Registration of Births:

The registration of birth of a child under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance must under normal  circumstances be made  within three months of the birth. 

When a child of a citizen of Sri Lanka is born abroad, there is an additional requirement under the Citizenship Act that such birth should be registered within one year of birth at the office of the Representative of Sri Lanka in the country of birth or at the Citizenship Division of the Ministry of Defence in Colombo. Also such child should obtain the Citizenship Certificate from the Citizenship Division of the Ministry of Defence in Colombo. Therefore, when an application is made for the registration of birth under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, an application for the registration of the child under the Citizenship Act  should also be made. The applications for the Citizenship Certificates are forwarded to the Citizenship Division in Colombo which will process them and will send the Citizenship Certificates to the same Embassy/Consulate for onward transmission to the applicants.

The Citizenship Division of the Ministry of Defence is located at 3rd Floor, 41 Ananda Rajakaruna Mawatha, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka (Phone: 94-11-5333365).

In case where the application for registration of birth is made after 03 months, the reason for the delay should be given in writing at the  time of making the application. When the application is made after 1 year of the birth of the child, they are forwarded to the Registrar General in Colombo for a decision and in such cases an additional declaration form should be completed.

A child's birth may be registered in Sinhala, Tamil, or English languages and the language of preference should be indicated when the application is made for the registration of a birth. For the birth registration of a child born abroad, the father or mother should be a Sri Lankan citizen at the time of the child birth. The father or mother of the child may submit the application for registration of the birth. However the father must be present at the Consulate General to submit the application and the Mother's presence is not mandatory. At the time of making the application for the registration of birth, an application can also be submitted to include the child in mother's or father's passport.

To register the birth of a child of Sri Lankan nationals, the following two forms must be submitted.

Application for Registration of a Birth outside Sri Lanka. (Ceylon ) (Citizenship 1 form).

Declaration of Birth under Section 16 of the Birth and Death Registration Act (Reg B4 form).

The following documents should be accompanied with the duly completed application form:

1. Original Birth certificates of the parents.

2. Sri Lanka passports of the parents.

3. Original Marriage Certificate of the parents.

4. Original Visas of the parents.

5. Original visa of the child.

6. Original Birth Certificate of the child, issued by the relevent authorities.

7. Declaration of Citizenship of father/mother, in triplicate. (click here for a specimen)

8. A letter addressed to the Consulate by father/mother confirming his/her Sri Lanka citizenship, in triplicate. (click here for a specimen)

9. Three photos of the child, completed form C and letter of consent from the father/mother of the child, as appropriate, if the child to be included in mother's/father's passport.

10. If the child is to be endorsed on father's passport, a letter of no objection from the mother (If the mother is not present at the Embassy to submit the application). Please note that the father of the child is required to present himself for the registration of the birth of the child. Mother's presence is not compulsory.

11. In case of an application made after three months and before one year of the birth, Reg B6 form in duplicate

12. In case of an application made after one year of the birth, Reg B6 form and a letter addressed to Registrar General giving the reasons for the delay, in duplicate. (click here for a specimen)

13. Three (03) self addressed envelopes