Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Geriatric4942 · Post by **Geriatric4942** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 10:17 am

Both I and my wife acquired British citizenship by naturalisation and now we are moving to another country which requires our birth & marriage certificates to be legalised (e.g. getting an apostille) for the visa process. However are unable to do so without putting ourselves in danger: consulate in the UK is no longer legalising documents and the only way to get the docs legalised is by traveling back to the country of origin which is not safe for us.

So I'm wondering if it is possible to convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship?

I found this service: https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-dea ... ertificate. But as far as I understand this is only for certificates issued by UK.

Is it possible at all in the UK? Asking because I know that some other countries can replace foreign certificates in certain circumstances.

Thanks!

Post by **Ticktack** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:25 am

Geriatric4942 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 10:17 am
Both I and my wife acquired British citizenship by naturalisation and now we are moving to another country which requires our birth & marriage certificates to be legalised (e.g. getting an apostille) for the visa process. However are unable to do so without putting ourselves in danger: consulate in the UK is no longer legalising documents and the only way to get the docs legalised is by traveling back to the country of origin which is not safe for us.

So I'm wondering if it is possible to convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship? That's not a thing.

I found this service: https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-dea ... ertificate. But as far as I understand this is only for certificates issued by UK. Copy of originally UK issued docs.

Is it possible at all in the UK? Asking because I know that some other countries can replace foreign certificates in certain circumstances.

Thanks!

I seriously doubt if that's possible. No registrar would put their name on something that they can't attest to. More so, the co-signees of any birth certificate are the parents. How would that work exactly?

Same thing with wedding certs, what happens to the witnesses, do you knock them off and replace them with new ones?

You're better off dealing with the embassy of the country you're originally from, but that doesn't seem to be an option. So travel to Dublin and see if you can get it done there.

Post by **alterhase58** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:28 am

Unfortunately there's no such thing in the UK - the service you mention is the General Register Office which can supply official copies of UK birth certificates, etc.
Not aware of replacing foreign certificates, but other may know. Can you perhaps list the countries that offer that, and what they are actually offering - for info it might be of interest to members.

Geriatric4942 · Post by **Geriatric4942** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:18 pm

Thank you both for your replies.

Ticktack wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:25 am
You're better off dealing with the embassy of the country you're originally from, but that doesn't seem to be an option. So travel to Dublin and see if you can get it done there.

Could you please add more context about Dublin?

But yes, embassy is basically useless in this case. I called my local council and they confirmed - they can only give a copy of documents issued by them. It seems like my options are:

1. Go back to the country and try to get the docs legalised. And hope that they will let me out.
2. Get some sort of exception in the destination country (I hear it is possible, but it is on case by case basis and at the discretion of the person dealing with my application - not guaranteed).

alterhase58 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:28 am
Can you perhaps list the countries that offer that, and what they are actually offering - for info it might be of interest to members.

Sure - In the Netherlands one can do that (start here). However the documents need to legalised in the country of issue first too.

Post by **Ticktack** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:37 pm

Could you please add more context about Dublin?

You mentioned that the embassy in the UK has stopped. You didn't say that all embassies of your country has stopped. Hence I said try a different embassy in a different country. Republic of Ireland seems to be the closest. You can get a return flight for less that £40.

Since you're British as well, you'd have no problem staying as long as you wanted over there to sort things out.

You'd want to check first before you hit the road or the skies. Still much cheaper that flying to country of origin.

Geriatric4942 · Post by **Geriatric4942** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 4:25 pm

Ticktack wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:37 pm

Could you please add more context about Dublin?
You mentioned that the embassy in the UK has stopped. You didn't say that all embassies of your country has stopped. Hence I said try a different embassy in a different country. Republic of Ireland seems to be the closest. You can get a return flight for less that £40.

Ah, sorry. This applies not only to the UK, but all consulates worldwide. They deliberately stopped this and other services: we no longer can get new passports without a trip to the country, for example. This was done to force people to come back for documents so the authorities can prosecute people who fled the country after protests or otherwise expressed their opinion.

So trip to Dublin won't help, but I appreciate your creative thinking

links · Post by **meself2** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 7:25 pm

Geriatric4942 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:18 pm
Go back to the country and try to get the docs legalised. And hope that they will let me out.

Do you still hold the citizenship? If you don't, might be worth a try, getting consular assistance as a Brit if needs be. But that's a risk.

Geriatric4942 wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:18 pm
Get some sort of exception in the destination country (I hear it is possible, but it is on case by case basis and at the discretion of the person dealing with my application - not guaranteed)

That would, probably, be the best option.
Can you get this in writing before you submit the documents or do you have to submit your documents with explanation and hope that'll fly?
Also,.maybe you could get a statement from the embassy that they can't apostille documents?

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Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship

Re: Convert foreign birth & marriage certificates into UK ones after acquiring British citizenship