Before you laminate a document

A laminator keeps a page clean and stiff for years. Certificates need more thought, because some offices turn down a laminated one.

Certificates for a driving licence

DVLA lists the identity documents it accepts for a driving licence application on GOV.UK. Under the documents you cannot use, it names photocopies or laminated certificates.

The same applies when someone changes the name or gender on their licence. GOV.UK says Do not send photocopies of documents or laminated certificates. Any certificates must also be signed and dated.

Certificates for a passport

HM Passport Office has one rule for children and another for adults. For a first child passport, GOV.UK says You cannot send laminated documents. Parents have to send original documents or official copies of certificates.

For a first adult passport, GOV.UK allows a laminated document only where it was issued that way. In its words, You can send laminated documents if that's the only format they are issued in.

Getting a fresh copy of a certificate

Where a laminated certificate will not do, a fresh official copy can be ordered. In England and Wales, the General Register Office (GRO) issues copies of birth, adoption, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates. GOV.UK says an online order needs an account on the GRO website first. Orders can also go by phone or post, or through the local register office where the event was registered.

A copy ordered for a passport application can go straight to HM Passport Office. You'll need your application reference number, which usually starts with PEX, and the address HM Passport Office gave you.

Certificates from Scotland or Northern Ireland come through their own offices, and the same GOV.UK page links to both.

Useful links