Under the relevant Ordinance, a birth will be registered upon receipt by the registrar of the relevant birth return (a document that records a baby's birth) from the hospital in which the baby is born. You should make enquiry with the hospital for the date of filing the birth return before applying for birth registration at a relevant birth registry. You can also make an appointment for birth registration at the births registry in the district where the birth occurred through the Internet (www.gov.hk/birthregistration) or by telephone (2598 0888). Before selecting the date of appointment, you should confirm with the hospital where the child was born that the birth return has been delivered to the relevant births registry. For details of the appointment booking service, please read the leaflet "Guidance Notes on the Appointment Booking for Birth Registration".

• Guidance Notes on the Appointment Booking for Birth Registration
  http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/images/pdf/regbirthguide.pdf

No registration fee is payable if the birth is registered within a period of 42 days. A registration fee will be charged if the birth is registered after the period of 42 days but within 1 year. After 1 year, a birth can be registered only with the consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths and upon payment of a registration fee. If you want to obtain a certified copy of the birth entry (commonly known as Certificate of Birth) after registration of the birth, you are required to pay a prescribed fee.

For birth registration, the presence of the child is not required. In the case of legitimate child, the attendance of either parent is sufficient.

The birth of a child should be registered at a birth registry of the district in which it occurred. If the child was born before arrival at a hospital/clinic or the birth has not been registered within 1 year, the birth should be registered at the Births and Deaths General Register Office.

• Addresses and office hours of Births Registries
  http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/bdmreg/birth/address/index.htm

General Enquiries
Hotline: (852) 2824 6111
Fax: (852) 2877 7711
Email: enquiry@immd.gov.hk ( mailto:enquiry@immd.gov.hk )

When applying for the registration of your child's birth, you should supply originals of the following documents:

• Hong Kong identity cards or valid travel documents (e.g. passports, documents of identity etc.) of you and your spouse; and
  
• your marriage certificate.

The abovementioned documents are normally required for the purpose of verifying the Hong Kong permanent resident status of the child under the Immigration Ordinance (Chapter 115). Additional documents or information may be required if necessary.

In the case of illegitimate child, the father’s name is to be included in the birth register under the following circumstances:

• at the joint request of the parents, who personally attend the registry to make the joint request; or
  
• at the request of mother, she personally attends the registry and produces her Declaration and father's Statutory Declaration to confirm the child's paternity; or
  
• at the request of father, he personally attends the registry and produces his Declaration and mother's Statutory Declaration to confirm the child's paternity; or
  
• at the request of the father or mother, either parent personally attends the registry and produces a certified copy of relevant Court Order to confirm the child's paternity and if the child has reached the age of 16, the written consent of the child to the registration of that person as his father.

For application for consent to post registration of birth (a birth that has not been registered within 1 year), applicant is required to apply for a search of his birth record in the first instance to ensure that he has no registered birth record in Hong Kong. The application should be supported with evidence indicative of the applicant’s date and place of birth as well as proof of relationship between the applicant and his parents. The parents and two additional witnesses will be required to make statutory declarations on the applicant’s birth in Hong Kong.

The registration of a birth normally takes 30 minutes to complete, and a certified copy of a birth entry can usually be issued within another 10 minutes.

Registering a birth does not incur a fee if it is made within 42 days of the birth. If it is made after 42 days of the birth but within 1 year, a registration fee of HK$140 will be charged. After 1 year, the registration fee will be HK$680. You will need to pay HK$140 for a certified copy of a birth entry after the birth registration. If you had not applied for a certified copy at the time of the birth registration but need to get one afterwards, you may need to apply for a search of birth records first . You will have to pay a search fee (HK$140 for Particular Search and HK$680 for General Search).

• More on applying for a search of birth records and a certified copy of a birth entry
  http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/bdmreg/birth/applybirth.htm

To save time for queuing up for a quota tag, you can make an appointment for birth registration of your child through either the Internet or the telephone booking system.  Both channels provide round-the-clock service. The appointment is given on a first-come-first-served basis. For telephone booking system users, a touch-tone phone is required and the telephone number is 2598 0888.  For Internet users, please visit the website below:

• Online Appointment Booking for Birth Registration
  http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/bdmreg/birth/birthreg/bookbirthreg.htm