Certificates

Christmas and New Year postal changes

Due to the closure of the mail centre, our last date for despatching orders will be Tuesday 23 December 2025.

We will make every effort to despatch all priority certificate orders received before 1:00pm on Tuesday 23 December 2025.

After this date, we will be unable to post any orders until Friday 2 January 2026.

If you make a priority order during this time, we will despatch it on this date. This will be done via your chosen delivery method. Standard orders will be despatched within 4 to 6 weeks as normal.

Certificate processing times

Standard certificates are being despatched in around 4 to 6 weeks from the time of application, based on demand.

If you need a certificate urgently, you should use our priority service. Most priority orders are posted within 48 hours, but this is not guaranteed.

All orders can be posted via Royal Mail's Tracked 48 service. This is our recommend service. If you choose standard 1st Class post, tracking will not be available, and we will be unable to issue a replacement if your order is lost in transit. In such cases, a new order would need to be placed and paid for.

You cannot apply for, or collect, a certificate in person. Orders can only be made online or by post.

If we are unable to find an entry for the certificate you have asked for, a search fee of £12.50 will apply.

Check the current timescales for receiving certificates.