The government of India has mandated to register the birth within 21 days of the birth. Simply put, the birth registration should not be delayed more than 21 days after the birth of the child. Sometimes, parents ignore this mandate. Thereby, it becomes a big challenge to get it later because:

• The competent authority levies penalty worth hundreds of rupees.
• Parents may or may not have the proofs of their child’s birth.
• The hospital or the head of the para-medical staff may take weeks to recover the birth proofs.

Apart from the unregistered birth, the applicant may lose it in the shifting of house or civil disobedience. Or perhaps, the fire or improper keeping may damage your birth proof. In short, you may be deprived of the very significant birth proof.

Let’s get through all cases sequentially and the ways to apply for the birth certificate.

How can one get the birth certificate, if his birth was unregistered when he was born?

• Visit Municipal Corporation/Gram Panchayat

Being unregistered, your birth registration requires a legal procedure to be carried out hierarchically. It begins with your visit to the competent authority, i.e. Municipal Corporation (MC) or Gram Panchayat or Para Medical office in the locality where the applicant was born.

• Supporting Documents

Make sure that you have the ‘secondary evidence’, which should be other than the primary proofs of your birth. That can be any of the following checklist:

• Hospital records with the name of parents and the child, attested by the doctor
• School records, as in a School Leaving Certificate, Mark Sheet, Matriculation Certificate, Degree Certificate or 10^th/12^th Class Certificate
• A letter from the School’s head stating the name, DoB and place together with the parent’s name on that legal letterhead
• State of Federal Census records, like ration card  
• A church record that bears its seal at the time when Baptism was occurred, stating the name, parents’ name, place and DoB
• An adoption decree at the time of adoption
• Voter ID Card
• PAN Card
• Passport (Expired or Current)
• Aadhaar Card
• Driver Licence

Together with it, affidavits for NABC from the mother and the father or any other close relative would be necessary. These affidavits should be separately drafted.  Make sure that the affidavit should not be drafted by the applicant or the beneficiary himself.

As far as the sworn statement is concerned, the content should include all these details in its composition:

• Full Name of the Affiant
• Address of the Affiant
• Date & Place of Birth of the Beneficiary
• Relationship with the Beneficiary
• A Complete Detail in The Context of Beneficiary’s Birth & Relationship
• Statement on Letterhead

Place a request for an on-paper statement in a prescribed format. This statement should be written on the letterhead of the ‘registrar’ of the MC or ‘surpanch’ of gram panchayat or ‘HOD’ of the para-medical staff. It should clearly state that your birth is not found in their record books. The deputed registrar will apparently mark that no record of the birth of XYZ (applicant) born on, say, 21 December 1999, living in Delhi or any other location exists in the government records.

With all these documents, you can apply for the birth certificate even after 30 years of your birth in India. Keep into account that most of the authorities do not avail these documents unless they are insisted. So, be persuasive to get the non-availability of the birth certificate.

Otherwise, you have to pay a penalty amount for the delay in the birth registration.

Upon following these steps, you can fill Form-10 for Non-Availability of Birth Certificate. It will be notarized once it’s been duly filled. It’s a paid government service.

What happens if you don’t have the birth certificate for passport in India?

Rather, I should say that you may be concerned with “Can I get the passport without my birth certificate”.

The answer is ‘Yes’, you can apply for the passport in India without needing your birth certificate. A reputed newspaper has announced this government declaration, which apparently abolished the pervasive Passport Rules 1980 that mandated the submission of this proof if the applicant was born after 26 January, 1989.

But now, any of these documents would be enough to recognise your birth:

• Transfer/School leaving/Matriculation certificate from the school last attended or any recognised educational board (ICSE, CBSC and the State boards)
• PAN Card
• E-Aadhaar Card
• Voter ID Card
• Driving Licence
• LIC Policy Bonds
• Pension Records

This revised rule has let the divorcees, single parents, orphaned children, adopted children and ascetics to come across all hurdles that mandated the certificate of birth for the facilitation of any service(s).