Brazil
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Getting a Birth Certificate is the first step towards the full exercise of citizenship. For brazilians, it is the document that proves the person is alive, showing his place and date of birth and the names of his parents and grandparents.

Citizens who don’t have it are deprived of their most fundamental rights and cannot be granted the advantages of social programmes. Adults who don’t have it can’t even get the Registration Number, the Individual Tax Payer Number, among other documents.

How to get it

Getting a Birth Certificate is fast and easy. When released from hospitals, babies should already have a first and a last name.

If the child is born in a hospital or in a maternity ward, parents receive a copy of the DN (Statement of Live Birth), which should be addressed to the Notary Public Office for the register of Births, Marriage and Deaths. If the child is born at home, the parents or the person responsible for his registering can go straight to a Notary Public Office.

One can get a Birth Certificate at any Notary Public Office, preferably one that is close to the place of birth. The child must be registered within 15 days after birth. Yet, if parents live more than 30 miles from the closest Office, the child can be registered within three months after birth. If the child is going to be registered by the mother, the deadline is extended by 45 days.

The registration must be obtained by the child's father. In case he can’t, the mother must do it. Here follows a priority order which, depending on the case, establishes who should register the child:

1. Father

2. Mother

3. Closest relative

4. Officers of the hospital where the child was born

5. Doctors and midwives who attended the birth

6. Reputable person who lived in the house where the birth occurred (in case the mother didn’t deliver at home)

Documents needed

If parents are married, they must appear in a Notary Public Office with the Certificate of Marriage and two witnesses over the age of 21. If parents are not married, one of them or both should appear in the Notary Public Office with the Registration Number or the Certificate of Birth and two witnesses over the age of 21. In this case, the Certificate of Birth will only show the father’s name if he states he is the child’s father or gives a written authorization.

If parents are below the age of 16, they should appear in a Notary Office with the baby’s grandparents or a person over the age of 21. The documents needed for registration are the same as mentioned above.

How much does it cost?

Every Brazilian citizen has the right to get a Birth Certificate, and that’s why it is issued at no cost by Notary Public Offices. If a citizen needs a second copy, he might be charged for it. If he cannot afford it, he must declare it in written. If he is an illiterate, he can ask someone to draft it for him. In both cases, the declaration must be signed by two witnesses.

Adults and adolescents still to get a Birth Certificate

If the citizen is an adult and wants to get a Birth Certificate, he needs two known witnesses, who are preferably older than him. If his parents are alive, they must apply in written for the Certificate, validate the paternity/maternity and show their registration numbers.

If the person is a minor, he must include to the application the following supporting documents: the Statement of Live Birth drafted by the hospital where the child was born, the Registration Number of his parents and also the declaration of two known witnesses.

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