Registering the Birth of Your Newborn Baby in Hong Kong

Under the relevant Ordinance, a birth will be registered upon receipt by the registrar of the relevant birth return (a document that records a baby's birth) from the hospital in which the baby is born. For birth registration, you need to make prior appointment booking through the Internet (www.gov.hk/birthregistration) or by telephone (2598 0888). You should make enquiry with the relevant hospital to confirm that the birth return has been delivered to the registrar before making an appointment booking.

No registration fee is payable if the birth is registered within a period of 42 days. A registration fee will be charged if the birth is registered after the period of 42 days but within 1 year. After 1 year, a birth can be registered only with the consent of the Registrar of Births and Deaths and upon payment of a registration fee. If you want to obtain a certified copy of the birth entry (commonly known as Certificate of Birth) after registration of the birth, you are required to pay a prescribed fee.

For birth registration, the presence of the child is not required. In the case of legitimate child, the attendance of either parent is sufficient.

To speed up the processing time for registration of birth on the appointment day, you are advised to submit in advance the required information for registration of birth by using this online service.  You may also choose to download the ‘Information Required for Registration of Birth’ (Form BDR93A) for completion and submit the completed information sheet at the time of registration.  Please note that the information sheet is not an application from.

Where to register

The birth of a child should be registered at a birth registry of the district in which it occurred. If the child was born before arrival at a hospital/clinic or the birth has not been registered within 1 year, the birth should be registered at the Births and Deaths General Register Office.

Contact information

The office is located on Lower Ground Floor, 28 Kimberley Street, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Hotline: (852) 2824 6111
Fax: (852) 2877 7711
Email: [email protected]

Supporting documents

When applying for the registration of your child's birth, you should supply originals of the following documents:

• Hong Kong identity cards or valid travel documents (e.g. passports, documents of identity etc.) of you and your spouse
• Your marriage certificate

The abovementioned documents are normally required for the purpose of verifying the Hong Kong permanent resident status of the child under the Immigration Ordinance (Chapter 115). Additional documents or information may be required if necessary.

In the case of illegitimate child, the father’s name is to be included in the birth register under the following circumstances:

- At the joint request of the parents, who personally attend the registry to make the joint request; or
- At the request of mother, she personally attends the registry and produces her Declaration and father's Statutory Declaration to confirm the child's paternity; or
- at the request of father, he personally attends the registry and produces his Declaration and mother's Statutory Declaration to confirm the child's paternity; or
- At the request of the father or mother, either parent personally attends the registry and produces a certified copy of relevant Court Order to confirm the child's paternity and if the child has reached the age of 16, the written consent of the child to the registration of that person as his father.

For application for consent to post registration of birth (a birth that has not been registered within 1 year), applicant is required to apply for a search of his birth record in the first instance to ensure that he has no registered birth record in Hong Kong. The application should be supported with evidence indicative of the applicant’s date and place of birth as well as proof of relationship between the applicant and his parents. The parents and two additional witnesses will be required to make statutory declarations on the applicant’s birth in Hong Kong.

Processing time

The registration of a birth normally takes 30 minutes to complete, and a certified copy of a birth entry can usually be issued within another 10 minutes.

Application fees

Registering a birth does not incur a fee if it is made within 42 days of the birth. If it is made after 42 days of the birth but within 1 year, a registration fee of HK$140 will be charged. After 1 year, the registration fee will be HK$680. You will need to pay HK$140 for a certified copy of a birth entry after the birth registration. If you had not applied for a certified copy at the time of the birth registration but need to get one afterwards, you may need to apply for a search of birth records first . You will have to pay a search fee (HK$140 for Particular Search and HK$680 for General Search).

Appointment booking for birth registration

You need to make prior appointment booking through either the Internet or the telephone booking system for birth registration of your newborn baby. Both channels provide round-the-clock service and the service is free of charge. Before selecting the date of appointment, you should confirm with the hospital where the child was born that the birth return has been delivered to the registrar. Upon making the appointment, you are required to provide information which matches that on your baby’s birth return. The appointment is given on a first-come-first-served basis. For telephone booking system users, a touch-tone phone is required and the telephone number is 2598 0888. 

Attention

Please confirm with the hospital to ensure that the birth return of your baby has been delivered to the concerned births registry by the hospital before you use the appointment booking service. Moreover, the information which you provide should match with those on your baby's birth return. Otherwise, the appointment booking cannot be processed.
Special Arrangement for Applying Travel Documents for Newborn Babies

With immediate effect, if an eligible newborn child in Hong Kong is required to apply for travel documents (including HK Re-entry Permit and/or HKSAR Passport) after the birth registration, the parent or legal guardian of the child can make such an application with the Hong Kong birth certificate issued on that day.  He/She may approach the reception counter of any of the Immigration branch offices on the same day [Note: Before 1530 hours for Mondays to Fridays and before 1100 hours for Saturdays, except Sundays and General Holidays]. In applying for travel documents for the child, the parent or legal guardian should bring the child to the office in person and bring along the following documents to support the application:

(a) the child's Hong Kong birth certificate [Note: Item (11) of the certificate should read "2(a), Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) established"];

(b) recent photos of the child [Note: 2 photos for Re-entry Permit or/and 3 photos for HKSAR Passport (colour photo with plain white background)];

(c) consenting parent or legal guardian's Hong Kong identity card or valid travel document;

(d) completed application form(s) [ID73A(Re-entry Permit) or/and ID842 and ROP3 (HKSAR Passport)]; and

(e) a completed Form for Countersignature [ID641] with a copy of identity document of the person countersigning the form.

For enquiry, please contact the Immigration enquiry hotline at 2824 6111.

Online Submission of Information Required for Registration of Birth

If you have successfully made an appointment for registration of birth of your child, we recommend you to submit in advance the information required for registration of birth by using this online service at least one day before the scheduled appointment.