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INTRODUCTION
Cap (276) of the Laws of the Virgin Islands stipulates that the Registrar-General is required to register and keep
at the office in Road Town a general Register of Births and Deaths in the Territory.
The Civil Registry and Passport Office is the department that administrates this law and we register persons
and issue certificates relating to births and deaths, adoptions and marriages, along with performing searches
from our computerised archival record.
PROCEDURES FOR REGISTERING A CHILDS BIRTH
The Registrar General must first be notified within twenty-one (21) days of a child’s birth by the Hospital spokesperson or any other person (informant) who knows about the birth.
Upon receipt of the birth confirmation, the birth is recorded by a Registry Clerk and given an Entry number.
To register a new born, the parent should have an acceptable ID, such as a passport or driver’s license and a
certified birth certificate.
Once a birth application form is completed, a registration form is filled out with the baby’s date of birth,
parents’ names and physical address.
For a legitimate child, either parent can register the birth. The baby’s name can be recorded once
the parents are ready to name the newborn.
In the cast of an illegitimate child, it is not lawful for the Registrar General to enter, in the Register, the name of any person as the father. This can only be done with the consensus of the mother and the person who acknowledges that he is the father of the child. He shall then sign the register with the mother.
If the person who acknowledges that he is the father of the illegitimate child resides outside the Territory,
the mother of the child may present an affidavit to the Registrar General with such acknowledgment from the
father and which was sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths.
Once a child is registered, the parents receive two Baptism forms. Form C is for the Church records and Form D
must be returned to the Registrar General, for the Registry records.
After completing the above steps, the parents can then receive their child’s birth certificate.
Registration should be made within three months of a child’s birth, to avoid a penalty of US $13.00.
After the expiration of twelve months, after the birth of any child, that birth shall not be registered except
with the written authority of a Justice for registering the same. When this is done, the birth shall then be entered in the Register.
Who is an informant in birth registration?
The father and mother of the child. A person present at the child’s birth. A person charged with furnishing
the prescribed particulars for registration. A child cannot report his or her own birth irrespective of his or her age.
GENERAL INFORMATION
WHAT IS A PARTICULAR SEARCH?
This is a situation in which the information is very precise, making it easy for a particular Birth to be selected and entry identified
for retrieval of information.
WHAT IS A GENERAL SEARCH?
This refers to a situation in which the applicant is not sure of the information regarding the date of registration.
The Search officer would therefore need more time to trace the information.
CORRECTION AND INSERTION IN THE REGISTER OF BIRTHS
1. Applicants may request, in the form of an affidavit, the correction or insertion to be made in the Register of Births.
2. The affidavit shall be prepared by any of the persons listed in this document as an informant.
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