On 16 January 2026, the Centre for Research and Social Development IDEAS submitted to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government a request for an opinion on the application of the regulations governing the registration of births of children born in the Republic of Serbia in situations where the parents are asylum seekers or persons granted asylum.
The request was prompted by recurring situations in practice in which civil registry offices delay the registration of a child’s birth, or condition their action on the submission of foreign documents — such as a certificate of marital status from the country of origin — including instances in which applicants are referred to contact the embassy of their country of origin.
On 27 February 2026, the Ministry issued its opinion, no. 000291581 2026 14800 007 002 011 024, signed by Minister Snežana Paunović, which takes a clear position on all the key issues raised in the request.
According to the Ministry’s opinion, the notification and registration of the fact of a child’s birth in the register of births constitute a statutory obligation of the competent healthcare institution and, respectively, of the parents and of the registrar carrying out the registration. The Law on Registry Books provides that the register of births shall record particulars of the child’s birth, particulars of the child’s parents, and other relevant data, including data on maternity and paternity.
The registrar is required to enter the notified particulars without delay; registration may be postponed only exceptionally, where it is necessary to verify or establish missing data. Particulars of the parents are entered on the basis of data from an identity card issued by the competent authority of the Republic of Serbia, and, in the case of foreign nationals, on the basis of data from a foreign travel document or an identification document issued by a competent authority of the Republic of Serbia. This is particularly important where the parents are asylum seekers or persons granted asylum, since their identity is also established on the basis of documents issued by the competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia, including the identity card for asylum seekers and other identification documents issued in accordance with the regulations on asylum and temporary protection.
The Ministry clearly states that the marital status of the parents may be relevant solely for the purpose of establishing paternity, but cannot constitute a condition for the registration of the fact of the child’s birth or for the entry of the mother’s particulars in the register of births.
In situations where the particulars of the father have not been established, this cannot serve as a reason to refrain from registering the child, given that the subject of registration is the fact of birth itself. The Ministry takes the position that particulars of the father may be entered — or subsequently supplemented — in accordance with the law, having particular regard to the provisions of the Family Act governing the presumption of paternity, as well as the acknowledgement, establishment and contestation of paternity.
The opinion also refers to the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, with particular reference to the principle of confidentiality of the asylum procedure. This means that information concerning a person seeking asylum may not be transmitted to the country of origin, save in the exceptions provided for by law, nor may such persons be referred — for the purpose of exercising their rights in the Republic of Serbia — to contact the authorities or diplomatic and consular missions of their country of origin. This standard is particularly important where the parents of the child are asylum seekers, persons granted asylum, or persons under temporary protection.
The Ministry emphasises that the registrar is required to act in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the child, as well as with the principle of confidentiality set out in the regulations on asylum and temporary protection. For this reason, the birth registration procedure must not be conditioned on the submission of evidence from the country of origin where such action would be contrary to data protection, to the confidentiality of the asylum procedure, or to the realistic possibilities for the party to safely obtain the requested document.
The Ministry also refers to the Instruction on Action in Cases of the Birth of a Child Whose Parents Have No Personal Identification Documents, of 16 December 2020. This Instruction provides for mandatory cooperation among healthcare institutions, registrars, police officers and centres for social work, so that the procedure for establishing identity is carried out — and the registration of the child in the register of births made possible — even in situations where the parents have no personal identification documents.
The essence of this Instruction is that the absence of personal identification documents of the parents cannot constitute an obstacle to the registration of the child’s birth; instead, the identity of the parents is established through an appropriate procedure, on the basis of which — once a certificate has been issued — lawful registration is carried out.
This opinion represents an important step in protecting children’s right to a legal identity, particularly for children whose parents are asylum seekers or persons granted asylum. In practice, the delayed registration of a birth may have serious consequences for the child, ranging from impeded access to healthcare to difficulties in exercising other fundamental rights.
The Ministry’s opinion clearly directs civil registry services to act in accordance with the law and the principle of the best interests of the child, without unjustifiably conditioning registration on the submission of foreign documents.
In the period ahead, IDEAS will monitor the application of this opinion in the practice of civil registry services and continue to provide legal assistance to parents in exercising their right to have their child’s birth registered. As additional support, IDEAS has prepared an information package for parents, which they may use in their communication with the competent authorities and in procedures for exercising their rights.
At the same time, we will continue to document cases in which the registration of a birth is delayed or unlawfully conditioned, in order to provide direct support to families and contribute to a more consistent application of the law in practice.
We also expect the Ministry to make the key positions set out in this opinion more widely available to civil registry services, with a view to harmonising practice across all settings. We consider that, through this opinion, the Ministry has provided important and timely clarification, capable of contributing to the legal certainty of children and to the more effective exercise of their rights in practice.