the General Register Office (GRO) and General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) will not change a child’s name following their parent’s subsequent marriage or civil partnership. In these cases, the parents must change the child’s surname by a deed poll or change of name deed.
2026-03-23 14:51
Updated the birth registration guidance. A full list of changes can be found in the guide.
2025-11-04 16:57
Changes are detailed in the ‘changes from last version of this guidance’ section.
2024-12-11 10:23
Updated the Birth registration guidance, a list of the updates can be found in the guide.
2024-04-29 16:54
Birth registration guidance has been updated. A list of changes can be found in the guidance.
2022-12-21 16:22
First published.