Note

15 January 2019
Birth registration and birth certificates in Bangladesh
Danish National ID Centre
Introduction
Adelgade 13
This note describes issuance procedure as well as appearance of Bangladeshi birth DK-1304 Copenhagen K
certificates along with the procedure of civil registration in Bangladesh. The note Denmark
also touches upon the credibility of the Bangladeshi birth certificate.
Phone +45 61 98 39 00
Email nidc@nidc.dk
The note is based on available open source information as well as information Website www.nidc.dk
obtained during the mission to Bangladesh conducted by the Danish National ID
Centre in November 2018.

Background
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is divided into 64 self-governed administra-
tive districts of which each individual district has its own district council. The 64
districts are again divided into 460 sub districts, called upazilas, which are again
divided into 4,488 union councils, called union parishads, the lowest administra-
tive level in Bangladesh.1 Each union parishad has a number of registration offices
within their jurisdiction.2

Birth registrations in Bangladesh are regulated according to the Births and Deaths
Registration Act, which was enacted in 2004 and effectuated in 2006. The imple-
mentation of the act made it compulsory to register child births within the 45
days following the birth.3 It also made it mandatory by law to provide a birth cer-
tificate when, among other things, applying for a passport, an ID card and when
enrolling a child into the school.4

Bangladeshi births have since 2010 been registered directly into the database
Birth Registration Information System (BRIS). However, the complete implemen-
tation and development of BRIS is currently still ongoing.5 According to a diplo-
matic source as well as a registrar’s office all physical archives of registrations

1
United Kingdom: Home Office, (30 September 2012), Country of Origin Information Report - Bang-
ladesh, https://www.refworld.org/docid/506ece882.html, pp. 37.
2
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
3
Bangladesh: Births and Deaths Registration Act, 2004, Act No. 29 of 2004, 7 December 2004,
https://www.refworld.org/docid/511b54192.html, pp. 3.
4
Bangladesh: Births and Deaths Registration Act, 2004, pp. 6.
5
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
Page 1/7
conducted before 2010 are in the process of being transferred into the BRIS data-
base.6 The transition to a digital database has made it possible to verify birth cer-
tificates online.

Before BRIS was implemented the general level of registration routines and keep-
ing of civil records was poor making it almost impossible to verify personal infor-
mation in a civil status document.7 According to a registrar’s office a total of 164
million births were registered in BRIS by 11th of October 2018.8 A major challenge
in regards to BRIS is the fact that an unknown amount of duplicates are registered
in the database. The authorities are currently working on separating the dupli-
cates from the legitimate registrations.9

Birth registration in Bangladesh

It is most common for Bangladeshi citizens to go to their local union parishad to
register a birth. However, births can also be registered at municipality offices and
city corporations as well as at cantonment boards and Bangladeshi missions
abroad.10

According to an international organisation, the birth registration rate of the Bang-

ladeshi population is high at approximately 98 per cent. However, the rate of
births registered within the set timeframe of 45 days is significantly lower at 28
per cent.11 On the homepage of UNICEF in Bangladesh it is stated that only 37 per
cent of Bangladeshi children under the age of five are officially registered, since it
is common for Bangladeshi children to have their birth registered when entering
the school system at the age of six.12

Determining age is challenging in Bangladesh partly due to a significant motivation

to change one’s age to for example obtain a government job before reaching the
age bar or to enrol into the school system.13 It is also not uncommon for parents
to change their daughter’s age so she can be legally married before the age of
18.14 Furthermore, the long standing practice of local birth registrations and keep-
ing physical archives before the implementation of BRIS presents challenges in
regards to verifying personal information in birth certificates that are not yet reg-
istered into BRIS.

6
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018; Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7
November 2018
7
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
8
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
9
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
10
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
11
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
12
UNICEF Bangladesh, https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/timely-and-accessible-birth-
registration.
13
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
14
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
Page 2/7
Issuance procedure
According to the regulations, a child born in a health facility is supposed to be
registered automatically, but in practice it is not always the case.15 Note that a
registration of birth conducted by the hospital is not an official registration of
birth. The birth must still be informed of to the local union parishad.16 Registration
within the legal timeframe of 45 days is free of charge.17

Approximately 80 per cent of Bangladeshi children are born outside of a health

facility.18 In these cases, a parent or a guardian of the child must seek out the local
union parishad of the parents’/guardian’s permanent address and inform of the
birth. A permanent address is defined as the person’s last official address for
more than three consecutive years.19 Applications for birth registrations can be
submitted online or in person at the local union parishad. When applying for a
birth registration personally, the application and supporting documentation must
be handed directly to the registrar in union parishad, where the information is
entered into BRIS.20 Supplementing documentation for a registration of birth can
be a medical birth certificate from a doctor or a health assistant.21

Only one person in each registration office is authorized to enter information into
BRIS.22 That person is not a government official, but acts on behalf of the local
registrar given that the local registrars’ offices are in many cases understaffed and
overworked. During a meeting with an international non-governmental organisa-
tion this employee was compared to a private entrepreneur, who sets the price
for the services he offers.23

The consulted sources provide conflicting information on whether or not it is

mandatory by law to have a hardcopy of one’s birth certificate. According to a
registrar it is not mandatory to have a hard copy of one’s birth certificate,24
whereas a Country of Origin Research and Information report from 2012 stated
that the Birth and Deaths Registrations Act specifies that people must have a
physical copy of their birth certificate.25 When issuing a hard copy of a birth certif-
icate, the information in the certificate will be taken from the information regis-
tered on the applicant in BRIS.26

15
United Kingdom: Home Office (31 August 2013), Country of Origin Information Report - Bangla-
desh https://www.refworld.org/docid/523bf5384.html, pp. 155
16
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
17
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
18
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
19
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
20
Non-Governmental Organisation, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
21
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
22
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
23
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
24
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
25
Country of Origin Research and Information (CORI) (March 2012). CORI Country Report: Bangla-
desh, https://www.refworld.org/docid/50618c6f2.html, pp. 72/73
26
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
Page 3/7
According to a registrar’s office the information collected when registering a birth
is filed directly into BRIS, the applicant is not required to fill out any paper based
form and no physical archive is kept.27 However, during a meeting with a regis-
trar’s office the Danish National ID Centre was presented with a photocopy of a
physical Birth Registration Certificate collecting relevant information about the
birth, child and parents.

Technical appearance of the birth certificate

According to the Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA),
the current format for birth certificates have the form number 3 or 3A written in
the top right corner. The format has been in use since July 2006 in all registration
offices in Bangladesh.28 However, certificates issued on previously used formats
are still in circulation as well.29 The sources provide conflicting information in re-
gards to the uniformity and security features of the birth certificates. One source
stated that the Dhaka South and North City Corporations issue birth certificates
containing a watermark,30 whereas another source informed that the certificates
have no security features.31

A personal identification number is assigned to a person upon registration of

birth. All birth certificates must contain a unique 17 digit personal identification
number of the holder. The personal identification number must consist of 17 dig-
its. The personal identification number is made from following template:32

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Year of birth Area code referring to the Randomly generated series of
district, sub district and regis- numbers
trar of issuance

All birth certificates must contain two signatures in order to be valid, but older
documents can have up to three.33 As the birth certificate is issued in Bengali it is
often followed by a translation into English. The translations do not conform to
any visual uniformity.34

Late registrations and reissuance

If a person’s birth has not been registered within the timeframe of 45 days they
are required to submit proof of age. If applicants fail to provide proof of age they
can be subjected to a medical exam.35 The representative of the Bangladeshi au-
thorities did not specify what documentation was accepted as proof of age at the

27
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
28
France: Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA), (June 2015), Report on the
mission to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, https://www.refworld.org/docid/577ccdf44.html,
pp. 51.
29
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
30
Non-Governmental Organisation, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
31
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
32
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
33
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
34
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
35
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
Page 4/7
meeting in Dhaka. However, according to the Australian Department for Foreign
Affairs and Trade (DFAT) late registration can be conducted without the applicant
providing any supporting documentation.36 A late fee of 25 Taka will be imposed
when registering after passing the timeframe of 45 days. When more than five
years have passed since the birth the fee is raised to 50 Taka.37

The regulations of late issuance were changed in 2018. Until 2018 Bangladeshi
citizens had to apply for registration at the registration office of their last perma-
nent address. From 2018 people have been able to register at the registration
office of their address at the time of registration.38

In case of a lost document the holder can apply for a duplicate, which can be
granted by the Chief Executive Officer at the local union parishad. The union pari-
shad keeps a physical record of the issued duplicates.39

Error correction
According to the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 2004, one can apply for
correction if an error has been made. In cases of an error involving the records, an
application must be delivered to the registrar along with a set correction fee. If
the application is satisfactory the registrar can correct the error in the records and
sign the area of correction with his signature and the date of correction.40

However, according to a registrar’s office an obvious clerical error in the birth

certificate will be corrected on the spot. In cases of claims about errors involving
critical personal information the holder must provide sufficient proof of identity in
order to ascertain that a mistake has indeed been made.41

Credibility of Bangladeshi birth certificates

The lack of a fully established national civil registry in combination with the signif-
icant level of corruption in the public sector gives the Bangladeshi birth certifi-
cates an overall low credibility.42 The motivation to change one’s age in Bangla-
desh makes the Bangladeshi birth certificate vulnerable to fraudulent use because
the certificate is considered proof of age.43 It is easy to obtain a genuine certifi-
cate containing the personal information that the holder needs;44 for example a
birth certificate that states that the holder is younger than the age bar for a gov-

36
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) (2 February 2018), DFAT country in-
formation report Bangladesh,
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1424361/4792_1518593933_country-information-report-
bangladesh.pdf, pp. 36.
37
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
38
Non-Governmental Organization, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
39
Non-Governmental Organisation, meeting in Dhaka, 13 November 2018
40
Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 2004, pp. 5.
41
Registrar, meeting in Dhaka, 7 November 2018
42
Landinfo, Temanotat Bangladesh: Politi og rettsvesen (4 July 2013), https://landinfo.no/wp-
content/uploads/2018/03/Bangladesh-Politi-og-rettsvesen-04072013.pdf, pp. 3.
43
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
44
Migrationsverket, Lifos (5 July 2018), Lifosrapport Bangladesh: Falska handlingar (version 1.0),
https://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokument?documentSummaryId=41287 pp. 7.
Page 5/7
ernment employment or that a girl is above the legal age for marriage. According
to Lifos both fraudulent and genuine documents containing fraudulent infor-
mation are widely available.45 DFAT states that fraud involving Bangladeshi birth
certificates is very prevalent,46 which is supported by a wide range of sources.47

The lack of security features in the birth certificates makes it possible for visa bro-
kers to photocopy a blank certificate form and fraudulently issue duplicates to
several applicants using the same form number.48 However, duplicates can also be
issued genuinely at the registrations office, in case the office runs out of blank
forms.49 Furthermore, the fact that birth certificates can be issued later than the
legal timeframe of 45 days complicates the process of verifying the document
itself, as well as the information contained therein. The fact that BRIS is not fully
implemented and does not necessarily contain information on a document issued
before 2010 furthermore complicates the challenge of verifying a Bangladeshi
birth certificate.

-oo0oo-

45
Lifos, 5 July 2018, pp. 7
46
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2 February 2018.
47
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018; Western Diplomatic source B,
meeting in Dhaka, 14 November 2018; Landinfo 4 July 2013, pp. 7
48
Western Diplomatic Source A, meeting in Dhaka, 5 November 2018
49
Lifos, 5 July 2018, pp. 10.
Page 6/7
References
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) (2 february 2018),
DFAT country information report, Bangladesh,
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1424361/4792_1518593933_country-
information-report-bangladesh.pdf. Accessed on 14 December 2018.
Registrar, 7 November 2018.
National Legislative Bodies, Bangladesh: Births and Deaths Registration Act,
2004, Act No. 29 of 2004, 7 December 2004,
https://www.refworld.org/docid/511b54192.html. Accessed on 16 December
2018.
Country of Origin Research and Information (March 2012), CORI Country Re-
port: Bangladesh. https://www.refworld.org/docid/50618c6f2.html. Accessed on
18 December 2018.
France: Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA) (June
2015), Report on the mission to the People's Republic of Bangladesh,
https://www.refworld.org/docid/577ccdf44.html. Accessed 19 December 2018.
Landinfo, (4 July 2013), Temanotat Bangladesh: Politi og rettsvesen.
https://landinfo.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Bangladesh-Politi-og-
rettsvesen-04072013.pdf. Accessed on 14 December 2018.
Non-Governmental Organization, 13 November 2018
Migrationsverket, Lifos (5 July 2018), Lifosrapport Bangladesh: Falska handlin-
gar (version 1.0),
https://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokument?documentSummaryId=41287.
UNICEF Bangladesh, https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/timely-and-
accessible-birth-registration. Accessed on the 14 December 2018.
United Kingdom: Home Office, (30 September 2012), Country of Origin Infor-
mation Report - Bangladesh, https://www.refworld.org/docid/506ece882.html.
Accessed on 15 December 2018.
United Kingdom: Home Office (31 August 2013), Country of Origin Information
Report - Bangladesh, https://www.refworld.org/docid/523bf5384.html. Accessed
on 15 December 2018.
Western Diplomatic Source A, 5 November 2018
Western Diplomatic Source B, 14 November 2018

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