Attention! All services and assistance of UNHCR and its partners are free of charge!
UNHCR and partners provide legal aid on birth registration for refugees. The legal aid includes awareness raising sessions, legal counseling, legal assistance and legal representation.
1. I have a newborn baby born in Lebanon. What do I have to do to register the birth of my child?⬇️
You have to complete the following steps to register the birth of your newborn baby with the civil registry authorities of Lebanon (Personal Status Department). For more information on the steps of birth registration, please visit this page.
Step 1: Ask for the birth notification from the hospital or the doctor or authorized midwife who assisted at the delivery. You should ratify the birth notification signed by an authorized midwife at the midwives’ Syndicate.
Step 2: Take the birth notification and your identity document to a Mukhtar in the area where the birth took place to obtain a birth certificate.
Step 3: Take the birth certificate of your new born baby and your identity documents to the Nofous closest to the place of birth and the Foreigners’ Registry in the governorate where the birth took place, to register the birth.
2. How long after birth do I need to register a newborn?⬇️
The birth must be registered in Lebanon within a maximum period of one year from the date of birth. If you do not register the birth of your child within one year, you will be obliged to follow the procedure of late birth registration.
3. What is the late birth registration? ⬇️
The late birth registration is for those who did not register a birth of their child within a period of one year from the date of birth. The procedures for late birth registration involve a complex, lengthy and costly judicial procedure to establish birth and family lineage that includes DNA testing.
📢Attention!📢 If you are Syrian, you are exempted from registering the birth of your child within a period of one year. All birth of Syrians that took place in Lebanon between 1 January 2011 until 26 May 2023 can still be registered administratively as explained in Q1 if they passed the one-year deadline. However, if the birth took place after 26 May 2023, your child needs to be registered within one year. Failing to register within one year will result in a judicial procedure.
4. I have questions about birth registration. Where can I call? ⬇️
For individual counselling and more detailed advice and support, please call the UNHCR National Call Center at 📞04726111, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:00.
You can also call the partners’ hotlines.
➡️For Syrian refugees, please visit this page.
➡️For non-Syrian refugees, please visit this page.