Members,
Please find below, copy of an e-mail received from the Powys FHS with regard to a petition
for uncertified copies of BMD certificates that is currently open for members of the
public to sign.
If the petition is successful, it will undoubtedly save some expenditure with regards to
obtaining certificates.
I have subsequently received confirmation that unfortunately, only UK residents or those
liviing in the UK can sign the petition.
Regards,
Brian
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Dear Listers,
My attention has been drawn to the following:
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Please would any family historians out there read and consider signing this
petition:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1792
The idea is to have uncertified copies of certificates for family history
research, which have no legal authority, similar to they do in the Republic
of Ireland. These could be obtained at a much lower fee, the price of £2 per
certificate is suggested.
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The full explanatory text states:
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Under current legislation, the GRO can only "release this information by
means of the issue of a paper certified copy Cert of the relevant entry, and
payment of the relevant statutory fee for a certified copy." We request that
this House enacts legislation to allow the General Register Office of
England and Wales the ability to issue "uncertified" research copies of
birth, marriage and death certs - with a notice on the copies that they are
uncertified, and have no legal authority - and that these may be obtained at
a much lower cost than the current £9.25 per cert (e.g. £2) when ordered
on-line and the GRO Index Ref is provided, and that these may be issued in a
electronic (email) format or a plain paper in the same way as The Rep of
Ireland; this would enable family historians to buy many certs for their
research at a lower cost" In the Republic of Ireland you can ask for an
uncertified copy from Roscommon (their version of GRO) for ?4.
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As I understand it, each e-petition last for up to one year, and a threshold
of 100,000 signatories has to be reached before the subject becomes eligible
to be brought before Parliament.
The petition above will close in August and currently has 8447 signatories.
Kind regards,