18 July 2020
It was with shock we learnt from one of our Canadian members that she had been charged $45CD for a certificate.
She said a GRO certificate will cost me $45CD for only one certificate plus it will take 2 months to arrive by snail mail. Call me cheap but that price is exorbitant and the delivery archaic.
We investigated and responded 18 July 2020
We nearly had a heart attack when we read that the GRO certificates cost $45 and took 2 months to arrive in Canada. We just had to check as we did not want to misinform our members.
The proper web site for the GRO is www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certicates/menu.asp There are a number of clones and sham sites that charge an arm and a leg, so beware.
Now the certified certificates (paper copies) cost £11 approx. $18.7 Canadian dollars ($13.86 US dollars). However, there is a digital option of pdf copies that cost £7 or $11.90 Canadian Dollars [We have used an exchange rate of £1=$1.70 Canadian dollars]. These cost only $8.82 US dollars. The pdf files are almost immediate. This pdf service is for births 1837 to 1919 and deaths 1837 to 1957. Marriage certs are not available for pdf files.
The Society at one time did run a certificate service for overseas members asking only for refund of cost and postage, plus I think the person doing it scanned and emailed the certificate as soon as we received them. Unfortunately, this service ceased due to lack of interest and the volunteer is no longer available.
Please be aware and go to the official General Registry Office web site.