Civil Registry
The Philippine Embassy in Brazil provides civil registry services, including the registration of births, marriages, and deaths of Filipino citizens in Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname. All such vital events must be reported and duly registered.
Civil registration is the continuous, permanent, and mandatory recording of vital events—such as birth, marriage, death, and court decrees affecting civil status—as required by Act No. 3753 (Civil Registry Law).
What are the uses of civil registry documents?
Civil registry documents serve as prima facie evidence of vital events.
A birth certificate confirms identity, parentage, citizenship, and other personal details.
A marriage certificate establishes change of civil status and legal spouse.
A death certificate records an individual’s passing.
These documents are essential for legal and personal transactions such as employment, passport applications, school enrollment, insurance claims, and more. They also provide vital statistics used in national development planning.
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The Report of Birth is a declaration of the person furnishing information on the birth abroad of a Filipino child.
When a child is born abroad to at least one Filipino parent, the child's birth must be immediately reported to the Philippine Embassy or Consulate which exercises jurisdiction over the place of birth.
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A marriage officiated in a place outside of the Philippines, where one or both of the contracting parties is a Filipino citizen, must be reported to the Embassy of the Philippines in order for the said marriage to be properly registered and recorded with the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Click here for details on requirements
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The death of a Filipino citizen occurring in a place outside of the Philippines must be reported to the Philippine Embassy/Consulate abroad. This ensures that the death of said citizen is properly registered and recorded with the Philippine Statistics Authority, and for other legal purposes.
The Embassy in Brasilia can processes Reports of Death if the death occurred in countries within in its jurisdiction, i.e., Brazil, Suriname and Guyana.
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Filipino citizens can get married at the Philippine Embassy. Marriage ceremonies are strictly by appointment only.
The consular officer of the Embassy is authorized by the Philippine government to solemnize marriages between Filipino citizens subject to Philippine laws. The ceremony shall take place within the premises of the Philippine Embassy.
The Embassy may only solemnize marriages between two Filipino citizens who are both eligible to marry under Philippine law.
The couple must personally appear at the Philippine Embassy to accomplish and sign the Application for Marriage License and submit the documentary requirements.
The ceremony of marriage solemnization will be set on a date after the mandatory 10-day publication of the marriage, following the completion of the submission of documentary requirements at the Embassy.
The couple must designate two witnesses who are both 21 years and older and will attend the ceremony and sign as witnesses in the Contract of Marriage.
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Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9255, “An Act Allowing Illegitimate Children to Use the Surname of the Father, Amending the Family Code of the Philippines,” an illegitimate child may use the surname of the father if paternity is duly acknowledged through any of the following:
At the back of the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB)
A duly notarized Affidavit of Admission of Paternity (AAP)
A Private Handwritten Instrument (PHI) – executed and signed by the father
Please note that while the law allows the use of the father’s surname, it does not confer legitimacy upon the child.
Important Reminder:
Under Philippine law, a child born during a valid marriage is presumed to be the child of the mother’s legal spouse. Even if the mother disputes this, the child remains legitimate unless a competent court invalidates the presumption. In such cases, only the legal father may be recognized in the COLB or any paternity document. -
Filipinos abroad may file a petition before the Embassy to correct a clerical or typographical error in the civil registry documents issued by the Philippine Embassy in Brasilia without the need for a judicial order.
Only petitions for correction of entries in the civil registry documents registered or reported at the Philippine Embassy in Brazil may be processed.
What Is A Clerical Error?
A clerical or typographical error refers to an obvious mistake committed in clerical work, either in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as the following:
A misspelled name or misspelled place of birth and the like, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records
Day and/or month of birth
Sex (provided that this correction is not a result of a sex-reassignment)
Who May File The Petition?
The petition may be filed by a person of legal age who must have a direct and personal interest in the correction of the error in the civil register, such as the:
Owner of the record that contains the error to be corrected or first name to be changed
Owner’s spouse, children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, guardian, or any other person duly authorized by law or by the owner of the document sought to be corrected.
The Philippine Embassy assumes no responsibility for any delay or loss during mail delivery, or while the documents are in the custody of the courier service.
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The National Authority for Child Care (NACC) advises that a foreign Adoption Decree, once granted (e.g., in Brazil), can be recognized in the Philippines by filing a "Recognition of Foreign Judgment" with the appropriate Regional Trial Court (RTC). Once approved, the RTC will direct the Local Civil Registrar to amend the adopted person’s Birth Certificate.
According to the NACC, it does not have jurisdiction over stepparent or stepchild adoptions processed abroad and, as such, does not issue letters of support. In line with this, the Embassy is also unable to provide such letters.