Birth Certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

What is a birth certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and who issues it?

A birth certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the permanent legal record of a birth made under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, and the issuing authority is the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths of the area in which the birth took place, working under the Directorate of Health Services of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. Because the Union Territory is spread across three districts; South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman, and Nicobar, and hundreds of kilometres of sea, registration is deliberately pushed down to the health centre that attended the delivery rather than concentrated in Port Blair. Hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres across the islands act as the reporting point, and the Registrar of that jurisdiction makes the entry.

The Andaman and Nicobar Administration has consolidated its citizen services on the ANI e-Seva portal at anieseva.andamannicobar.gov.in, which describes itself as the official service portal of the Administration and a single window through which all departmental services will be available. ANI e-Seva currently lists 354 services from 28 departments, of which 270 are government-to-citizen. Birth Registration is one of them, and the Administration's own service description is precise: it is the online application form for the mandatory birth certificate to register every birth, registration must be done within 21 days of the birth, and the record carries the date of birth, place of birth, name and guardian names. The listed fee against that service is Rs 0.

What does it cost, and where does the apply button go?

Zero. The Administration publishes the Birth Registration fee on ANI e-Seva as Rs 0, alongside Death Registration and Child Registration, which are also listed at Rs 0. The "Apply Online" button against Birth Registration on ANI e-Seva does not open a separate island-only application. It opens the national Civil Registration System portal at dc.crsorgi.gov.in/crs/, which is where every birth in India has been registered since the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act 2023 took effect on 1 October 2023. Island families should understand this clearly, because it changes what the process looks like: the statutory reporting still happens locally with the health centre and the Local Registrar, but the register itself is now central and the certificate is generated digitally.

Because the fee is Rs 0, there is no legitimate payment to make to anybody. Agents outside hospitals and at some Common Service Centres charge several hundred rupees to "file" a birth registration in the islands. They are charging for a free service, and in most cases the hospital had already reported the birth without them.

Who can apply for a birth certificate in the islands?

The person legally required to report the birth is the informant, and who that is depends on where the child was born. For a birth in a hospital, nursing home or maternity home, the medical officer in charge or a person authorised by the institution reports it. The Administration lists this separately on ANI e-Seva as Child Registration, described as the official recording of the child's birth by the hospital with the concerned health authorities. For a birth in a house, the head of the household reports it. For a birth in a jail, hostel or public place, the officer in charge of that place reports it.

For a copy of an already registered birth, the person named in the record, either parent, or a guardian acting for a minor can apply. Applicants cannot apply for an Andaman and Nicobar birth certificate if the birth occurred outside the Union Territory, the certificate always comes from the registration unit where the birth actually happened, not from where the family now lives. A mainland-born child of an island family is registered in the mainland district, and no island Registrar can make that entry. A person with no relationship to the record and no legal interest in it also cannot apply. There is no income, caste, tribe or residence test for this document, and no BPL or ST category concession, because a birth certificate is a civil registration record and not a welfare benefit, the fee is already nil for everybody.

What documents are needed?

The core papers are the report of birth in Form 1, the hospital discharge summary or labour room record from the institution where the delivery took place, identity proof of both parents, and proof of the island address that fixes the Local Registrar's jurisdiction. Parents' Aadhaar numbers are collected under the revamped Civil Registration System so the digital certificate can be linked and delivered electronically. A marriage certificate of the parents is commonly asked for to confirm the relationship entered in the register, though its absence does not bar registration. A birth that was not reported inside 21 days needs an affidavit explaining the delay, and a birth more than one year old needs an order of a First Class Magistrate before any entry can be made at all.

How to get a birth certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The step-by-step process

1. Have the hospital report the birth. For a delivery at G B Pant Hospital Port Blair, a district or sub-district hospital, a community health centre or a primary health centre, the institution reports the birth to the health authorities as part of the Child Registration service. Ask the records section for the acknowledgement before you are discharged.
2. File the report of birth in Form 1 within 21 days with the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths of the area in which the birth occurred. For a birth at home, the head of the household files it. This 21-day window is the one deadline that matters, and inside it there is no fee and no permission required.
3. Open ANI e-Seva at anieseva.andamannicobar.gov.in, find Birth Registration in the service list, confirm the listed fee of Rs 0, and use the Apply Online link, which opens the national Civil Registration System portal at dc.crsorgi.gov.in/crs/.
4. Complete the registration entry on the CRS portal — date and place of birth, sex of the child, names of both parents, permanent and present address, and the Aadhaar details collected for linkage. Enter the parents' names exactly as they appear on Aadhaar, because a mismatch is the single most common cause of delay.
5. Wait for the Local Registrar to verify the entry against the hospital record and the identity documents, and to make the entry in the birth register.
6. Download or collect the certificate once the entry is approved. Take extra copies at this point: school admission, passport, Aadhaar enrolment and the ration card each want their own.

How do I apply offline in the islands?

Families in Diglipur, Mayabunder, Rangat, Hut Bay, Car Nicobar and the outer islands, where connectivity is thin, can complete the whole process in person. Report the birth in Form 1 at the health centre or the office of the Local Registrar of your area, attach the hospital record and the parents' identity proof, and collect the acknowledgement. The Tehsildar's office of your district and the Common Service Centres can help with the online entry where the family cannot make it. The Administration's e-District portal at edistrict.andamannicobar.gov.in remains the route for the related revenue certificates: local certificate, income certificate, OBC certificate, that families usually need alongside a birth certificate.

How do I check the status of a birth registration?

Track the application on the Civil Registration System portal using the acknowledgement or reference number generated at submission. If the entry does not appear at all, the report has not yet reached the Registrar, and the fix is to follow it up at the health centre or the Local Registrar's office rather than filing a second application. Duplicate applications for the same birth are a recurring cause of confusion in the islands, because two part-filled entries then sit against one child.

Does a birth certificate expire?

No. A birth certificate has no validity period and never needs renewal. What occasionally needs correcting is a spelling of the child's or a parent's name, or a date that was entered wrongly at registration. Corrections are made by the same Registrar on a written application supported by documentary proof of the correct particular. Adding the child's name after registration is a routine, expected step, not a correction, many island families register within 21 days before the naming ceremony and add the name later.

Why do birth registrations get rejected or held up in the islands?

The most common failures are procedural. A report filed after 21 days without the delay affidavit is held up. A birth older than one year filed without a First Class Magistrate's order cannot be registered at all, no matter how good the hospital evidence is. Parents' names differing between the hospital record and their Aadhaar stall verification until the discrepancy is explained on paper. A report filed with the wrong registration unit, a Port Blair family registering a birth that actually occurred at a health centre in North and Middle Andaman; is returned, because jurisdiction follows the place of birth. And an application by someone with no demonstrated relationship to the child is refused.

Where do I complain if the certificate is delayed?

Start with the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths of your area and then the District Registrar of South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman or Nicobar, quoting the Form 1 acknowledgement and the date of birth. For portal problems on ANI e-Seva or e-District, the State Data Centre helpdesk of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration is reachable at 03192-259027 and 03192-259028, at the Office of the Secretary (General Administration), A&N Administration Secretariat, Port Blair, and by email at help.sdc.and@nic.in. ANI e-Seva also carries a dedicated Grievance section for services delivered through it, and the Department of Administrative Reform and Public Grievance is listed on the portal as a service-providing department in its own right.