If you notice an error on a birth, death or marriage certificate, which was registered in the London Borough of Enfield, you may be able to apply for a correction by following the guidance on this page.
If your child was born in Barnet General Hospital and you registered them in Enfield, you will need to contact the Barnet Register Office for assistance.
If you would like to change your child’s name because you have changed your mind about their forenames since registration, see changing a child’s name.
Applying for a correction
To apply for a correction, follow the steps below:
- Complete the relevant application form on GOV.UK for a birth correction, marriage / civil partnership correction, or death correction
- When completing the form, read the guidance notes that come with it, which explain how to complete the form and which documents are required
- You will need document evidence (certified by a professional person), showing what the correct information should be. See a list of who can certify a document. You may have to pay a fee for this.
- Post your form, certified document evidence and the certificate with the error to, Enfield Register Office, 1 Gentleman’s Row, Enfield, EN2 6PT. You may wish to use a tracked delivery service. Or, contact us to request an appointment to have your form checked and original document evidence certified by a registrar. We offer this free of charge, but you will need to pay the application fee.
Fees
After posting your application, a registrar will check the application form and documents. They will then call you to discuss and take payment over the phone.
The application fee is £83 or £99, depending on which type of correction you need. The lower fee is charged for corrections that do not need a referral to the General Register Office, such as an occupation or place of birth. The higher fee is charged for more complex corrections that do need a referral, such as a name. The registrar will decide what type of correction is required.
This fee is non-refundable if your application is unsuccessful, cancelled or withdrawn.
If your application is approved, you will also need to pay for a new certificate showing the corrected information.
Timescales
It can take between six weeks to three months to process a correction, depending on the complexity of it and the quality of the document evidence. If the General Register Office require more documents, this will prolong your case.
How your application is processed
Your application form and documents will either be submitted to the casework team at the General Register Office, or if no referral is needed, we will contact you when a decision has been made.
If the General Register Office require further documentation, they will get in touch with you by phone, email or letter (whichever option you selected on the application form), and let you know how to submit the extra documents.
Applying for new certificates
If the correction is authorised, the General Register Office will contact you and advise when to apply for new certificates with the Register Office - they usually advise that you wait at least ten working days before contacting the office.
You can contact the office by emailing register.office@enfield.gov.uk. When you order your new certificate, you should return the old ones to the office.
When you receive a new certificate, the information will not have changed within the body of the entry, but will appear at the bottom as a marginal note. Any marginal note correction overrides the original information it relates to.
For more details about correction, visit GOV.UK - Correct a birth registration.