Applying for British Citizenship? You need a Vault Birth Certificate

If you as a South African are applying for British citizenship or seeking to register your marriage to a British citizen, your application needs to include a Vault Birth Certificate.

So what is a Vault Birth Certificate and why are they so difficult to obtain?

The South African Vault Birth Certificate is a copy of the original hand written South African Home Affairs birth registration document that was originally filled in by one’s parents when they registered you as a newborn.

These valuable original documents are kept locked away in secure vaults at Home Affairs Pretoria’s location hence the term Vault Birth Certificate.

The document tends to take longer to obtain because in order to issue the certificate, a home affairs official with suitable security clearance must retrieve the original birth registration document, copy it and then legalises the certificate by stamping the copy with their distinctive, pink Home Affairs stamp. Unfortunately there are accounts of applicants waiting for up to 4 years for these certificates.

Why is this document required and not a regular Birth Certificate?

Due to the process involved in obtaining the Vault Birth Certificate, the British and other authorities seem to view this document as being more secure and harder to forge that a standard Birth Certificate or and Unabridged Birth Certificate.

How soon can I get my Vault Birth Certificate?

Due to the long lead times involved in sourcing these documents, we recommend that our clients source them timeously, however, Q-Pro can source these valuable documents in approximately 2-3 weeks from application submission date.

Q-Pro can help.

Q-pro is an independent document sourcing specialist with no ties to Home Affairs.

To beat the queues, simply fill out the form and a friendly Q-Pro consultant will contact you to finalise the details.

R 1 450 incl VAT