www.statusin.org

Name of the Organization : Registrar General’s Department
Type of Facility : Apply For Birth Certificate
Country : Jamaica

Official Website : http://www.rgd.gov.jm/

How To Apply For RGD Birth Certificate?

Registration is the recording of a vital event by a Local District Registrar (LDR). This record is then transferred to the Registrar General’s Department’s RGD vaults within six weeks.

Related : Registrar General’s Department Jamaica Birth/Death/Marriage Application Status : www.statusin.org/4575.html

The registration of births is the responsibility of the child’s parents if the child was born outside of a hospital or the Chief Resident Officer if the birth occurred in a hospital or a birthing center.

Please have the following information ready to complete your online Birth application form :
** Full and correct name of child
** Child’s Date of Birth
** Birth Entry Number
** Child’s Sex : Male or
** Place, Parish and District of Birth and Registration
** Mother’s Name
** Father’s Name

Every parent must note the following before their child is registered :
** The parent(s) should ensure that the name of the child is decided upon by the time he / she is due to be delivered. It is advantageous for the child to be named at the time of registration, or as short a time as possible thereafter.
** The registration of the birth of the child must not be delayed. The Local District Registrar (LDR) office nearest to the place of birth must be attended as soon as possible in order to complete birth registration.
** All birth registrations taking place over three months require an informant to attend the LDR office and sign the form.
** All registrations taking place after one year of occurrence are considered “Late Registrations”, and require authorization from the Registrar General.

Bedside Registration

The Registrar General’s Department now conducts registration of births and still births at the bedside of the mother while still in hospital. This has led to significant improvements in the capture of these vital events. Trained registration officers, who are employed by the Agency, are stationed in all hospitals island-wide to effect such registrations. Vital information, including but not limited to, date of birth of child, sex of child, mother’s name and doctor or midwife present at time of birth are captured for civil registration purposes.

Birth occuring outside of a hospital :
If a child was born outside of a hospital it is the reponsibility of his/her parents to register the birth. If the parents are unable to do so then an occupier of the house in which the birth occurred or an individual present at the time of the birth should register the birth.

Hospital Birth :
The Chief Resident Officer is reponsible for notifying the Local District Registrar (LDR) of all births occurring in a hospital or birthing centre. On receipt of the notification the LDR will register the birth.

Where are births registered :
** Births are registered at the offices of the Local District Registrar (LDR) and all Regional Offices. A LDR is a person appointed by the Registrar General to effect registration of births, deaths and still-births occurring in their registration district. The fourteen parishes of Jamaica are segmented into districts and the Local District Registrars are usually located in the same district or in close proximity to the districts for which they are responsible.

** All births must be registered in the district name in which they occurred. For example a birth occurring in Spanish Town, St. Catherine should be registered at the LDR in the district of Spanish Town. When a birth is registered it is given a Birth Entry Number. This is a unique number which is used to identify each child’s birth registration record. The unique entry number tells us the Parish, the district and the sequence of births registered in the year the child was born, for a particular district.

** For example a birth occurring in Spanish Town, St. Catherine would be given an entry number such as EA 103.

How soon after birth should the event be registered :
All births must be registered :
** Within 3 months and less than one year
** Within 14 days – Chief Resident Officer must send the notification of birth to LDR.

If the infant is not named in the hospital :
Visit the LDR for the district where the child was born and complete a Certificate of Naming
** Give full and correct information
** Check for correct spelling of name
** Check date of birth
** Sign registration form only if all the information is correct
** Collect Certificate of Registry (pink paper/slip)
** Keep a record of the Birth Entry Number for reference

Hospital Births :
Most of Jamaica’s births occur in hospitals or other birthing institutions. In these instances, the onus of registration is on the Chief Resident Officer of the institution.

The procedure for the parent(s) is itemised below :
** After delivery of the child in hospital, ensure that a Notification of a Birth In a Public Institution or Private Hospital or Form D is completed by the Chief Resident Officer (or by an appropriate representative).

** All details for the child, mother and father must be supplied for the completion of the Form D. If the mother is not married to the father of the child, he will have to attend the office of the Local District Registrar (LDR) at the time of registration and sign the birth registration form in order for his particulars to be added to it. (See Status of Children Act)

** If a name has not yet been chosen for the child, the Certificate of Naming section of the Form D will be detached and issued to the parent(s) and instructions given for the form to be completed and presented to the LDR within six (6) weeks of the birth of the child. After this six-week period, the addition of the child’s name will incur a cost and must be applied for through one of the offices of the Registrar General’s Department. (see Status of Children Act)

** The Form D would then be sent to the LDR by the Chief Resident Officer or representative and the parent(s) advised to attend the LDR office if any one or all of the following obtains :

1. The child is not named
2. The parents are unmarried and the father’s particulars are to be added to the birth registration (known as “A and B Registration”)
** After the birth registration form is completed by the LDR and all relevant signatures are affixed, the process is complete

Home/Other Births :
For children delivered at outside of a hospital or birthing centre, the birth must be registered as follows :

** An informant must attend the nearest Local District Registrar (LDR) to register the birth. This person can be either parent, person present at birth, an occupier of the house in which the birth occurred or any other adult who is aware of the birth of the child.

** The LDR office must be attended soon after the event of the birth : within three months or at least within one year after birth. After one year, as mentioned above, late registration will be required

** As in hospital birth registration, if parents are not married, the mother and father must attend the LDR so the father’s particulars can be added at time of registration, that is, an “A and B registration” is done

** The birth registration form is completed by the LDR and all relevant signatures are affixed
** The original registration is transmitted to the Head Office of the Registrar General’s Department within six weeks of the registration
** Counterfoils are later entered and stored

Contact Us :
Address : Twickenham Park, St. Catherine
Telephone : 876-749-0550 | 876-619-1260
Email : information AT rgd.gov.jm