Opening hours over the festive period

We have reduced operating hours during this festive period. Please see our amended hours on our opening hours and access page for further information.

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Copies of certificates

Our copy certificate service is currently suspended

Due to staff illness, we are unable to process copy certificate applications. Please order via GRO instead. We aim to have the service back in the New Year. We are sorry for any inconvience this causes.

Copy certificates online

We hold records of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships that have taken place in Tower Hamlets since 1837. All requests are to be made online via our portal. We keep a search fee if we cannot find your entry. If this is the case, you can apply through the GRO.

  • We aim to process all standard requests within five working days (government standard is 15 working days).
  • Priority requests received before 3pm are processed before 3pm the next working day. We process requests Monday to Friday each week (except bank holidays). Therefore requests over the weekend may not be available until Tuesday.
  • You will be notified via email when your certificate is ready for collection or sent out for delivery.
  • Certificates will be sent folded in A5 envelopes. If you would like them in A4 hardback envelopes, you will be required to pay for special delivery, which will allow you to be refunded if they do not arrive but also track the location as they are being posted.
  • We do not accept responsibility for any damage caused by Royal Mail.
  • All our post (including special delivery) is collected by the council's post team on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings so please be aware of the delay in receiving your order. If you need your certificate urgently, please arrange a collection from our office.
  • Certificates are held for collection for a maximum of 6 months and then destroyed to comply with GDPR. No refund or exchange will be provided for an uncollected certificate.

Please visit our fees page for information on costs and our terms and conditions page for information on refunds.

Certificates are sent out via standard postage for free. If the certificate goes missing or is damaged in the post, you will need to pay for a new one. We also offer tracked and international postage.

Payment for certificates must be made at the time of the request. Refunds will not be issued if your certificate is lost in standard post or if the details do not match what you expect.

Marriage certificates

If you have had a legal religious ceremony in Tower Hamlets, you will need to order a copy of your marriage certificate by accessing the 'order a copy certificate' option.

Islamic ceremonies that took place without legal preliminaries at a Register Office are not in scope of this. 

Form errors

If you get an error message whilst using the online form, please email our team with your:

  • name
  • telephone number
  • reason for search
  • relationship to the person on the certificate and
  • as many details on the certificate as possible.

You may be asked to fill in a form. A fee will then be collected over the telephone before processing your request.