Getting back to normal in the Western Isles with the registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages

Although Comhairle nan Eilean Siar offices remain closed to the public and are not able to offer face to face appointments parents will be asked to fill out the Birth Registration booking form and the registration office will contact you to arrange the completion.

Local registration offices will work to ensure that births are registered as quickly as possible, but your patience is asked until the inevitable backlog is cleared.

Parents of a newborn child who have not registered their child’s birth because of coronavirus will still be able to make a claim for Child Benefit.

For further information about Child Benefit please see the GOV.UK website.

Local registration offices can also now accept marriage notice forms.

If your notices were not lodged before March 24th and you would like to enquire about an existing or new booking please complete the Marriage Enquiry form if before submitting your paperwork so that you can be advised how to proceed.

Couples are required to give 29 clear days’ notice before their ceremony can take place.

Couples who lodge notice now, can extend their notice period if required.

Marriage ceremonies and civil partnership registrations can take place only outdoors with up to three separate households attending and a maximum of eight people, not including the registrar/celebrant.

The Scottish Government hopes that some indoor marriages and civil partnerships will be possible during Phase 3 out of lockdown.

If you have already submitted your marriage notice forms and they were entered onto the before March 24th the notice period can be extended and will remain n valid until December 31st.

This means you would only need to submit new forms if your details have changed or if you postpone your wedding until after 31 December 2020.

Death Registration will continue to be completed via a ‘remote’ appointment with the next of kin using phone or email to agree the details to be recorded.

Due to changes to the systems available to registrars they are currently unable to offer copies of birth, deaths and marriages certificates throughout Scotland.

If a copy certificate is required urgently please send your request with details of the name, date and place of registration by email to:[email protected]

For more details about these processes contact: [email protected]