If birth certificates do not expire, why do we need to secure new copies from the Philippine Statistics Authority (formerly National Statistics Office)?
In a recent radio interview, the assistant national statistician of the PSA mentioned the different reasons why Filipinos need to secure new copies of their civil registry records such as birth and marriage certificates. Below is the list of reasons why you should request for brand new copies of your most important personal documents:
- PSA changes the color of the Security Paper they use when printing the birth certificates. All embassies and other government agencies are properly informed of this and therefore, are aware when a person’s birth certificate is an old copy or a new one.
- When the maximum number of printouts for a particular color scheme of the Security Paper is reached, the PSA changes the paper used for the birth certificates. This helps discourage the circulation of unauthorized and fake copies of birth, marriage, death, and Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR).
- It is the government agencies’ and other offices’ discretion to require brand new copies of PSA documents as a prerequisite for certain transactions. This means that some agencies may still accept certificates printed in old Security Papers, while others may reject these and require the applicants to submit new ones. This is especially true when the applicant’s copy is dilapidated or when the entries in the document are hardly readable.
- You may secure copies of your PSA certificates at any of the six PSA outlets in Metro Manila or by calling the PSAHelpline hotline at 02-737-1111 and have your documents delivered to you instead.
For more information about PSA birth certificate delivery, visit www.psahelpline.ph.
References:
MasterCitizen's Blog 