Register a birth and get a birth certificate

What you'll usually need

Tick things off as you gather them. Your ticks are saved on this phone only.

• The birth record from the hospital or clinic. For a home birth, bring a witness with their ID, ideally the person who helped with the birth
• Both parents' national IDs
• Your marriage certificate, if you and the other parent are married
• If one parent has died: their death certificate, and a near relative of that parent should come with you

Send this list to yourself

Steps

1. Try to register within 42 days of the birth. You can register later, but late registration means more checks.
2. Go to your nearest district registry office, or to the registration point at a hospital or clinic if it has one. Registration teams also visit some communities.
3. If you are in a registered marriage, bring the marriage certificate. If not, both parents must go together so the father can sign the declaration of paternity. This includes couples married only under custom whose marriage isn't registered. If the father refuses or can't be found, the mother can register the child under her own surname.
4. Hand in the documents and check every spelling before you sign. Mistakes are hard to correct later.
5. Collect the certificate. Make sure you get the full (long) birth certificate. You will need it for a national ID and a passport.

Good to know

• Lost a birth certificate? You can get a copy at a registry office. Take your ID and the birth entry number, if you have it. If you don't have the number, give the year the birth was registered. There is a small search fee for each year searched.
• If your birth was never registered, you can still register as an adult, even if both your parents have died. Bring their death certificates, two witnesses, and near relatives from both your mother's and your father's side. Late registrations take longer to approve.
• People often misunderstand the fees and late-registration rules. Ask at the registry office itself, not a middleman.
• The Civil Registry's old website, rg.gov.zw, no longer works. Its current website, civilregistry.gov.zw, is mainly for passport bookings.