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Birth registration

Inscripción de nacimiento en el Registro Civil

What it is

As a general rule, a newborn's registration is reported directly by the hospital: the parents sign the official form there and the hospital sends it electronically to the Civil Registry within seventy-two hours of the birth, with no need to go to the office. After that deadline, or in excluded cases (for example, when both parents are foreign nationals of different nationalities), the birth is declared at the Civil Registry within ten days, extendable to thirty with good cause. The registration certificate can be downloaded from the Ministry of Justice online portal.

Official wording
La remisión de la documentación y de la solicitud de inscripción por el Centro Sanitario deberá efectuarse en el plazo máximo de setenta y dos horas siguientes al nacimiento. Transcurrido este plazo, la inscripción de nacimiento podrá declararse en el plazo de 10 días en el Registro Civil competente, sin perjuicio de que pueda ampliarse este plazo hasta 30 días cuando se acredite justa causa conforme al artículo 166 del Reglamento del Registro Civil.

Official sources

Where it applies
All of Spain

Official information

Official sources

When

At the hospital: the hospital must send the application within 72 hours of the birth. If this was not done (or the birth took place outside a hospital): declaration at the Civil Registry within 10 days, extendable to 30 days with good cause. After the deadline, a registry procedure (expediente registral) is needed.

Official wording
1. Respecto de los nacimientos que se hayan producido fuera de establecimiento sanitario, o cuando por cualquier causa no se haya remitido el documento en el plazo y condiciones previstos en el artículo anterior, los obligados a promover la inscripción dispondrán de un plazo de diez días para declarar el nacimiento ante la Oficina del Registro Civil o las Oficinas Consulares de Registro Civil.

Official sources

Steps

  1. Step 1: Agree on the name and the order of surnames

    If parentage is established on both sides, the parents agree on the order in which their first surnames are passed on before registration. If they do not agree or it is not stated in the application, the Registry gives them three days to state it; otherwise the Registrar decides in the best interests of the child. The order chosen applies to later children with the same parents.

    Official wording
    Si la filiación está determinada por ambas líneas, los progenitores acordarán el orden de transmisión de su respectivo primer apellido, antes de la inscripción registral.

    Official sources

  2. Step 2: Sign the official form at the hospital

    Hospital staff fill in the official declaration form with the declarants' details (newborn's name, surname order, parentage), scan the parents' identity documents and the doctor's birth report, and send it electronically to the Civil Registry within 72 hours. The declarants sign the form by hand. There is no need to go to the Civil Registry.

    Official wording
    La dirección de hospitales, clínicas y establecimientos sanitarios comunicará en el plazo de setenta y dos horas a la Oficina del Registro Civil que corresponda cada uno de los nacimientos que hayan tenido lugar en el centro sanitario, excepto aquellos casos que exijan personarse ante el Encargado del Registro Civil.

    Official sources

  3. Step 3: Keep the acknowledgement of receipt

    The system generates an acknowledgement of receipt of the application, which is given to the declarants together with the original signed form and the medical certificate.

    Official wording
    El sistema generará un acuse de recibo de la solicitud de inscripción que se entregará a los declarantes junto con el formulario original firmado por ellos y el certificado médico aportado, en el que deberá constar sello indicativo del procedimiento en el que se ha utilizado.

    Official sources

  4. Step 4: If not done at the hospital, declare the birth at the Civil Registry

    When the birth took place outside a hospital, the hospital did not send the application within 72 hours, or it is a case excluded from hospital reporting, the birth is declared at the Civil Registry Office (or at a Consular Civil Registry Office) within 10 days, presenting the completed official document and the medical certificate. After the deadline, a decision in a registry procedure is needed.

    Official wording
    2. La declaración se efectuará presentando el documento oficial debidamente cumplimentado acompañado del certificado médico preceptivo firmado electrónicamente por el facultativo o, en su defecto, del documento acreditativo en los términos que reglamentariamente se determinen.

    Official sources

  5. Step 5: Download the full birth certificate

    The Civil Registry registers the birth immediately and issues the electronic full birth certificate (certificación literal). You are notified by email to download it from the Ministry of Justice online portal; if no email was given, it is sent by post.

    Official wording
    Esta certificación podrá descargarse en la sede electrónica del Ministerio de Justicia, lo que se comunicará al declarante o declarantes en la dirección de correo electrónico que a tal efecto se haya indicado en el formulario.

    Official sources

Documents

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🖨 Printable bilingual document card (you can show it at the counter)

Fees

Free of charge.

Official wording
5. Todas las actuaciones necesarias para esta remisión tendrán carácter gratuito.

Official sources

FAQ

When can the hospital not register the birth?

When a declaration or procedure before the Civil Registrar is required, in particular: when the presumption of paternity has to be rebutted; when a parent is a minor or has had their legal capacity modified by a court; children of unmarried parents where a parent is absent, has died or is incapacitated; when both parents are foreign nationals of different nationalities; or when the mother has renounced the child. Also for technical reasons (hospital not registered, registry not computerised, system failure).

Official wording
4.º Cuando los dos progenitores sean extranjeros de distinta nacionalidad.

Official sources

What if the ten-day deadline has passed?

The deadline can be extended to 30 days if good cause is shown. After that, registering the declaration requires a decision issued in a registry procedure.

Official wording
3. Para inscribir la declaración, cuando haya transcurrido desde el nacimiento el plazo previsto, se precisará resolución dictada en expediente registral.

Official sources

Do we have to update the Family Book?

It does not need to be updated when accompanied by the electronic full birth certificate.

Official wording
La expedición de la certificación de nacimiento tiene gran relevancia ya que conforme a la disposición adicional tercera de la Ley 19/2015, no será necesario actualizar el contenido del Libro de Familia cuando se acompañe de esta certificación literal electrónica acreditativa del nacimiento.

Official sources

What does the birth registration prove?

It is official proof of the birth, its date, time and place, and of the identity, sex and, where applicable, parentage of the registered person.

Official wording
La inscripción de nacimiento es el asiento registral extendido por la persona encargada del registro civil que hace fe del hecho del nacimiento, de la fecha, hora y lugar en que ha ocurrido, identidad, sexo y, en su caso, de la filiación de la persona inscrita.

Official sources

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