Birth Registration

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

The law should provide that registration is available to, and compulsory for, all births occuring in every geographical area and for every population group in the country. Examples of possible discriminations are: sex; race ethnicity, religion or population group; marital status; nationality, citizenship, residency or regugee/asylum status; or any other characteristic such as prisoners or persons with disabilities

All births that occur in the country – including births to refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, persons of undetermined nationality and members of nomadic peoples – must be registered in the civil registration system. Where necessary, legislation should include specific provisions to guarantee the registration of these populations regardless of whether the person has legal residency status.

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

When a child is born to parents who are residing outside their country of citizenship, the country in which the birth occurred has an obligation to register the birth and issue a birth certificate. While the home country of the parents will not issue a new birth certificate, there should be a process by which the parents report the birth to the parents’ home country. This is important for purposes of establishing citizenship and receiving a passport for the child. The legislation should provide a process for citizens temporarily residing abroad to report the birth of a child to the registrar (or the passport agency). This is usually facilitated by a country’s embassies and consulates.

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

The provision of clear definitions in the law is an important tool to ensure the continuous and permanent recording of vital events in all areas. Live birth is defined as "The complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or any definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached."