There has been a mad rush to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Office with people for the last four weeks. The ACEO for Birth, Death and Marriage Registry Office Fui Ponifasio Vasa is urging people not to leave registrations until the last minute and to take care of their documents.

He said it was to avoid overcrowding and standing outside in the heat due to the limited space inside their office. 

In the past week the office has been filled up to the brim with waiting on their certificates, some to register births, some wanting copies of their birth and marriage certificates for electoral registration and others for marriages.

In an interview, Fiu said that it's been four weeks since their office has been packed with people coming in to reprint birth certificates and finding marriage certificates for the elderly members of their family. 

"Last week, we witnessed a large number of our people coming in for birth certificates even at  3 pm. As you know, last week was NUS' registration, with the new changes to the four years in college, it has increased the need for birth certificates," he said. 

"The majority of the people that came last week needed to reprint their birth certificates, which means that there is a role that parents play here in safekeeping these documents. This shows that they don't keep it well.

"Coming to this week, all schools have started. The age group with the highest need for birth certificates were five to six-year-olds. And we all know our people, they will only care about these documents when it is needed. 

"We urge our people not to wait until the last minute as there are processes that need to be followed. You don't just come in and register right away, there is a process to go through to verify the information given.

"There were some senior citizens who were blessed with the NZ citizenship bill. One of the requirements was their marriage certificate, but this information cannot be found in our electronic system, so most of the time we have to go through our old files manually. So, there is so much time for that process, as some of our people don't remember the dates they got married."

Another reason for the packed office was people wanting to amend their names or last names. 

According to Fiu, some procedures need to be followed and some of the documents cannot be produced instantly.

The need for people to register for the general elections next year was another reason for people queuing up at the office.

Fiu has urged members of the public to register for births, deaths and marriages as soon as they can and keep their original copies safe so it can be produced on demand.