Transcription

What?

In accordance with art. 48 Civil Code, foreign civil status certificates of Belgian nationals can be transcribed into the Civil Status Registers in Belgium. It is even strongly advised to do so. This will allow you to, in the future, easily obtain copies or extracts of the certificate from the relevant Belgian municipality. When a transcription was not done, the extract will always need to be obtained from the competent Singaporean authority. These documents will need to hold the required legalizations, before they can be used, which can prove very difficult after leaving Singapore.

Please note! Documents used to transcribe your certificate in the Civil Status Registers need to be submitted within 6 months after the issue date. The extract will need to hold the required legalizations and a translation.

Who?

The individuals concerned or their legal representative can submit the transcription request to the Registrar. In most cases it is possible to submit the request via mail or a third person. 

Where?

In Belgium, foreign civil status certificates can be transcribed into the civil status register of the municipality where you are domiciled, or where you first lived after your return to Belgium. If you are neither domiciled nor resident in Belgium, the certificate can be transcribed in that order into the civil status register of:   

• your last domicile in Belgium or
• the domicile of your relatives in the ascending line (father, mother, grandfather, grandmother) or
• the municipality of your birthplace in Belgium or
• the City of Brussels.

How?

You submit the following documents to the municipality where you wish to transcribe the documents.
 

Original legalized birth or mariage certificate

This is the same document you used to register your civil status change at the Embassy. Documents used to transcribe your certificate in the Civil Status Registers need to be submitted within 6 months after issue date. When documents were issued longer than 6 months ago, you will need to follow steps in ‘registration of birth’ or ‘registration of marriage'.
 

Original translation

The municipality in Belgium will request a translation of the legalized extract into Dutch, French or German , depending on the language of the Belgian municipality where the certificate is to be transcribed. It is advisable to enquire about the regulations of the translation in the municipality where you will be transcribing your certificate. The municipality may require that the original certificate is translated by a sworn translator in Belgium. In case of the latter, you have the certificate translated by a translator recognized by the Embassy and submit the translation for legalization.