Notification of the birth

General information

The birth of a newborn child must be notified to the competent registry office within one week. In general, the notification of the birth is sent to the registry office automatically by the hospital or clinic in which the child is born. If the hospital does not report the birth, the parents can also report it. In the case of home births, the notification of the birth is issued by the doctor or midwife who was present at the birth and handed over to the mother/parents. The mother/parents must then hand it over to the registry office. The notification of the birth is not identical to the issuing of the birth certificate.

Deadlines

The birth must be notified within one week.

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^{German text} of the municipality;
• in Chartered Cities: the → the Registry Office of the Municipal Administration^{German text};
  • in Vienna: the Registry Offices (→ City of Vienna)^{German text} in whose area (district) the birth took place.

Procedure

The following persons must carry out the notification, in the following order of precedence:

• the director of the hospital or clinic in which the child was born;
• the doctor or midwife who was present at the birth;
• the father, the mother or the other parent of the child, if they are able to do so;
• the authority or police department conducting investigations into the birth;
• other persons who have knowledge of the birth based on their own observations.

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’ (Anzeige der Geburt) form. Please inquire at your hospital or at the competent registry office.

Following the notification of the birth, the registry office will issue, at the request of the mother or parents, the birth certificate, a certificate of registration of residence and, if the child has Austrian citizenship, a certificate of nationality.

Required documents

If the birth is notified by the hospital or clinic: no documents required.

If the birth is notified independently: completed ‘Notification of Birth’ form.

Costs and fees

There are no costs or fees payable.

Legal basis

• Personenstandsgesetz 2013 (PStG 2013)
• Personenstandsgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung 2013 (PStG-DV 2013)

Link to form

• Online Service Birth Notification via oesterreich.gv.at
• Birth – Notification (doctor/midwife) – Template^{German text}
• Stillbirth – Notification (doctor/midwife) – Template^{German text}
• Stillbirth – Notification (midwife) – Template^{German text}