Applying Online for Consent to Post-registration of Birth (over 12 months after birth)
Under the laws of Hong Kong, parents of every child born in Hong Kong shall apply for the registration of the child’s birth at a Births Registry within a period of 42 days after birth. After one year, a birth can be registered only with the consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths and upon payment of a registration fee.
For those who were born years ago but did not register their births, provided that there is sufficient proof of their birth in Hong Kong, they can register their births with the consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths and upon payment of the prescribed registration fee. To obtain a certified copy of the birth entry (commonly known as birth certificate) after registration of the birth, payment of a prescribed fee is required.
Important Notice
Under Section 7 of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, Chapter 174, Laws of Hong Kong, parents of every child born shall apply for the registration of the child's birth at a birth registry within a period of 42 days after the day of such birth. It is a criminal offence if anyone deliberately fails to register the birth of a child as required by the law. Offenders are liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of HK$2,000 or up to six months' imprisonment. Parents are required to register the birth of their children in accordance with the law, so as to avoid undermining the rights of their children to medical treatment, education and welfare benefits due to late registration.
If you need to apply for consent to post-registration of birth, you can use the Immigration Department’s online service. This article will give you the details.
Supporting Documents
The applicant is required to apply for a search of his/her birth record in the first instance to ensure that he/she has no registered birth record in Hong Kong. The application should be made by completing the application form (BDR89) and supported with evidence indicative of date and place of birth as well as proof of relationship between the applicant and his/her parents such as hospital or midwife’s record and vaccination certificate or post-natal clinic record. Documents such as baptismal certificate can also serve as evidence.
In case the above documents are not available, the applicant should as far as practicable provide other documentary evidence to support his/her application. The following documents may also be of reference value in serving as proof:
A. Evidence indicative of place of birth and showing that the parents being in Hong Kong at the time of the birth
- Landholder’s certificates, government rent receipts, rent receipts, government rates receipts, deeds of estate
- Water, gas and electricity bills
- Certificates of residence
- Certificates of employment in respect of the parents of the applicant
- Old letters or other evidence showing that the parents, particularly the mother, were in Hong Kong at the time of the birth
- Account books of the parents’ business
- Hong Kong birth certificate of sibling(s)
B. Evidence indicative of date of birth
- Family record books or “red cloths” used by fishermen to record the birth of children
- Horoscopes
- School certificates
- Ration cards
- Certificates of marriage or marriage papers
- Passports or identity cards
- Seafarer service records
You can submit the application forms and supporting documents through the link below:
Online Application for Consent to Post-registration of Birth (over 12 months after birth)Application Process
Our staff will contact you by phone/email for acknowledgement of the application after you submit the application online. You must then approach the Births and Deaths General Register Office of the Immigration Department for processing the application in person.
Parents of the applicant will be required to make statutory declarations on the applicant’s birth in Hong Kong. Other than the information of the applicant, the declarations must include full details of the parents’ periods of residence in Hong Kong, date of marriage, date and place of birth of all other children whether living or deceased. If the other children were also born in Hong Kong, it must be stated whether their births have been registered. Two additional independent witnesses will normally be required to make a statutory declaration that they have personal knowledge of the applicant's birth in Hong Kong. Please note that in the absence of indicative evidence in support of the application, statutory declarations made by parents, relatives, friends or other witnesses alone will not amount to sufficient evidence as such.
If both parents are deceased, two witnesses, of whom one should be a relative of the applicant and the other a personal friend of the parents, will be required to make declarations on the applicant’s birth in Hong Kong.
Any person giving false information or making a false declaration may be prosecuted.
Arrangement for interviewing the witnesses, administration of declaration and scrutiny of documentary evidence, etc. will be made in the order of the receipt of the application. When attending an interview, the parties concerned must produce their identity cards or other documents of identification. Additionally, the applicant is required to submit three recent photographs and all relevant documents for inspection.
Notification of result
The applicant will be informed whether or not the application is approved after the application form and other relevant supporting documents are inspected. Please note that if the proof of the applicant’s birth in Hong Kong is insufficient, the application will not be approved even if all the said documents are submitted.
Application Fees
No fee is payable at the time of application. Payment of a registration fee of $680 is required upon approval of the application. If the applicant wants to obtain a certified copy of the birth entry (commonly known as birth certificate) after registration of the birth, he/she is required to pay a prescribed fee of $140. If the applicant did not apply for a certified copy at the time of the birth registration but needs to get one afterwards, he/she is required to apply for a search of birth records first and a search fee will be charged (HK$140 for Particular Search and HK$680 for General Search).
For more information on applying for a birth certificate, please refer to “Application for Search of Birth Records and/or a Certified Copy of a Birth Entry”.
Assistance and Further Information
If you need technical assistance in using the online service, you can call the Immigration e-Services Hotline at (852) 3128 8668 between 7 am and 11 pm daily.
For general enquiries, please call (852) 2824 6111 during office hours (from 8:45 am to 5:15 pm, Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 12 noon on Saturday, except public holidays), send a fax to (852) 2877 7711 or send an email to enquiry@immd.gov.hk.
Should you have any other enquiries about this application, you may contact the Births and Deaths General Register Office direct.