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Births, Deaths and Marriages

Whānautanga, Matenga, Mārenatanga

Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) registers and maintains New Zealand birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change information, and issues certificates and printouts.

BDM service timeframes:

Our kaimahi are working hard to process applications as quickly as possible.

Check this page for regularly updated BDM service timeframes:

Service timeframes

False claims about birth certificates:

There have been false online claims about birth certificates.

New Zealand birth certificates:

  • are not linked to bonds or financial institutions
  • only have reference numbers on the back for internal use by the Department of Internal Affairs — these are not shared with other agencies
  • cannot usually be used on their own as proof of identity.

Birth certificates and source documents FAQ (PDF 98KB)

Birth certificates and source documents FAQ accessible (TXT 3KB)

Services BDM helps provide

Death and bereavement

Proving your identity

Separating or getting divorced

Information for marriage celebrants

Adoption and fostering

Fertility issues and assisted reproduction

Changing your gender

Search historical records

Getting married

Changing your name

Having a baby

Most popular BDM forms

Marriage licence application form

Birth certificate application form

Change your own name application form

Change your child's name application form

Utility links and page information

Last updated