How do I replace a lost birth certificate or passport?

Identity documents form a chain, and losing one often means you cannot easily prove who you are to get the next. Working out the order before starting saves the circular problem of each application needing the document you have lost.

Safety

Step by step

1. Work out what you actually need and by when.A passport for travel is time-critical; a birth certificate for a form is not. Standard processing takes weeks, and knowing your deadline decides whether you need an expedited service.
2. Report a lost or stolen passport immediately.Report it online or by phone. It is cancelled and cannot be used again, which is the point — an uncancelled passport in the wrong hands is an identity fraud risk.
3. Use the official service, not a lookalike site.Search for the GOV.UK page directly. Numerous commercial sites charge a substantial fee to submit the same application, and they appear prominently in search results.
4. Order a birth certificate from the General Register Office.For England and Wales, through the GRO. Scotland has National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland its own office. You need names, date and place of birth, and mother's maiden name.
5. Get a full certificate rather than a short one.A full birth certificate includes parents' details and is accepted for passport applications and most identity checks. A short-form certificate frequently is not, and ordering the wrong one wastes weeks.
6. Order more than one copy.Certificates are usually needed as originals and sometimes retained. Two or three copies cost little more than one and save repeating the process.
7. Sort the order of applications.Birth certificate first, then passport or driving licence. Each later application uses the earlier document, and trying to do them in parallel usually fails on evidence.
8. Gather what a passport application needs.A digital photo meeting the rules, the details of the lost passport if you have them, and someone eligible to confirm your identity if required. Photo rejection is the most common cause of delay.
9. Consider the expedited services.There are faster passport services at higher cost, usually requiring an appointment. They book up, particularly before school holidays, so check availability before relying on them.
10. Deal with a driving licence separately.Replacements go through the DVLA and are usually straightforward online with a fee. It is a separate process from the passport and can run alongside it.
11. Check what you need abroad.A passport lost while travelling is handled through the nearest British embassy or consulate, which can issue an emergency travel document. That is a different and faster route.
12. Store the replacements properly.One secure place, and a photograph or scan kept separately. A copy is not a substitute for the original and it makes replacing it far quicker if it happens again.

Tips

• Photograph every identity document now and store the images securely. It makes any replacement application considerably faster.
• Certificate ordering asks for details you may need to check with family. Gathering them before starting the application avoids an abandoned form.
• If documents were lost in a burglary, report to the police and get a crime reference — several organisations ask for it.

Common mistakes

• Ordering a short-form birth certificate — It omits parents' details and is not accepted for a passport application or most identity checks. Order the full certificate.
• Using a third-party website that looks official — They charge a substantial fee to submit the same application you can make directly. Navigate to GOV.UK yourself rather than through a search advert.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask