I need to provide a copy of my birth certificate, officially certified, to a UK organisation.
Our local Notaire appears to be working elsewhere at the moment. I have left the copy with his assistant for a week, but he has not yet been in the office long enough to do it.
I am concerned that this is dragging on and I want to get this sorted soon. Is this domething that any notaire can do on a drop-in basis, or even my Mairie? On previous occasions the notaire requested a meeting, which lasted no more than 1 minute …
I know that I should be more patient and just let things run their course but we are fast approaching the holiday season. If nit done soon it may not be done until September…
I really don’t understand your problem.
The only way you can “certify” a British birth certificate is to have it made into a legal document by way of an Apostille.
That is done in UK.
What is it exactly you need to be done?
Hi Martin
OH had to provide a certified copy of his BC for pension purposes.
The UK Company provided a long list of who was acceptable to Certify…all of whom were some way away… so, being me, I phoned the UK company and discussed it with them. I explained that I normally had things certified at our Local Government Office (the Mairie), by a Local Government Official. The person I spoke with advised me to put that info into a covering letter and send it with the certified copy… which I did… and all was well. 
We have had to provide certified true copies of documents, and did it with the nearest available notaire. Did the organisation requesting them give any details about who they would accept as able to certify a true copy? As if just any old government official then your Marie would probably do. Stella’s advice is what I would do too…
you should not have to under eu regulations.
you do not have to anymore.
General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email
Harry, no matter what… if a Company demands a certified copy… that is what they want and get… it is in order to ensure that there has been no hanky-panky when photocopying the original document…
It is very easy to “forge/alter” an original, when photocopying… I know, been there, done that (in a previous life)
if a company demands a certified copy? The law says otherwise.
Give them a call Stella on the number I provided, no one can ask for a certified translated copy anymore it is on them to get it translated.
They can however still ask for it certified in English / Welsh. etc. They cannot however ask for it to be certified into a different language.
I have just been through this again last week and again got an email from the EU stating the new law. It was accepted, yet again. that was to do with my business transfer to a new profession. ie kennels to pet sitter
Harry, the original poster is not being asked for a translation… the UK is asking for a certified copy of a Birth Certificate… and the Mairie will do a photocopy and sign it to say it is a True Copy of the Original…
1 Like
a notaire can only certify a french birth certificat as far as im aware. A English needs to be certified in England and in english, same for welsh.
Harry…
You are obviously not aware that this straight forward procedure has been carried out by the Mairie, time and time again.
As I say, it is a simple procedure, certifying that the Photocopy they are signing (and officially stamping) is a copy of the original document (whatever that original document might be).
Over the past 20 years I have had to get this done for my stuff in France and for UK … any time a certified copy of the original has been required. My OH has had to do the same…and I have also organized it for many, many other folk.
I am unaware of any new Laws which rule out this simple procedure. 
but, you never know… 
1 Like
never had to get a single thing certified as yet by a notaire. Now my marie has stamped a few things but they have gone to the notaire.
You’ve obviously not been in the same situation as the Original Poster (or me, for that matter).
Very often UK companies will ask for a Certified Copy of the Birth Certificate, rather than asking for the original to be sent in the post (and perhaps lost)…especially when it is being sent from France…
1 Like
Working for the NHS Every time I moved I had to provide a copy of my birth certificate but never asked for a certified copy. (probably 10 times I had to provide a copy as well.)
Maybe thing are getting tougher
This is related to my pensions. 3 of the companies have accepted a signature on one if their forms. The 4th actually wanted me to send the original birth certificate but I am reluctant to do that. If that gets “lost in the post” it will make everything much harder.
It is a UK company, my apologies if I musled anyone into thinking that I needed a translation. Our local notaire has done this before, for birth certificates and marriage certificates. Then it was for a Cypriot bank, if you ever think France is overly bureaucratic try dealing with officialdom in Cyprus!
It is just me being impatient; our local notaire is tied up elsewhere and I want to move the UK pension company’s process on to the next step. Triplicated signatures on carbon coated kippers is my guess…
1 Like
Absolutely, Harry… it all depends on what the information is for… and we really shouldn’t dig too deeply for the Original Poster.
In my case, it was all to do with claiming a Pension. Lots of paperwork had to be provided to prove who I was and to make sure that my entitlement was correct.
On another occasion, it was to do with an inheritance…
and there have been other situations…
have you tried yur mayor.
hes the one that can certify documents also.
Oh Harry… That’s where I am trying to send him… to the Mairie…