When you register the child, you will receive an abridged birth certificate free of charge.

If you are married, the child will be registered under the father's name. However, if you are unmarried, the child can be registered under either parent's name.

If you do not register your child within the first 30 days you will be required to provide more details for the registration:

• Registration within 30 days
• Registration after 30 days, but before one year
• Registration after one year, but before 15 years
• Registration after 15 years
• Children born outside South Africa
• Contact details

To register your child, you need to fill out form BI-24 and submit it at the nearest Home Affairs office. This form contains a description of the child (gender etc) as well as the child's name and surname. The parents should bring along their ID books and the child's hospital certificate or clinic card.

If you have not registered your child in the first 30 days, but your child is still younger than one year, you need to complete form BI-24, and explain why the child's birth was not registered within the 30 days period.

If the child is more than a year old but is still younger than 15, you need to complete form BI-24/1 and submit it along with written reasons why the birth was not notified in the 30 day period. You will need:

• Affidavits by the parents or, where the parents are deceased, by a close relative at least 10 years older than the child, confirming the child's identity and status.

and

• Documentation proving the identity and status of the child, for example:
• A certificate from the hospital or maternity home where the child was born, signed by the person in charge and containing the institution's official stamp.
• Confirmation of the child's personal details as extracted from the school register of the first school attended by the child. The confirmation must be on the school's official letterhead, must be signed by the principal and must contain the school's official stamp.
• The child's baptismal certificate.
• In the case of abandoned children, a social worker report.
• The child's clinic card.
• The child's school reports.

If you are older than 15 and have not been registered, your birth registration application must accompany your application for an Identity Document. You must submit form BI-24/15 as well as form BI-9 (which is the application for an identity document).

You will need:

• Affidavits by the parents or, where the parents are deceased, by a close relative at least 10 years older than the child, confirming the child's identity and status.

and

• Documentation proving your identity and status, for example:
• A certificate from the hospital or maternity home where you were born, signed by the person in charge and containing the institution's official stamp.
• Confirmation your personal details as extracted from the school register of your first school. The confirmation must be on the school's official letterhead, must be signed by the principal and must contain the school's official stamp.
• Your baptismal certificate.
• In the case of abandoned children, a social worker report.
• Your clinic card.
• Your school reports.

If your child is born outside South Africa but one of the parents is a South Africa citizen. You can go to the South African Embassy or Mission to register the child's birth.

You will have to complete the registration form (BI-24, BI-24/1 or BI-24/15) and submit it along with:

• a BI-529 Citizenship Questionnaire
• a certified copy of the child's foreign birth certificate containing full particulars of the child's parents
• in the case of children 15 years and older, a BI-9 application for an identity document.

For more information, visit the Department of Home Affairs website or contact your nearest home affairs office.