Late Registration of Birth Certificate: Requirements and Process

What is late (delayed) registration of birth?

A birth must be registered within 30 days at the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) of the city or municipality where it happened. Any registration made after that is a delayed registration, often called late registration.

You usually find out you need it when the PSA gives you a Negative Certification (no record found) instead of a PSA birth certificate. Before filing, check with the LCRO of your birthplace: your birth may have been registered there but never reached the PSA. That is fixed by having the LCRO endorse the record, not by registering again.

Requirements

From the PSA's rules on delayed registration of birth (Rule 25, Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1993):

If the person is under 18:

1. Four (4) copies of the Certificate of Live Birth, fully accomplished and signed by the proper parties.
2. Affidavit for Delayed Registration, at the back of the Certificate of Live Birth, signed by the father, mother or guardian. It states:
   • the child's name
   • the date and place of birth
   • the father's name, if the child is illegitimate and acknowledged by him
   • the date and place of the parents' marriage, if the child is legitimate
   • the reason the birth wasn't registered within 30 days
3. Any two (2) documents showing the child's name, date and place of birth and the mother's name (and the father's name, if he acknowledged the child):
   • baptismal certificate
   • school records (nursery, kindergarten or preparatory)
   • income tax return of the parent(s)
   • insurance policy
   • medical records
   • others, such as a barangay captain's certification
4. Affidavit of two disinterested persons who witnessed or knew of the child's birth.

If the person is 18 or older: all of the requirements above, plus the Certificate of Marriage if married.

Special cases:

• Illegitimate child, and the person filing isn't the mother: add a sworn statement on the mother's recent whereabouts.
• Foreign national born in the Philippines: add travel documents showing the parents' origin and nationality.

Step by step

1. Go to the LCRO of the place where you were born

   Find it in the PSA's Directory of Civil Registrars. Ask what forms and copies they need.

2. Submit your application

   with all the requirements. The civil registrar checks that the Certificate of Live Birth is complete and correct.

3. Public posting:

   a notice of your pending application is posted on the city or municipal bulletin board for at least 10 days.

4. Evaluation:

   if no one opposes it, the civil registrar checks the documents. If they're convinced the birth happened in their area and was never registered, they register it. If someone files an opposition, the registrar investigates and sends the case to the Civil Registrar-General, who approves or denies it.

5. Registration:

   the entry is written in red ink and marked "Delayed Registration" on the certificate and in the registry book.

6. Get your PSA copy later

   Once the record reaches the PSA, you can request it like any PSA birth certificate.

Living far from where you were born?

You can file through the LCRO where you live instead. This is called out-of-town reporting: that LCRO, or the PSA's regional and provincial offices, accept your documents and forward them to the LCRO of your birthplace, which does the actual registration.

For out-of-town reporting you also execute an affidavit, attested by at least two witnesses, stating the facts of birth and why it wasn't registered where it happened. Submit it with four copies of the Certificate of Live Birth, plus all the delayed-registration requirements above. The office may ask for more supporting papers. The certificate carries the remark "Registered pursuant to Rule 20 of Administrative Order No. 1, S. 1993."

Fees and penalties

• Registering a birth is free under the PSA's rules (Rule 17): no fee is collected for registering a birth. Fees apply to certified copies and certifications, with an official receipt.
• In every delayed registration, the civil registrar is required to file a complaint with the city or provincial prosecutor for failure to register on time (Section 17, Act No. 3753). The PSA states that this doesn't stop or delay your registration, and isn't a ground to refuse it.

Notarization of affidavits and copies of supporting documents may cost money. Ask your LCRO about local charges.

Using a late-registered birth certificate

Some offices ask for extra proof when your birth was registered late. For a passport, the DFA asks for an additional primary ID, or if you don't have one, any two of: NBI clearance (valid or expired), school records (Form 137-A, transcript of records or diploma), a Service Record (government employees), or your PhilHealth Member Data Record. See passport requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Sources

• PSA: Civil Registration Facts (delayed registration of birth)
• PSA: Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1993 (Rules 12–13, 17, 20, 25)
• PSA: Directory of Civil Registrars
• DFA OCA: Passport requirements for late-registered birth certificates

Last checked 4 October 2026. See how we research and the updates log.