To register a birth you must make an appointment online. Or telephone 0161 793 2500 if you are unable to use the online appointment system.
- Arrive ten minutes before your appointment time – if you do arrive late, we cannot guarantee that you will be seen and you may be asked to make another appointment.
- If you cannot make your appointment you must tell us by changing your appointment online.
- Your appointment will last no more than 20 minutes.
Booking information
When you book your appointment you will be sent confirmation of your date and time and what to bring with you to the appointment.
You can change or cancel your appointment if necessary, details of how to do this will also be included in your confirmation email once you have booked an appointment.
Make an appointment online
When to register
Every birth in England or Wales must be registered in the district in which it takes place within 42 days of the date of birth.
Where to register
A birth must be registered in the district where it occurred. If the birth was in the Salford area you should register at:
Born outside of Salford
If your baby was born at Manchester or Bolton and baby’s mum is a Salford resident, you can register at Salford register office. Please note that your child will not be entered into the register at Salford but the details will be forwarded to the office of birth.
If your child was born in any other area there is no facility to register the birth in Salford.
How to register
- If mother, father or second female parent are married to each other or in a civil partnership – either parent can register the birth
- If you are an unmarried couple or have not entered into a civil partnership and the mother wishes to have the fathers details entered in the register, then both parents must attend.
- If the parents are not married or in a civil partnership, it is not necessary to have the father's details in the register. You can register without the father’s details but add those at a later date if you wish. You can do this by re-registering. Female couples not married or civil partners at the time of conception, but conceive together through a licensed clinic in the UK can register together, as long as they have entered into a parenthood agreement. Mother can register the birth alone, but the second female parent's details can only be added to the register if you both register together. Get more information from GOV.UK on registering a birth and who can register a birth.
Meeting the registrar and information needed to register
You will be seen in private and asked questions about the baby and his or her parents.
You will be asked for the following:
- The date and place of birth. If the birth is one of twins, etc, then the times of births will be required
- The baby's first name, last name and sex
- The baby's parents' names, dates and place of birth
- The baby's parents' occupations (job titles)
- The baby's parents' address(es)
- The baby's mother's maiden name
- The date of the baby's parents' marriage and number of previous children
Documents you will need to bring
- Proof of identity for each parent, such as passport or driving licence
- If you are married or have entered into a civil partnership you will need to bring your marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate
- For each parent who attends you will need to bring proof of address which may be a driving licence, recent utility bill or your council tax bill
Signing the register
You will be asked to check the information entered in the register carefully and to sign that it is correct. Please ensure you read through all the details thoroughly and check all spellings are shown correctly.
A mistake can be corrected before you sign the register. However, if you notice an error after the registration and wish for it to be corrected there will be a fee to pay which will be £83 or £99 dependent on the type of correction you require.
Certificates
The fee for a certificate is £12.50 and you can order when making an appointment. You can additionally purchase certificates at the time of registration. We can only accept payment by debit or credit card or contactless. If you do not have a card available at your appointment you can apply online at a later date for a certificate or any further copies.
After the date of registration any further certificates required will be £12.50 per certificate plus £2 postage if you apply online or by post or by telephone. Certificates issued for this fee will be processed within seven working days.
Re-register a birth
Find out how to re-register a birth, which means creating a new record in the birth register, and why you might need to do this. You can also change your baby's first name(s) within 12 months of their birth registration.
Reasons for re-registering a birth
You are legally required to re-register your child's birth if you have married or formed a civil partnership with your child’s father, mother or second female parent after their birth.
You can also re-register if you want to add the details of your child's natural father or second female parent to their birth register, if they were not added originally.
The re-registration process is free, but you can buy additional certificates from the Registrar at the time of your appointment at a cost of £12.50 each. Please note you will not be issued with a certificate free of charge.
Select a circumstance below, to find out more about what you will need to do, to re-register your child's birth.
Mother and father got married after the birth
If you married or entered a civil partnership after your child was born, you should re-register to add the natural father’s or second female parent’s details to their birth register.
Complete an LA1 form from GOV.UK and return to the register office in the area where your child was born. Please do not make an appointment. The Register Office will contact you to do this when they have made inspections to the form.
If it's difficult to attend the register office where the original registration took place, it's possible to re-register at any other register office in England or Wales. Some applications have to be referred to the Registrar General for consideration which can take a bit longer. Visit the Adding a father's name to a birth certificate page on GOV.UK for further information and advice. or call us on 0161 793 2500 or email registeroffice@salford.gov.uk
Mother and father are not married
If you are not married, and want to add the natural father’s name to your child's birth record, if fathers details are currently blank, complete a GRO 185 form from GOV.UK and return to the register office in the area where your child was born. Please do not make an appointment. The Register Office will contact you to do this when they have made inspections to the form.
If both parents are unable to go to the register office in person once they have an appointment, the parent not going needs to complete what's called a statutory declaration of acknowledgement of parentage form from GOV.UK, and return it to the register office.
If it's difficult to attend the register office where the original registration took place, it's possible to re-register at any other register office in England or Wales. Some applications have to be referred to the Registrar General for consideration which can take a bit longer, but for further information and advice, visit GOV.UK.
Mother and second female parent got married or formed a civil partnership are the birth
If you would like to have your child’s second female parent added to their birth record after their birth has been registered, you must have got married or entered into a civil partnership. You will need to contact the General Register Office by telephone at 0300 123 1837 and the relevant forms to complete will be sent to you. Submit your completed forms and supporting documents to the GRO who will authorise the re-registration. Once it has been authorised, the re-registration will be carried out at the register office.
A Declaration of Parentage is when a court decides who the father of the baby is. You don’t need to do anything to change the birth register if this is the case. The court will tell the General Register Office and the birth will be re-registered, but you need to order a new birth certificate if you want one.
Contact the General Register Office (GRO) for the relevant forms. Submit your completed forms and supporting documents to the GRO who will authorise the re-registration. Once it has been authorised, the re-registration will be carried out at the register office.
Changing your baby's first name
You can change the first name(s) of your baby within 12 months of the date of registering their birth. This service costs £40, and the amended name(s) will be inserted into space 17 on the baby's original birth register.
If your baby has been baptised in the Christian faith (within 12 months of registration), request a form from us to take to the minister of the church where your baby was baptised, and then complete and return it to our register office.
If your baby has not been baptised, you just need to complete the form yourself and return it to our register office.
If both of the baby’s parents can’t attend together, one parent can complete the registration by bringing a statutory declaration with them. If you’re thinking of registering a birth in this way, please contact us on 0161 793 2500 and we will give you more guidance.
Request a baby loss certificate
If your pregnancy ends before 24 weeks, you can get a certificate in memory of your baby. It’s free to get a certificate.
You do not need to request a certificate if you prefer not to. It’s optional.
The certificate is not a legal document - for example you cannot use it to claim benefits. The certificate will not be added to your GP record.
If your pregnancy ends from 24 weeks onwards, you need to register a stillbirth instead.
Who to contact
Remember you can contact us quicker, easier, better online.
Contact us online
- Name
- The Register Office
- Address
-
Town Hall
Chorley Road
Swinton
Salford
M27 5DA
Map to this location
This page was last updated on 17 June 2024