30 March 2023
The Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 (Amendment Ordinance) will take effect from March 31. The Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today (March 30) that new electronic services will be introduced on the day the Amendment Ordinance takes effect. Eligible informants may complete the registration of births or deaths entirely online and receive the relevant certificates by post, without having to attend a registry in person.
Pursuant to the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174), all births and deaths taking place in Hong Kong shall be registered with the Registrar of Births and Deaths. The Amendment Ordinance seeks to modernise the death registration regime to reflect the prevailing practice by specifying the duties for death registration with respect to the cause of death as opposed to where the death took place, and to extend the statutory time limit for registration of deaths from natural causes from the current 24 hours to 14 days. It also removes the requirement for applicants for registration of births and deaths to attend the registries in person, so as to provide the legal basis for the introduction of electronic services for registration of births and deaths.
On the day the Amendment Ordinance is enacted, the ImmD will introduce electronic services for registration of births and deaths. For birth registration, if either parent of a newborn baby is a Hong Kong permanent resident, the parents may submit an online application for a birth registration online for their legitimate children within a period of 42 days after the day of such birth. During the online registration, they may at the same time apply for a certified copy of the birth entry (commonly known as a birth certificate) upon payment of a prescribed fee online after choosing to receive the birth certificate by post.
As for the electronic service for death registration, it will be applicable to deaths from natural causes. The informant is required to submit an application for death registration online within the 14-day statutory time limit. During the online registration, they may at the same time apply for a certified copy of the death entry (commonly known as a death certificate) upon payment of a prescribed fee online after choosing to receive the death certificate by post.
A spokesman for the ImmD reminded eligible informants that they are required to register an "iAM Smart+" account before performing the digital signing function with legal backing. The informant may complete the entire process of registration through the ImmD mobile application, or by visiting the ImmD's website or the GovHK website (via www.immd.gov.hk/ebirthreg or www.immd.gov.hk/edeathreg) without having to attend a birth or death registry in person.
Apart from online registrations, members of the public may continue to register births or deaths through the existing method, which is to attend relevant birth and death registry in person for registration. Regardless of the registration method, the eligibility criteria and the fees of the relevant registration remain unchanged.
For further details of the electronic services for registration of births and deaths, please visit the ImmD's website at www.immd.gov.hk. Enquiries can be made by phone on 2824 6111, by email to enquiry@immd.gov.hk or by fax on 2877 7711.