How long your information will be kept
Registration information is retained indefinitely as required by law. The following retention timelines apply to the data we hold about you:
| Information type | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Information entered into registers of births, deaths, stillbirths, marriages and civil partnership | Indefinite |
| Copy certificate applications | 2 years |
| Registrar General’s Authorities For registration of deaths after 12 months | 2 years |
| Declarations made by applicants for certificates for disposal (no liability to register) | 5 years |
| Notice of intent to marry or form a civil partnership | 5 years |
| Forms of consent to marriage of minors | 1 year |
| Caveats against the grant of a superintendent registrar’s certificate or certificate and licence or Registrar General’s licence for marriage | 2 years |
| Notifications of and Registrar General’s licences for marriage, Notifications of the issue of the Registrar General’s licence for marriage and Registrar General’s licences for marriage | 2 years |
| Requisitions to persons liable to register who have failed to do so | 1 year |
| Routine correspondence relating to appointment and conduct of officers | 2 years |
| Routine correspondence relating to registration of births, marriages and deaths, correction of errors, birth re-registrations not made (Forms LA1 and GRO 185) and copy documents, issue of certificates under certain Acts of Parliament irregular burials | 3 years |
| Routine correspondence relating to false information given to registration officers, falsification and forgery of certificates of birth, marriage or death; marriage of foreigners and persons divorced abroad | 3 years |
| Formal objection against the issue of the civil partnership schedule | 2 years |
| Change of name deeds | Indefinite |
| Home Office citizenship ceremony documentation | 5 years |
| Information relating to the booking of ceremonies and registration appointments | 2 years |
| Information relating to complaints or objections to marriage venue licenses | 3 years |
| Name and email address of customers subscribed to the Ceremonies Newsletter | Until unsubscribed |
| Photos required for marriage/civil partnership notice | 7 days after the ceremony date |
At the end of the retention period personal data is destroyed as confidential waste and deleted from our systems.