First issue of a birth certificate

How can I get a birth certificate?

General information

The medical staff (head of the hospital, doctor or midwife) must report the birth within one week. If the notification is not made by the aforementioned persons, the parents can also make the notification.

After the birth has been notified, usually by the hospital, the birth certificate for the child is issued at the registry office of the place of birth. This is usually handed over there in person.

In hospitals with Babypoint, it is possible to obtain immediately not only the birth certificate but also a certificate of registration of residence and a certificate of nationality for the child. You can inquire about this at your hospital.

The birth certificate generally specifies the names of the child, the names of the parents, the gender, the date and time of birth and the place of birth of your child.

Anyone who is unable to decide on the first name of the child immediately after the birth should go to the registry office no later than one week after the birth and have the first name recorded there. This is not necessary if the documents have already been submitted by the medical staff or the official channels have been completed via Babypoint.

The parents are entitled to choose or declare the first name or first names for a newborn child in the case of children born in wedlock, and the mother is generally entitled to do so in the case of children born out of wedlock. In order to do so, they must declare, in writing, which first name or names has/have been given to the child. Names that are not in common use as first names or are detrimental to the welfare of the child may not be registered. Furthermore, at least the first forename of the child must correspond to the gender. If the first names are exotic, call the registry office.

If a child is born in wedlock or during a valid registered partnership, the husband or registered partner is cited as the father on the birth certificate (in the event of death or divorce, the 300-day period must be observed). This applies analogously to the woman or other person who is married to the mother or lives with the mother in a registered partnership; this person is listed as the other parent on the birth certificate.

However, in the case of a child born out of wedlock, the biological father can only be specified on the birth certificate if he submits an acknowledgement of paternity or if the paternity has been established by a court.

This applies analogously to recognition of parenthood by the woman or other person who recognizes parenthood before or after the birth.

For the recognition of parenthood by the woman or another person, the requirement for proof of medically assisted reproduction no longer applies from 1 January 2024.

Affected

Newborn babies in Austria

Requirements

Birth in Austria

Deadlines

Since the birth certificate is required for registration of main residence, it should be applied for within three days of leaving the hospital or of the home birth.

Competent authority

The registry office in the child’s place of birth (e.g. location of the hospital):

• the Registry Office or Registry Office Association of the municipality
• In Chartered Cities: the Registry Office of the municipal executive
  • In Vienna: the Registry Office (→ City of Vienna), in whose area (district) the birth took place.

Procedure

The documents required for the issue of the birth certificate must be presented to the registry office by the mother/parents. Some registry offices and hospitals cooperate with one another, meaning that the hospitals concerned send the registry office the documents required for issuing the first birth certificate together with the ‘Notification of Birth’ form. Please inquire at the hospital or competent registry office.

Upon request, the registry office will issue a certificate of registration of residence and, if the child has Austrian citizenship, a certificate of nationality, in addition to the birth certificate.

Required documents

The person entitled to care for and raise the child must submit the following within one week of the child’s birth:

• a written statement regarding the child’s first name;
• marriage certificate or partnership certificate of the child’s parents;
• if the parents were not married, the birth certificate of the child's mother and the marriage certificate of the child’s mother’s last marriage;
• proof of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage or registered partnership;
• proof of nationality of the child’s parents;
• proof of the parents’ main place of residence if they reside abroad;
• confirmation of the child’s birth if the birth was not registered by the head of the hospital, the midwife or the physician who helped to deliver the baby.

If presenting a foreign-language document, it must comply with the necessary certification formalities and be accompanied by a translation.

Costs and fees

• Issue of a birth certificate: no fee
• From the age of two: EUR 9.30

Further information

If a further birth certificate is required (e.g. duplicate in the event of loss or theft, multilingual birth certificate), you can submit an application to be (re-)issued a birth certificate.

The following people can request a birth certificate, provided that this is not precluded by any overriding interests worthy of protection in respect of the persons to whom the registration relates:

• persons to whom the registration relates and other persons whose civil status is affected by the registration;
• persons who establish a legal interest in doing so.

Further links

Certification (→ BMEIA)^{German text}

List of expert witnesses and court interpreters (→ BMJ)^{German text}

Legal basis

• Personenstandsgesetz 2013
• Personenstandsgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung 2013

Expert information

The complete personal data of the new parents is required in order to register the birth of a child. The recording of data in the Central Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths (ZMR) has only been carried out on a nationwide basis in Austria since 1 November 2014. Parents have the opportunity to have their data fully recorded with the relevant municipal registry of births, marriages and deaths retrospectively upon request prior to the birth of their child. This helps to ensure that the birth of their child can be processed quickly. If the Digital Babypoint option is used, the completeness of the parents’ data is checked automatically as part of the notification of the birth and any necessary retrospective entry of data is notified via the relevant municipal registry of births, marriages and deaths.

Link to form

• Online-Service Digitaler Babypoint 
• The City of Vienna offers an online form for an authorisation to register the birth and to register the child in accordance with the Registration Act (Meldegesetz) and to receive the confirmation of registration of residence and certificate of nationality for the child. Please make sure that, before using the form, you find out from the competent registry office or, if available, the relevant Babypoint whether such an authorisation is permitted in your case and, if so, for whom it is permitted.
  • Authorisation form (City of Vienna)
• In some hospitals of other provinces a special authorisation form is available on request, for example if the single mother wishes to authorise the father of a child born out of wedlock or parent or another person to have the birth recorded.

Authentication and signature

• Electronically: Registration via the online service Babypoint using ID Austria or EU Login
• In person: with the required documents (official photo ID card), also possible for this to be done by an authorised person (official photo ID, letter of authorisation)

Means of redress or appeal

An appeal against a decision by the department responsible for civil status can be filed with the relevant Regional Administrative Court This must be submitted within four weeks to the authority which issued the decision.

Assistance and problem-solving services

There are no assistance or problem-solving services.

Further service points

Support is provided by the local municipal registries and further information can be accessed electronically at österreich.gv.at. Information can also be obtained from the maternity hospital.