Birth certificate

From Free net encyclopedia

In most countries, a birth certificate is an official legal document usually containing most of the following information:

Name at birth
Date and time of birth
Sex
Place of birth
Birth registration number (NHS number in UK)
Legal parent(s) (including in UK, parents' occupations, and places of birth, and maiden name of the mother)

The certificate is issued shortly after a person's birth, usually after the mother's physician files the required forms with the appropriate government agency. To obtain a birth certificate for a newborn is normally compulsory.

In the UK the full birth certificate is issued on request for a small fee, but otherwise the 'short' certificate, which omits parents' details, is normally issued.

The official birth certificate is usually stored at a government record office, although some people actually have their birth certificate with them in a wallet or purse. In Canada and the United States of America, it is stored with the government of the receiver's state or province. In some American states, the responsibility for such records has been delegated to counties. In England & Wales, it is stored at the local register office (usually covering an area of about 100,000 people) and also at the General Register Office.

A person can obtain a copy of their own certificate, and in many places, a member of the general public can obtain a copy of anyone else's birth certificate upon paying a small fee.

The birth certificate can be used to authenticate one's identity and nationality, and assist with obtaining government-issued identity documents such as a passport or driver's license. In the UK, birth certificates are not always accepted as proof of the identity of the bearer - only that a birth took place with those details. The certificate is signed or stamped by the registrar to authenticate the document as a faithful copy of the entry in the main register.

Holding a birth certificate makes it easier to prove citizenship in nations where citizenship depends upon location of birth. For family historians, the detail of the parents (including mother's maiden name) included on a full certificate is very useful in linking between generations. In some countries with advanced population registration systems, the birth certificates are only issued for foreign use: all authorities have direct electronic access to central population database which includes all personal details of all present and former citizens and residents.

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Types of Certification

Most registrar offices have at least 2 versions of birth certificates available.

Long forms, or photocopies/book copies, are exact photocopies of the original birth record that was prepared by the hospital at the time of the child's birth. The long form usually includes parents' information (address of residence, race, birth place, date of birth, etc.), additional information on the child's birthplace, and information on the doctors that assisted in the birth of the child. The long form photocopies also usually include the signature of the doctor involved and at least one of the parents.

Short forms, known in some places as computer certifications, are not available in all places, but are cheaper than photocopies and can be used in substitute of a long form in almost all cases. The short form has limited information, such as the name of the child, sex, date of birth, birthplace, and usually the parents' names.

In addition, some places also have wallet-sized short form birth certifications available, and appostile/exempted certifications which are hand signed by the registrar and are to be used when being presented before the government of a foreign country.

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