How To Authorize Another Person To Request For A Copy Of Your PSA Birth Certificate

Every person in our country is protected by the Data Privacy Act of 2012. This means that your personal data may only be accessed with your permission and used only within the bounds of the terms and conditions of the purpose for which your data is required. In the same manner, every establishment that has your personal data or requires your personal data is responsible for its safety and protection.

PSA birth, marriage, and death certificates and CENOMAR all contain the personal details of individuals. These are required of us for transactions where our identity and lineage need to be established. We can request for copies of our civil registry documents at any PSA CRS outlet or have it delivered to us through online application at PSAHelpline.ph.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released a guideline on the issuance of PSA certificates that fully respects the regulations of the Data Privacy Act. This tells us, who, apart from ourselves, we can authorize to request copies of our PSA certificates.

If you need to get a copy of your PSA certificate but are unable to personally visit a PSA CRS outlet, you may simply (and conveniently) order online at PSAHelpline.ph. You just need to personally receive your certificates from the courier by presenting a valid ID as proof that you are truly the owner of the certificate. However, if you are not available to receive your ordered documents as well, you may authorize someone else to get these for you at a PSA CRS outlet.

Here’s how you can authorize someone to request for your PSA certificates on your behalf.

Who may request for copy issuance of PSA birth, death, or marriage certificate, or CENOMAR?

1. The document owner who is of legal age (18 years old or above) or his/her authorized representative;
2. The document owner’s legal spouse;
3. The document owner’s parents;
4. The document owner’s children who are of legal ages;
5. If the document owner is a minor and in default of the parents:
   • The guardian appointed by the court;
   • Persons exercising substitute parental authority in the order indicated pursuant to Article 216 of the Family Code of the Philippines. The person must present an Affidavit of Guardianship stating that s/he is the duly appointed guardian of the minor:
     • The surviving grandparent;
     • The oldest brother or sister, over 21 years old, unless unfit or disqualified;
     • The child’s actual custodian, over 21 years old, unless unfit or disqualified.
   • The institution legally in-charge of the minor with an authorization from the Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
6. The court or proper public official through their issuance of a subpoena duces tecum (a writ ordering a person to attend a court and bring relevant documents) and ad testificandum (a writ commanding a person to appear in court to testify as a witness).
7. Government agencies pursuant to their mandate through a Data Sharing Agreement in accordance with National Privacy Commission Circular No. 16-02.
8. If the document owner is deceased, the nearest of kin provided that s/he executes and presents an Affidavit of Kinship stating that s/he is the nearest surviving kin of the document owner.

To clarify, the above-mentioned individuals have or may have the right to request for a copy of the civil registry documents of a person as long as they fall within the relationships and roles stated in the guidelines. They are not authorized representatives.

Who is an Authorized Representative?

According to the PSA, an Authorized Representative is:

An individual, of legal age, willfully designated by the document owner in writing, Authorization Letter or Special Power of Attorney, to request for the copy issuance of his/her birth or marriage certificate, or Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR)/Advisory on Marriage (AOM) from the PSA.

Therefore, an Authorized Representative is chosen by the document owner himself or herself. The Authorized Representative may or may not be related to the document owner by kinship, just someone that the document owner trusts enough to give him or her the authority to handle a personal affair such as claiming his or her civil registry document.

What are the contents of the Authorization Letter or the Special Power of Attorney?

1. Name/s of the authorized person/s;
2. Specific purpose in securing the requested document or authentication;
3. Type of document (birth or marriage certificate, or CENOMAR/AOM);
4. Number of copies;
5. Details of the document being requested, such as:
   • Birth Certificate – Full name of document owner, date and place of birth, and name of parents;
   • Marriage Certificate – Full name of husband and wife, and date and place of marriage;
   • CENOMAR/AOM – same information as for birth certificate.

What are the requirements that will be asked of the Authorized Representative?

1. Valid Identification (ID) or Identity Document of the requester;
2. If the requester is an authorized representative, include the following with Item 1:
   • Photocopy of the valid ID or Identity Document of the requester;
   • Original and photocopy of the valid ID or Identity Document of the document owner;
   • Original copy of the duly signed Authorization Letter or SPA that matches the signature in the accompanying valid ID or Identity Document of the document owner. If the SPA has multi-purposes, include a photocopy of it.

What are the ACCEPTABLE valid IDs?

1. National ID
2. Philippine Passport
3. Driver’s License
4. Professional Regulations Commission ID
5. Integrated Bar of the Philippines ID
6. GSIS or SSS Unified Multi-purpose ID
7. Pag-IBIG Transaction/Loyalty Card
8. Voter’s ID issued by the COMELEC
9. Postal ID issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation
10. Senior Citizen’s ID card issued by the Office of the Senior Citizen’s Affairs and/or Local Government Unit
11. OFW ID issued by the Department of Labor and Employment
12. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration ID
13. Seaman’s/Seawoman’s Book issued by the Maritime Industry Authority
14. Diplomat/Consular ID issued by the Philippine Embassy
15. NBI/Police Clearance
16. DSWD Certification
17. PWD ID issued by the National Council on Disability or its regional counterpart, Office of the Mayor, Office of the Punong Barangay, DSWD Office and other participating organization with Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Health
18. IDs issued by National Government agencies including Government-owned and Controlled Corporations
19. TIN Card issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
20. School/Student ID for currently-enrolled students, 18 years old or above, issued by reputable schools/colleges/universities recognized by DepEd or CHED and signed by the principal or head of the academic institution.
21. Company IDs issued by private entities or institutions registered with, supervised, or regulated by the Bangko Sentral nd Pilipinas, SEC, or Insurance Commisison.
22. Barangay ID/Certification with picture and signature.

If you are authorizing someone to request and claim a copy of your PSA certificate on your behalf, you need to follow the guideline above and provide all the needed IDs and documents. The PSA will not entertain your representative if any of the above requirements is missing.

On the other hand, if you should order online and have your PSA certificate delivered to you, you may only order for yourself, your children, and your parents. Yes, you cannot even order for your spouse. And you need to be physically present to personally receive your ordered documents from the courier on the day of delivery.

These guidelines and rules may sound restrictive but in reality, these are implemented to protect us and our very personal details found on our civil registry documents. These details instantly point to our identities, our lineage, our relationships, interests, and important activities and transactions. These can be used against us by fraudsters and scammers and it could be really difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to retrieve our identities once these get stolen and used illegally.

Do you need a copy of your PSA birth certificate but do not have time to visit a PSA CRS outlet? Order online at PSAHelpline.ph and have it delivered to you instead.