Understanding the Birth Registration Process: Key Data and Procedures

FACTS ENTERED IN THE REGISTER OF BIRTHS

 The register of births is a public document on the personal status of citizens in which facts about birth, marriage, death, and other facts provided by law are entered, as well as changes related to these facts. Therefore, registers of births, marriages, and deaths are kept on the personal status of citizens. Register entries, extracts from registers, and certificates issued on the basis of registers are public documents. In this text, we will focus on the facts entered in the register of births. An extract from the register of births represents an official document confirming that a person is born and registered in the register of births. This document is often used for obtaining other important documents such as passports, driver’s licenses, or health insurance.

What facts are entered in the register of births?

 The following are entered in the register of births:

• Data on birth, including: the name and surname of the child; abbreviated personal name, gender of the child, day, month, year, and time of birth, place and municipality of birth, and if the child is born abroad, the name of the country of birth, unique citizen identification number, and citizenship of the child;
• Data on the child’s parents, including: name and surname, and if the parents are married, the surname before marriage, unique citizen identification number, day, month, and year of birth, place and municipality of birth, and if the parent was born abroad, the name of the country of birth, citizenship, residence, and address;
• Data on: maternity established or contested by a court decision, acknowledgment of paternity, paternity established or contested by a court decision, adoption and termination of adoption, placement under guardianship and termination of guardianship, deprivation and restoration of parental rights, extension and termination of extended parental rights, marriage and termination of marriage, change of personal name, name or surname of the child and parents, adoptive parents, or guardians, acquisition and termination of citizenship, death, as well as other data determined by law or other regulation adopted based on the law;
• Data on national affiliation.

Who submits the request for registration of these facts?

The data on the birth of a child born in a healthcare institution must be reported electronically by the healthcare institution using the prescribed form, without delay and by mail. After the registration based on electronically submitted applications, the person concerned is informed, and the registrar delivers an extract from the register of births.

The birth of a child outside a healthcare institution must be reported by the child’s father, and if he is unable to do so, another household member, or the person in whose apartment the child was born, or the mother as soon as she is capable, or the midwife or doctor who attended the birth, and if these persons are not available or unable to report the birth – the person who learned about the birth.

The birth of a child must be reported within 15 days from the day of birth, and if the child is stillborn, the birth must be reported within 24 hours of its birth. The registration of the child in the register of births is done according to the place of birth. It is necessary to present the ID card, and if you are a foreigner, with a travel document, to report the birth of a child to the registrar. On that occasion, the parents make a statement about the name and surname of the child.

If the parents are not married, the mother alone can report the child and, on that occasion, can mention the father of the child, who will be invited by the registrar to make a statement of acknowledgment of paternity.

If the child is born out of wedlock, and the father is known and wants to acknowledge paternity, the statement of acknowledgment of paternity can be made before the registrar, guardianship authority, court, or notary public. The mother must agree with the acknowledgment of paternity, as well as the child if it has reached the age of 16 and is capable of reasoning. The statement of the mother’s consent to the acknowledgment of paternity will not be required if the mother stated in the birth report that the father of the child is a man who later acknowledged paternity.

If the child is born abroad, a report for its registration in the register of births can be submitted. To submit this report, it is sufficient for only one parent to be our citizen. The report is submitted in person, and along with it, an extract from the register of births of a foreign authority for the child in a multilingual form or on the form used in the country of the child’s birth is submitted if that country is not a signatory to an international convention. A report for the registration of a child born abroad can be submitted to the diplomatic-consular representation of our country abroad. Upon receipt of the birth report, the diplomatic-consular representation sends it to the competent registry office in the Republic of Serbia for the registration of the child in the register of births. Also, a birth report can be submitted to the registrar in the municipal or city administration according to the last residence of the parents in the country. If the parents did not have a common residence, the report is submitted according to the residence of one of the parents, and if the place of residence of the parents is unknown, according to the place of birth of one of the parents.

The data on national affiliation can be entered in the register of births. To enter this data, it is enough, along with the ID card, to make a statement about national affiliation before the registrar according to the place of birth. If there is no possibility to make a statement about national affiliation before the registrar who keeps the register of births, for example due to the distance between the place of birth and the place of residence or for other justified reasons, the statement can be made in the registry office of any municipal or city administration. Likewise, this statement can be made before our diplomatic-consular representation abroad. The entry of data on national affiliation for a child under 18 years of age will be made at the request of the parents, based on their joint statement of will. Parents can make this statement already in the maternity ward, and in that case, the data on national affiliation will be entered into the birth report along with other data. Likewise, parents can make this statement later, before the registrar who keeps the register of births in which the fact of birth of their child is entered. It is important to know that without the unanimous statement of will of both parents, the entry of data on the national affiliation of the child will not be made. If one parent is deceased or unknown, the other parent may determine the national affiliation of the child alone. In the same way that the statement about the national affiliation of the child was given, that data can be changed or deleted. In any case, whether it is the entry of data on national affiliation, changing that data, or deleting it, the unanimous statement of will of both parents is necessary.

The citizenship data is always recorded in the birth registry. There is a record of citizens of the Republic of Serbia maintained in the birth registries. Citizens of the Republic of Serbia who were not born within the territory of the Republic of Serbia but have residence or domicile therein are registered in the birth registry according to their place of residence or domicile. Citizens of the Republic of Serbia who were neither born within the territory of the Republic of Serbia nor have residence or domicile therein are registered in the birth registry of the municipality within the territory of the city of Belgrade as designated by the City Assembly of Belgrade. Descendants of emigrants born abroad are also recorded in the birth registry.

The information on marriage or divorce abroad is also entered in the registers. After entering into or divorcing a marriage abroad, it is necessary to register that information in the Republic of Serbia. The fact of marriage is proved by a foreign marriage certificate. The fact of divorce can generally be seen on a foreign birth certificate, however, before the fact of divorce is entered in the register, it is necessary that a foreign court decision on divorce be recognized in the Republic of Serbia. After recognition, the fact of divorce, more precisely, the marital status of the person is entered in the register of births, marriages and finally deaths (if the person has passed away).

Which of these data can be recorded and implemented through a representative?

In principle, all data recorded in the registry books can be entered through a representative. What is necessary is that there exists valid authorization, which the representative must submit when filing the request on behalf of the party, as well as the necessary documentation for the entry. This particularly applies to the information regarding the divorce of marriage abroad, where a judicial recognition process of the foreign court decision is first conducted, followed by the entry of these facts in the registry books based on the recognized foreign court decision.