Consular Services PortalMinistry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation · Republic of Sierra Leone
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Registration of a birth abroad

Register with NCRA, through the mission, the birth abroad of a child of a Sierra Leonean parent.

If your child was born outside Sierra Leone and you or the other parent is a Sierra Leonean national, apply through the mission to register the birth in Sierra Leone. The mission checks the foreign birth certificate and the parent's nationality and sends the application to the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), which registers the birth and issues a Sierra Leone birth certificate. When the certificate arrives, the mission gives it to you.

At a glance

Issued by
National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA)
Processing time
NCRA sets the time it takes. Your tracking page shows when the mission sends the application to NCRA and when the certificate is ready.
Originals and visits
Send or bring the original foreign birth certificate to the mission. It is returned to you with the Sierra Leone birth certificate, in person or by prepaid mail.
How you get it
Collect it from the mission, or have it posted to you in a prepaid envelope you send.
When you pay
When you apply.

Who can apply

Sierra Leonean mothers and fathers whose child was born outside Sierra Leone, in a country the mission covers. At least one parent must be a Sierra Leonean national.

What you need

Documents to upload

You can upload each of these, or bring or send it to the mission instead.

  • Your child's foreign birth certificateA scan or photo of the whole certificate; the original is sent or brought to the mission.
  • Proof of the Sierra Leonean parent's nationality: passport, national ID card or birth certificateTheir passport photo page, both sides of their national ID card, or their Sierra Leone birth certificate.

To send, bring or do

  • Prepaid self-addressed envelopeSend a prepaid self-addressed envelope to the mission for the return of the certificate and your documents.Needed if you answer “Prepaid mail” to “How do you want to receive the certificate?”

Also upload, if you have them

  • The parents' marriage certificateIf the parents are married.

The mission then checks

  • Birth verified with the local registry or hospital

How it works

  1. Apply online with your child's and the parents' details.
  2. Send or bring the original foreign birth certificate to the mission.
  3. Pay the fee to the mission and submit your receipt details.
  4. The mission checks the birth and the Sierra Leonean parent's nationality, and sends the application to NCRA.
  5. NCRA registers the birth and issues a Sierra Leone birth certificate.
  6. The mission tells you when the certificate has arrived. Collect it, or receive it by prepaid mail.

Fees and how to pay

You pay the mission when you apply, then send your receipt details with the application or from the tracking page.

The ways to pay depend on the mission. Choose the country where you live to see them.

What the form asks

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Questions