Birth certificate and its importance

Birth certificate is one of the most important legal documents you will have possession of in your entire lifetime. There are many situations when you will need to use your original birth certificate or a certified copy of it in order to prove your identity and date of birth. It is the first right of a child and establishes his or her identity. It becomes important as it helps in establishing your age for insurance reasons, electoral rolls, employment, marriage, proving parentage, admission to schools/colleges, registering for National Population Register, application for a passport and fulfilling immigration requirements like getting a green card.

A person without a birth certificate will not be identified as an Indian citizen & will not be eligible to reap all the benefits/rights. They will not be able to get a passport or admission into schools. A birth certificate is a stamp of your existence on this earth and hence is extremely essential to every human being. Therefore, it becomes imperative that important documents and IDs should be kept in a safe place, but losing them is more common than one might think. Documents and important paperwork can get lost in the shuffle of a move and misplaced anytime you take them out to use. If you’ve lost your birth certificate there are easy steps to follow to retrieve a new certified copy. Getting a replacement birth certificate can be an uncomplicated process as long as you have the correct documentation available to you.

Application for non-availability of birth certificate

If you have lost or misplaced your original birth certificate, you can easily apply for a copy of the original birth certificate. This application is known as an application for the non-availability of birth certificates. This non-availability certificate is issued if the registration of birth has not been done and in the case of loss of the original birth certificate. Note that the issuing authority, which is the Public Health Department of your municipal corporation, does not give a duplicate. What you will be issued is not called a duplicate but a second original of the birth certificate. This second original is considered to be legally valid as it will have the original stamp of the issuing authority. It thus differs from a photocopy of your original certificate wherein the stamp too is a photocopy & thus not original.

Need for replacement of birth certificate

There are numerous reasons as to why and how you have come to need a replacement birth certificate. If you believe that your original birth certificate was lost or stolen, you may want to report it as such. In order for you to obtain a replacement birth certificate, there are some things you must have.

Details required to be submitted:

  Note- It is important to state that the replacement record is for you as you cannot request a replacement of someone else’s records.

Individuals that can legally acquire your birth certificate

Steps to be followed for obtaining a duplicate/replacement certificate

1. Visit the office of the municipal corporation in the city where you were born. It is that specific city's municipal corporation which will have a record of the registration of birth. In the case of different municipal zones/wards in various areas of a city, you need to visit the zone/ward office of the area where you were born. For example, if you wish to apply for a duplicate copy of the birth certificate in Mumbai, Maharashtra and you were born in that part of the city which comes under the G-South Ward of the BMC, then you have to apply to that ward office.

2. You will need to pay a small fee for the issuing of a copy of the birth certificate. This fee varies from one State/city to another.

3. On paying the fee, you will be given an application form in which you need to carefully fill in all the details. Here it is important to note that if your handwriting is not clear, you are likely to end up with a certificate with a lot of misspelt names! Hence it is a good idea to fill in the details in block letters to eliminate errors in names on the certificate. You can confirm if it is ok to write everything in block letters.

4. You will be issued a receipt and will be instructed on when you can get a copy.

Note: There is a huge rush and you might need to stand in a serpentine queue in the municipal office. You must make sure of the timings of the municipal office, as well as the days it is closed. A municipal corporation office is usually quite large, spread over many rooms/floors. Ensure you go to the correct floor and the correct application counter as you may end up in a queue which is for applying for a duplicate copy of a death certificate. Take along the necessary documents along with you as they may be required at any time during the application or try and find out beforehand what the requisite documents are.

You can have a hassle-free time if the municipal corporation office of the city where you are applying provides online applications for a duplicate birth certificate. In such a case, all you have to do is visit the official website and follow the instructions provided.

Websites of Municipal Corporations of major cities in India

• Delhi

• Mumbai

• Kolkata

• Chennai

• Bengaluru

• Hyderabad

• Jaipur

• Dehradun

• Thiruvananthapuram

• Bhopal

• Patna

• Ranchi

• Guwahati

• Panaji

• Chandigarh

• Bhubaneshwar

• Imphal

• Shimla

• Gangtok/Sikkim

• Agartala

• Aizawl

• Jammu

• Srinagar

• Shillong

• Andaman

Alternatively, apply for a new certificate

You can also apply for a new certificate online. To get birth certificate form, just visit the official website of your municipal corporation website and get the application form for birth certificate check online and apply for it online. If you are not able to find a municipal corporation office in your city, you can look it up on the internet and search for the nearest office from your location.

Modes for application for a new birth certificate online

• Online through e-Nagarsewa website

1. Register on the application website, that is, http://e-nagarsewaup.gov.in/ulbapps

2. Once the registration is completed, a login id (your registered mobile number) and an auto-generated password will be generated and sent to you on the registered mobile.

3. Log in, then click on the link to apply for birth certificate on the dashboard screen, and then proceed with filling the details for applying.

4. Once an application is submitted, an SMS is sent to the citizen's mobile to intimate the same.

• Through a Citizen Service Center (CSC)

1. CSCs are the cyber cafes that are authorized to perform the task of the Nagar Nigam operator. They are provided with all the guidelines & forms to fill the registration form in accordance to the information provided by the citizen.

2. Once an application is submitted, an SMS is sent to the citizen's mobile to intimate the same.

3. A separate account is maintained through which the CSCs collect the payment from the citizen. This is then later submitted to the Nagar Nigam.

Note: Once the certificate is generated and is made available on the site, the citizen can collect it either from the site or from the CSC or from Nagar Nigam service center.

• Through a Nagar Nigam Service Center (NNSC)

1. Citizen has to visit the Nagar Nigam Service Center for applying certificate with all required documents.

2. The Nagar Nigam operator will fill the registration form according to the information provided by the citizen.

3. Once an application is submitted, an SMS is sent to the citizen's mobile to intimate the same.

Checking Application Status

To check the status of your birth certificate applications, proceed as below:

1. On the Home page of the website http://e-nagarsewaup.gov.in/ulbapps click the menu item "Birth Certificate, listed in the left menu under "Services for Citizen".

2. Click on Check Status for Birth Certificate image.

3. Three search options are available:

   • Using Acknowledgement number provided after application was successfully submitted.

   • Using Registration Number

   • Using advanced search with city name and date of birth.

4. Select the appropriate option and submit to view the status of application.

Downloading a Birth Certificate

To download the birth certificates in .pdf proceed as below:

1. On the Home page of the website http://e-nagarsewaup.gov.in/ulbapps, click the menu item "Birth Certificate listed in the left menu under "Services for Citizen".

2. Click on Download Birth Certificate image.

3. Three search options are available:

   • Using the Acknowledgement number provided after the application was successfully submitted.

   • Using Registration Number

   • Using advanced search with city name and date of birth.

4. Select the appropriate option and submit to download the certificate.

Note: The certificate provided here is digitally signed by Nagar Nigam authority and hence legal and valid

Verifying Birth certificate

In order to verify the authenticity of birth certificate, proceed as below:

1. On the Home page of the website http://e-nagarsewaup.gov.in/ulbapps click the menu item "Birth Certificate listed in the left menu under "Services for Citizen".

2. Click on the Verify Birth Certificate image.

3. Two search options are available:

   • Using Acknowledgement Number

   • Using Registration Number

4. Select the appropriate option and submit to view if the corresponding birth certificate is valid.