What is
The birth certificate is the document issued by the corresponding Civil Registrar or Consular Officer, which attests to the fact of birth, date of birth, sex, and if applicable, the time of birth and the parentage of the registered person.
Likewise, electronic birth certificates with the electronic seal of the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries may be issued from the data contained in the central database of persons registered in the Civil Registries.
Types of certificate/certification
Several types of birth certificates may be requested. Certifications can be positive or negative:
A) Positive Certificate:
- Extract: It is a summary of the information related to the fact of birth recorded in the Civil Registry. It can be of different types:
- Ordinary: It is the one issued in Spanish language for those autonomous communities whose only official language is Spanish.
- International or multilingual: It is intended to be effective in countries that have ratified the Vienna Convention of September 8, 1976. This certificate is issued in the official language of all the signatory countries of the aforementioned agreement (Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro).
- Bilingual: Whenever an extract certificate is requested in an Autonomous Community that has its own official language, it will be issued in Spanish and in the official language of the Autonomous Community in which it is issued.
- Verbatim: A verbatim copy of the birth registration, containing all data relating to identity and the fact of birth.
B) Negative Certificate: They certify that a person is not registered in that Civil Registry.
C) Certification with electronic seal of the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries: It will serve to accredit the data contained in the computerized and digitalized registry entries of the central database that have been made as of January 1, 1950 in the Municipal Civil Registries or in the Central Civil Registry. Certifications may not be issued by this procedure when the entries were made before 1950 or were made in a delegated Civil Registry (justices of the peace) or in a Consular Civil Registry.
Content of certificates/certifications
The certifications will state:
- The Registry, with indication in the Municipal ones of the term and province, and in the Consular ones, of the country and State.
- The identity of the registrant, with the mentions that appear in the registration.
- The page and volume of the entry, or the corresponding folio and file.
- The date, name and signature of the certifying officer or secretary, and seal of the office.
- In the case of the electronic seal of the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries, information on the secure verification code, the procedure for verifying the content of the document being issued and the date of issuance shall be included.
