| Our customers' most frequently asked questions
are broken down into the following categories:
If your question is not included in this section, please
email the Registry with your question
or telephone a Customer Service Representative on 1300 655
236.
Births
Q. I was born in Victoria. Can I apply for
my Birth Certificate with the NSW Registry of Births Deaths
& Marriages?
A. No. The New South Wales Registry of Births
Deaths & Marriages only records information relating to
events that occurred in NSW. You should contact the Registry
office of the state or territory in which you were born.
Contact details for other state registries can be found under
Links.
Q. How do I apply for a Birth Card?
A. A Birth Card is a convenient credit card-sized
extract of your birth information. It is available to anyone
born in NSW.
You will need to visit the Registry's Sydney office to apply
for a Birth Card. A Registry staff member will take your photograph,
which will be included on the card. You cannot supply your
own photograph.
No appointment is necessary, simply visit the Registry's
office at:
35 Regent Street
Chippendale
SYDNEY NSW 2008
Q.Where can I find a list of common baby
names?
A. This website contains a Statistics
page listing the top 100 baby names each year from 1995 to
2003. (Link to Stats page)
Deaths
Q. I need to apply for the Death Certificate
of a relative whose death was registered in South Australia.
Can I apply to the NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages?
A. No. The NSW Registry of Births Deaths
& Marriages only records information relating to events
that occurred in NSW. You should contact the Registry office
of the state in which the death was registered to obtain a
Death Certificate.
Contact details for other state registries can be found in
the Links section of this website.
Marriages
Q. We want to get married overseas. The
Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages of the country we
are marrying in has asked us to prove there is no impediment
to us marrying. How can we do this?
A. You can prove there is no impediment
to marrying with a NSW Single Status Certificate.
A Single
Status Certificate certifies whether you have been married
in New South Wales during a specified period (searches are
conducted in periods of 10 years). The authorities of the
country in which you are marrying may require this certificate
before you can marry there.
Q. We are foreign nationals. Can we get
married in Sydney?
A. Yes, you can marry in Sydney if you are
a foreign national living in or visiting New South Wales.
You may choose to marry at the Registry Office or have your
ceremony performed by a civil or religious marriage celebrant
elsewhere.
Telephone the Registry on 1300 655 236 to obtain a brochure
titled 'Getting Married' which details everything you need
to know about getting married.
Q. Can I use the Certificate of Marriage given to me on my wedding day by the marriage celebrant to change my name on my driver's licence and passport?
A. At the conclusion of your Marriage ceremony the Certificate of Marriage is presented to you. Please note this certificate may not be suitable to use for some official purposes.
It is a tradition, not a legal requirement to change your name. You will need a Standard Marriage Certificate to change your name on your driver's licence or passport. The Certificate of Marriage you receive on the wedding day is legal, but may not be accepted by all insitutions and government agencies, such as the RTA and Passports Office.
Download a Standard
Marriage Application Form.
Q. Can I get my divorce papers from the Registry?
A. No. The Registry does not hold records
relating to divorce. Contact the Family Law Court on (02)
9217 7111 for assistance.
Q. We were married in Queensland, can we
apply to the NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages
for our Marriage Certificate?
A. No. The NSW Registry of Births Deaths
& Marriages only records information relating to events
that occurred in NSW. If you were married in another Australian
state or territory, you should contact the relevant Registry
Office in that state or territory.
Contact details for other state registries can be found in
the Links section of this website.
Other
Q. Has my application been received / processed
yet?
A. Please telephone the Registry on 1300
655 236 and a Customer Service Representative will check on
the status of your application.
You will be given a reference number for your application,
which you should quote if you have any further queries.
Q. Can I get a refund for my certificate
application?
A. The Registry does not generally cancel
and/or refund applications for certificates. However, if there
is a genuine reason and sufficient notice is given, the Registry
may consider cancelling the application and/or refunding the
application fee.
The Registry cannot guarantee the success of the actual cancellation
and cannot take responsibility should the certificate arrive
to you as originally ordered.
Q. My certificate is damaged / I can't read
the information on my certificate. Can I exchange it?
A. The Registry does not normally exchange
certificates. However, if there is a genuine reason that a
certificate should be exchanged, the Registry will consider
it.
In order for a certificate exchange to be considered you
must provide the following:
- The original certificate to be exchanged
- A covering letter containing:
- Your name and address
- The amount you paid
- The reason you want the original certificate to be exchanged
- Details of the new certificate
3. Appropriate forms of identification. Contact the Registry
on 1300 655 236 for more information on the identification
required.
Q. I need to get a copy of my grandmother's
(my father's mother) Marriage Certificate. How can I obtain
a copy of this document?
A. If your grandparents are both deceased,
your father may apply for the marriage certificate.
If the marriage occurred more than 50 years ago, the certificate
is considered a public record and you may apply for it yourself
without the usual entitlement or identification requirements.
Q. I am starting to research my family history
and want to know how to apply for my ancestors' certificates.
A. You may only apply for the certificates
of your ancestors if the event occurred in NSW and falls between
the following dates:
Births - 1788 to 1905
Deaths - 1788 to 1975
Marriages - 1788 to 1955
Use the Registry's online Historical
Indexes to search your family history records. The results
will provide a unique registration number, which you can then
use to apply for birth, death and marriage certificates.
Alternatively, the Registry may conduct the search
on your behalf for a specified fee.
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