Declaration of birth

A child born in South Africa out of non-South African parents will get only a handwritten “Declaration of Birth” and ‘Unabridged Birth Certificate” which will NOT be archived by the South African authorities. If lost, there will be no possibility to regain a copy of these documents.

You are advised, at the time of issuing of the documents, to request for several unabridged birth certificates at the same time for use and registration in South Africa, Belgium, at the Consulate general of Belgium and abroad.

If the child holds Belgian nationality, it is recommended to request the transcription of the South African Unabridged birth certificate into the Registers of Civil Status at your Belgian municipality.

1. Therefore you need the South African unabridged birth Certificate,
2. legalized by the Apostil,
3. have the Unabridged Birth Certificate translated into Dutch or French - depending the official language of the Belgian municipality by one of the by the Consulate general of Belgium recognized sworn translators,
4. have the signature of the sworn translator legalized by the Consulate general of Belgium,
5. the file can be presented to the Belgian municipality for transcription (this can be requested by a family member or friend as well).

Registration of a new born baby at the Consulate general where you are registered (procedure for a Belgian parent who was born in Belgium)

Please email the following documents to the Consulate general where you are registered:

• the South African birth certificate, legalized with the Apostille by DIRCO. Important: For a child born out of wedlock, you must add the vault copy (also called notice of birth), signed by both parents, dated and stamped by Home Affairs!
• registration form for minors, signed by both parents: Dutch form (DOCX, 33.64 KB) / French form (DOCX, 35.91 KB) / German form (DOCX, 31.27 KB)
• copy of the passport/ID card of the parents