A new way of registering your child’s birth

With all three of my children, we received stern letters from Births, Deaths and Marriages telling us that we needed to hurry up and register their births. And with two, we got *cough, cough* a VERY stern follow up letter telling us to hurry up and register or, y’know, our kids wouldn’t be able to go to school. Well, maybe not quite, but Births, Deaths and Marriages certainly takes the whole ‘registering your child’s birth‘ thing pretty seriously.

I’ve no real excuses for my tardy registrations – the first and second times, we were haggling over names; and the third time, well, third child…! Fear not, they’re all good and registered now, but I definitely found getting the form to the post office almost impossible when my kids were small babies. I don’t know – coordinating myself to 1) fill in the form, 2) find an envelope AND a stamp, and then 3) actually getting the letter out of the house and to the post office – IMPOSSIBLE! If you’re anything like me, we’ve got some great news to share with you…

There’s a new way of registering your child’s birth…

From 23 March 2015, New Zealand parents will be able to register their child’s birth completely online, apply for an IRD number and order the child’s birth certificate. You will be able to do Birth Registrations Online at www.bdm.govt.nz/birth-registration. If you’re are unable to register online, the existing channels are still available.

For more information, contact Births, Deaths and Marriages: http://www.dia.govt.nz/birth-registration

Hooray!