Registering a birth overseas

If your child is born in Mexico you can register the birth with the nearest consulate or with our consular department in London if you’ve returned to the UK. You don’t have to do this, but if you do your child will be given a British style birth certificate and the birth will be registered at the General Register Office in the UK.

We recommend consular birth registration because it means you’ll be able to get extra copies of the certificate from the General Register Office in the future.

Before applying for consular birth registration

You won’t be able to register the birth with your local registry office in the UK so you’ll need to register the birth with the local authorities in Mexico and obtain a birth certificate from them.

Exceptions

Please note that we can’t register births if the parents were born overseas and are only British by descent. Nor can we register the birth of a non-British child who has been adopted by British parents.

What documents do we need to provide?

To register a birth in the Consulate or with the consular department in London you will need to provide:

• child’s Mexican  birth certificate
• mother’s full British birth certificate (or Home office naturalisation or registration certificate if born outside of the UK)
• father’s full British birth certificate (or Home office naturalisation or registration certificate if born outside of the UK)
• parent’s marriage certificate
• British passport

We’ll need to see the original documents.
We can accept a certified copy of your passport but the bio-data page will need to be certified by a UK Solicitor or a notary public registered with the Law Society.

If you and your spouse are not married

If you are a British man and your child’s mother is foreign you can only apply for a Consular birth registration of the child was born on or after 1 July 2006. If you are an unmarried women who’s had a child in Mexico and you would like the father’s details recorded on the certificate, you will need to swear Statutory Paternity Declarations.

How much does it cost?

The current fee for this service, whether in London or at the Consulate abroad is £98 ($2,160MXN). At the Consulate, you can pay by cash, cashier’s cheque or credit or debit card in Mexican Pesos (you must pay by cashier’s cheque or card if you are applying by post).  If you would a copy of the certificate it will cost will cost £63 ($1,390MXN). The fees are closely regulated by parliament and cover the cost of administration.

Obtaining copies of the certificate in the future

You’ll be able to obtain certified copies of the certificate from the General Register Office one year after registration. If you need a copy before then you can apply through the Consulate in Mexico City.