RGD’s late registration process ‘guarantees’ a birth certificate - CEO

Persons, particularly the elderly, who have never received a birth certificate may still request one from the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) through its late registration process.

While every birth that occurs in Jamaica must be registered with the RGD, there was a period in which children were being registered, but not named at the time of birth. For those children who were registered but not named within a year of birth, they can be named through the agency’s ‘Late Entry of Name’ process to receive a birth certificate.

In a recent interview with JIS News, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the RGD, Charlton McFarlane, said that several persons today are without a birth certificate.

“If someone comes to the RGD and says that they have never been issued a birth certificate, it does not necessarily mean that their birth was never registered. It may have been registered, because in the past we would have done registrations without a name or a complete name, so it is possible that the record exists,” he noted.

In instances such as these, the RGD would conduct a comprehensive search of all the births that were recorded around the individual’s declared date of birth. This comprehensive search, once completed, will determine if there is any record of the individual being registered at that time.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

“If the person was indeed registered, the next step is to have the person do what is called a late registration, which would be a registration effected in present day, but reflective of the birth that would have taken place many years ago,” McFarlane explained.

He pointed out that the process is one that is “very involved”, because the agency would need to gather several documents that would serve as supporting evidence to substantiate the professed date of birth of the individual.

The supporting documents required may include a primary-school record, baptismal certificate, and other forms of documentation.

“Persons may question why would someone who is 70 or 80 years old have a baptismal certificate, but many times the church keeps those records, and so we would liaise with them to get access to same. We even ask for immunisation records, if they have it. We may also ask, but is not necessarily the case all the time, persons who are a bit older than the applicant to serve as declarants to say that they are aware of the birth of the individual,” McFarlane said.

“For elderly persons, we recognise that there can be challenges with identifying somebody who is 10 years older than them and in a position to provide us with that information,” he added.

Having recognised that difficulty, the RGD has put in place alternatives to get the information required.

“What we would do is to ask a justice of the peace, pastor or other reputable persons in the community, who would have known these individuals for a number of years, to come forward and serve as declarants in the case where the applicant is unable to identify family members or others who are older than they are,” the CEO pointed out.

“We would have looked at the practicality of the requirements and we would have put in place that alternative, so that especially our elderly individuals can still go ahead and process their late registration,” he added.

Islandwide network

McFarlane said that for applicants whose declarants are living in Jamaica, but would have moved to another parish, the RGD has an islandwide network of registration officers who will travel the “length and breadth” of Jamaica to find these individuals and obtain the information needed.

“The onus isn’t on the applicant to travel and get this information; it is on us, and so we put things in place to make it as efficient as possible for our customers, and for them to experience as little burden as possible throughout the process,” he noted.

On the other hand, for persons who have listed declarants who live in other countries, the declarants may visit the RGD website at https://www.rgd.gov.jm/ and download the required documents, fill out the forms, have them notarised, and send them to the RGD for processing.

As it relates to the cost for the service, McFarlane said it is the most expensive service available at the RGD, because it is the most involved and resource-intensive.

“The cost for the service, which ranges from J$12,000 to J$16,000, covers the manual search of our records, doing the investigation, and producing the certificate,” he added.

The CEO said that while the service can be costly, “one can guarantee to have their birth certificate at the end of the process”.

Persons interested in utilising this or the other services of the RGD, may reach out to the agency via telephone, email, WhatsApp, social media or the agency’s Live Chat feature, which is available to customers Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

JIS