You need to register the birth of your baby in order to obtain a birth certificate. You must register a birth within 42 days (6 weeks) of the baby being born.

Register Office Closed
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, all ceremonies, notice of marriage appointments and standard certificate applications are now deferred until after the pandemic episode. The civic centre is currently closed and our team are available for death registrations by telephone only. Please submit your ceremony enquiries and certificate applications once the Civic Centre has re-opened to the public. We will update this page once the restrictions are relaxed and we have re-opened. Please contact us on 01902 555777 or email Register.Office@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Once you register a birth, you can then use this to claim child benefit and any other family-related benefits.

Please note - Free short birth certificates are no longer issued by the registration office.

Information to register a birth

Costs

Birth registration certificates are £11.00 plus an admin fee of £5. This charge is regardless of when the certificate is issued

If details are recorded inaccurately, there is a charge £75 or £90 depending on the error.

Who can register a birth?

Opposite-sex couples

If the baby's mother and father were married to each other at the time of the birth, either parent may register.

If the baby's mother and father were not married to each other at the time of the birth, the mother may register alone, but the fathers' details will only be entered if they attend to register together. By entering the father's details into the registration, equal parental responsibility is automatically granted to the father as well as the mother. 

Same-sex couples

Same-sex couples can become equal legal parents of children that they conceive together. The woman who gives birth to the child (including surrogate mothers) will be shown as the child's mother in the birth register.

Lesbian couples who are married or in a civil partnership and conceive a child through artificial insemination will both automatically be treated as the child's legal parents. In these circumstances, either parent can register the birth.

Lesbian couples who are not married or in a civil partnership at the time of conception, but conceive together through a fertility clinic in the UK, licensed by the human fertilisation and embryology authority may also be treated as legal parents. In these circumstances, the mother may register alone, but the second parents' details can only be entered if they attend to register together.

Where should a birth be registered?

You must register your babies birth in the district where the baby was born.

If your baby was born within Wolverhampton, you should register the birth at the Register Office:

Register Office,
City of Wolverhampton Council,
Civic Centre St. Peter's Square,
Wolverhampton,
WV1 1RU

You will need to make an appointment to register with us.

Partnership with Staffordshire

We now work in partnership with Staffordshire on birth registrations.

Staffordshire residents, who give birth in Wolverhampton, can register the birth at a local office.

You could still register the birth in Wolverhampton but it is easier to use a local office.

Cannock Register Office,
Council Offices,
Beecroft Road,
WS11 1BG

Tel: 0300 111 8001

Staffordshire Registration Office,
1 Staffordshire Place,
Stafford,
ST16 2DH

Your appointment

To book an appointment, please call us on 01902 551234

  • Monday to Thursday - 9am to 5pm
  • Friday - 9am to 4:30pm

Appointments are available:

  • Monday to Thursday -  8:50am to 4:10pm
  • Friday -  8:50am to 4:00pm

Late night appointments are available:

  • Tuesdays or Thursdays after 4pm,

Only two people can attend the registration appointment with the registrar. Any other family members are welcome to wait in reception.

We will make exceptions for:

  • young children
  • official interpreters
What to bring to your appointment

When you attend your appointment you will need to bring your birth notification sheet issued by the hospital or midwife and documentary evidence of the parents ID.

At the appointment the registrar will ask:

  • Questions about the father and the mother's occupation
  • Where they live and their own place of birth
  • If the parents were married to each other at the time of the birth, and if they were, the date of the marriage
  • The number of children the mother has had previously by her present husband/partner or any former husband/partner
  • The date of birth of the parents

In a small number of circumstances, it may be possible to change or add information to a birth registration, for example adding the father's details at a later date. Please see Re-register a birth for further information.

If you are not able to travel to the district where your child was born, you can visit your local register office (see above), to make a birth declaration. The declaration will be sent to the district where your child was born, the register office there will then complete the registration, and send any certificates that are required through the post to you. From the 23rd January 2017, parents who are residents of Staffordshire, and have their baby in Wolverhampton can register their baby at their local office within Staffordshire and will receive their certificates at the appointment. These offices include Wombourne, Codsall, Cannock and Stafford. If you would like to make an appointment to register the birth at your local office in Staffordshire, you can book an appointment online. 

10516