The State Register of Civil Status Acts – database of civil status acts in Ukraine

Ukrainian State Register of Civil Status Acts

Pursuant to Article 49 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the birth of an individual and his or her origin, adoption, deprivation and restoration of parental rights, marriage, divorce, change of name, and death are subject to mandatory entry in the State Register of Civil Status Acts by the justice authorities. The procedure for entering this data is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Procedure for creating and maintaining the Register

There is a specific procedure for creating and maintaining the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Ukrainian citizens.

In particular, the said Procedure stipulates that the State Register of Civil Status Acts (hereinafter – the Register) is a unified computer database of civil status acts, amendments and supplements thereto, issuance of certificates of civil status acts registration and extracts from the Register.

Information on an individual’s birth and origin, marriage, divorce, change of name, and death is entered into the Register by the registrar (civil registration departments of the Ministry of Justice) simultaneously with the preparation of the relevant civil status record.

At the same time, the registrar enters into the Register the information specified in the birth, marriage, and death records drawn up by the executive bodies of village, township, and city councils. This takes place within five business days from the date of receipt of the first copy of the vital record.

The registrar also enters information on adoption, deprivation and restoration of parental rights on the basis of a relevant court decision.

In addition, the civil registration department of the Main Department of Justice in Kyiv, within ten working days from the date of receipt of the first copy of the record, enters the information specified in the records of birth, marriage, divorce, change of name, death, drawn up by diplomatic missions and consular offices of Ukraine. How to verify Ukrainian marriage certificate online.

Procedure for entering information into the Register

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Instruction on Maintaining the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens by a resolution of August 22, 2007. This instruction defines the procedure for entering information into the Register on the birth of an individual and his or her origin, marriage, divorce, change of name, death, adoption, deprivation and restoration of parental rights. It also defines the forms of extracts from the Register and the conditions for their issuance.

At the same time, the said order of the Ministry of Justice determined the time limits for entering information contained in the civil registry books kept in the archives of the civil registry departments of the departments of justice into the Register.

Pursuant to paragraph 4.1 of Section IV of the said Instruction, information on the birth of an individual and his/her origin, adoption, deprivation and restoration of parental rights, marriage, divorce, change of name, death, contained in the civil registration books and metric books kept in the archives of civil registration departments, shall be subject to mandatory entry into the Register in the form, scope and extent specified in the relevant books.

If the information in the said vital records is in a non-state language, the data in the Register must indicate the language in which the paper carrier of these records is made. The state language in Ukraine is Ukrainian. The registrar may make changes to the information in the Register of such deeds (not paper records) on the basis of an application from an individual entitled to obtain a repeat certificate, an extract from the Register and upon presentation of a passport with its data in Ukrainian. In this case, the registrar that made the changes, as well as the grounds for such changes and the date of their introduction, shall be entered into the Register.

When registering a divorce, in addition to the information in the divorce record, the Register shall include the information in the divorce record (if there is no such record in the Register) marked “Archival” and containing information about the divorce.

Making a mark in the second copy of the vital record

The fact that the registrar of the civil registry office entered the information of the vital record into the Register, as well as the number of the vital record in the Register and the date of its entry, shall be reported to the civil registry office of the main departments of justice in the regions for marking the second copy of the vital record with the number of the vital record in the Register and the date of its entry. At the same time, the registrar of the civil registration department of the main departments of justice in the regions verifies the compliance of the information entered in the Register with the data of the civil status record kept in storage.

The State Register of Civil Status Acts was established on December 1, 2008, which was a significant event in the activities of the civil registry offices of Ukraine. Since the State Civil Registry is a social registry, its launch brought legal services closer to the individual. Currently, citizens of Ukraine can obtain the necessary civil registration document at their place of residence, regardless of the place of registration. This has improved the prompt and high-quality service to citizens and the availability of necessary legal assistance.