Birth certificate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In most countries, a birth certificate is a vital record usually containing most of the following information:
- Name at birth
- Date
- Time of birth
- Sex
- Place of birth
- Birth registration number (NHS number in UK)
- Legal parent(s) (in some countries including parents' occupations, 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. It is normally compulsory to obtain a birth certificate for a newborn.
The official birth certificate is usually stored at a government record office, and certified copies of the original are issued when requested. 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 or towns. 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. As with other UK records, the definitive copy is handwritten in highly-permanent ink, even though the rough-draft and official copies may be type-written.
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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[edit] Types of certification
[edit] Long forms
Long forms, or certified photocopies (or book copies), are exact photocopies of the original birth record that was prepared by the hospital or attending physician 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 also usually includes the signature of the doctor involved and at least one of the parents.
In the U.S., the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics creates standard forms that are recommended for long form birth certificate use. However, states are free to create their own forms. These "forms" are completed by the attendant at birth or a hospital administrator, which are then forwarded to a local or state registrar, who stores the record and issues certified copies when requested.
[edit] Short forms
Short forms, known sometimes as computer certifications, are not universally available, but are cheaper than photocopies and much more easily accessible. Limited information is taken from the original birth record (the long form) and stored in a database that can be accessed quickly when birth certificates are needed in a short amount of time. Whereas the long form is a copy of the actual birth certificate, a short form is a document that certifies the existence of such certificate, and is usually titled a "Certification of Birth" or "Certificate of Birth Registration". The short form typically includes the child's name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth, although some also include the names of the child's parents. When the certification does include the names of the parents, it can be used in lieu of a long form birth certificate in almost all circumstances. Nearly all states in the U.S. issue short forms certifications, on both state and local levels.
In the U.K., there is no actual "long form", in the sense that the Registrar General office does not actually keep an individual certificate on file for each birth. All birth certifications issued from a U.K. registrar are based on birth facts taken from a birth register. Usually, the Registrar General will issue a certification that includes the name, sex, date of birth, and place of birth of the child. However, upon request, the Registrar General will instead issue a certified photocopy of the entry in the birth register, which includes the names and occupations of the child's parents. This British birth registration system is also used in most countries that are or were at some point Commonwealth Realms of the U.K.
[edit] Other forms
In addition to short forms and long forms, many registration authorities also have wallet-sized short form birth certifications available, and appostile/exemplified certifications which are hand signed by the registrar and are to be used when being presented before the government of a foreign country. Other registration authorities will even issue commemorative certificates, many of which are legal certifications of birth.
Most hospitals in the U.S. issue a souvenir birth certificate which typically includes the footprints of the newborn. However, these birth certificates are not legally accepted as proof of age or citizenship, and are frequently rejected by the Bureau of Consular Affairs during passport applications. Many Americans believe these souvenir records to be their official birth certificate, when in reality it holds little legal value.
