Registering your child
If you have just had a baby in Malaysia, you can register his or her birth and get a birth certificate for them at any local office of the government’s National Registration Department (NRD), known in Bahasa Malaysia as Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN).
There is no fee to be paid at NRD if you do this within 60 days of the birth. However, after 60 days, you may be charged fees for late registration.
UNHCR strongly recommends that refugees and asylum-seekers obtain a birth certificate for newborn babies from the National Registration Department (NRD), but it is not a necessary step to register the baby with UNHCR.
1Get the Birth Registration Form
Get the application forms at the hospital where the baby is born, or at a local office of the National Registration Department (NRD)
2Visit the National Registration Department
Visit a local office of the National Registration Department (NRD) with the completed forms and required documents. You will need the following:
- Identity documents (UNHCR cards or Under Consideration letter / community cards / passports) – original and copy
- For parents who are registered with UNHCR, kindly present your UNHCR card or Under Consideration (UC) letter to NRD. If you hold a valid passport, please also provide the passport details to NRD. The passport details will be included in the birth certificate of your child for record-keeping purposes. Your passport details will not be shared with your home country. If you were not able to obtain birth certificates for your children because your UNHCR document had expired, you may approach the nearest NRD branch office again once your UNHCR documents have been renewed.
- Marriage or divorce certificate of the parents (where applicable) – original and copy.
- Confirmation of birth document from the hospital, or police report if the baby was delivered at home – original
- Completed birth registration application form – original and copy
- Pre-natal check-up book (maternity examination book) or appointment card – original
- If you are an unmarried non-Muslim couple, the person claiming to be the father of the child must sign the birth register together with the mother of the child. Otherwise, the father’s information will not be included in the birth certificate.
- For late birth registration, please visit the JPN website for more information on the documents required. The translated AM 80 and BMK 81 forms can be found here (for reference only).
You can visit any NRD office listed here. If you reside in Kuala Lumpur, we would recommend visiting this office:
NRD/JPN Jalan Duta
NRD/JPN Jalan Duta
Bangunan Kerajaan Jalan Duta
(Kompleks Kerajaan Tuanku Abdul Halim)
Publika Dutamas, 1, Jalan Dutamas, Solaris Dutamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
You may also watch these videos in English and other languages here to understand the birth registration procedure at National Registration Department (NRD) offices.
Kindly submit a request via the Help contact form “Requesting Family Inclusion“. You will then be contacted by UNHCR and given an appointment to add your new-born to your file.
Please do not come to the office if you do not have an appointment. Without appointments, you will not be allowed to be in the Centre, as the number of appointments is fixed to ensure the health and well-being of refugees. Kindly wait for UNHCR to contact you for your appointment.
If you are a family member or dependent of a registered asylum-seeker or refugee in Malaysia and would like to request for registration for yourself, please have your registered family member to submit the request via the Help contact form “Requesting Family Inclusion“. Kindly have your registered family member to indicate their Registration Group number. Only close family members currently in Malaysia (e.g. minor children, including newborn, spouse, or elderly dependents) can be added to a UNHCR file. Adding family members to UNHCR file helps keep family together in the same file.
You will then be contacted by UNHCR and given an appointment to be added to your family member’s file. We process such cases based on the date we receive the request and based on vulnerabilities.
Please do not approach UNHCR without an appointment; you will not be allowed in the Centre, as the number of appointments is fixed to ensure the health and well-being of refugees. Kindly wait for UNHCR to contact you for your appointment.