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An appointment booking for birth registration will be offered from Wednesday (March 25) only if the baby's birth return has been electronically transmitted from the hospital to the births registry.
An Immigration spokesman said, "Under the relevant Ordinance, a birth will be registered upon receipt by the registrar of the birth return from the hospital in which the baby is born."
The new booking service requires that the information which the parents provide should match that on the baby's birth return. This will help appointments for birth registration to be fully utilised and may also shorten the time required for processing the registration."
Appointments which were booked before Wednesday (March 25) and which cannot match the birth returns will be automatically cancelled by the computer system, so more appointment quotas can be made available to eligible applicants.
"Birth registration is free within 42 days of the birth. Parents are advised to use the free booking service to get an appointment within the free registration period," the spokesman said.
Parents who choose to approach the births registry without an appointment should first confirm with the hospital that the baby's birth return has been delivered to the births registry.
Bookings for birth registration can be made via hotline 2598 0888 or www.gov.hk/birthregistration .
For further information, please visit the above website or telephone the Immigration Department hotline on 2824 6111.
Ends/Monday, March 23, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:23
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