Civil status
Birth Registration
- Copy of the Consular card, (if not registered, passport of the Algerian parents)
- Original full birth certificate of the new-born.
- Family book (Livret de famille) or a copy of marriage certificate.
Marriage Registration
Any Algerian national living abroad may have his/her marriage registered at the Algerian Embassy. A Family Book is issued after registration. To that end, applicants must provide the following supporting documents:
- Copy of the Consular card
- Original of marriage certificate.
- Original birth certificate (less than three months old) of applicants.
- Copy of the birth certificate of spouse if non Algerian National.
Report of Death
In case of death of an Algerian national, the embassy must, without delay, be contacted in order to inform the family and provide assistance and advice, if necessary. The family of deceased must also seek the services of a funeral home in order to gather the appropriate following documents ;
- Proof of citizenship of the deceased.
- Medical Certificate “non contagious disease”.
- Original death certificate.
- Embalming Certificate issued by the funeral services.
- Transit permit issued by City Hall.
Important:
Birth certificates 12S are issued in Arabic. To avoid errors, it is requested that anyone who does not know the exact spelling of the spouse’s, mother's names and the father’s first name, should attach to their 12S request, the birth certificates in Arabic of these individuals. Birth certificates that have exceeded their validity period and photocopies are accepted, provided that they are legible.
The 12S requested by mail are issued and sent for delivery to the interested parties, through diplomatic and consular representations covering their places of residence.
Marginal annotations on civil status documents of nationals born in Algeria
Any change in civil status or family situation must be reported to be integrated into civil status documents.
Marriage Annotation:
Notifications of marriage annotations to be made on civil status documents of Algerian nationals born in Algeria and married abroad are sent directly by the foreign municipalities where the marriage took place to the Algerian municipalities covering the places of birth of the parties concerned. The Algerian civil status officer acknowledges receipt of the notification, after having made the annotation in the margin of the document in the register.
However, some foreign municipalities send these notifications via the consular post's civil status service, which in turn forwards them to the relevant municipalities.
Individuals whose birth certificates have not been updated are advised to approach the municipalities where the marriage took place to request that the notification of the marriage annotation be sent to the municipality of the place of birth.
Individuals who have celebrated their marriage at a consular post and whose civil status in Algeria has not been updated are advised to check if the notification of the marriage annotation has been sent to the municipality of the place of birth in Algeria.
Individuals born and married abroad whose birth certificates have been transcribed before the marriage must request the transcription of the marriage certificate at the territorially competent Algerian consulate in order to update their civil status at the consulate that transcribed the birth.
Individuals born abroad and married in Algeria, whose transcription of the birth certificate has already been done, must update their civil status by submitting a marriage certificate or a copy of the family book issued by the Algerian municipality where the marriage took place.
Divorce Annotation/Exequatur:
In order to be enforceable by consular services, any divorce judgment issued by a foreign court must be endorsed with an 'exequatur' from the competent court in Algeria.
To obtain the exequatur of a judgment issued in civil matters, individuals born in Algeria or abroad and divorced before a foreign jurisdiction must submit a request to the Judge of Personal Status of the court corresponding to their place of birth if they were born in Algeria, or to the court of Sidi M'Hamed in Algiers if they were born abroad.
After completing this procedure, the court will forward the notification of the divorce annotation, as the case may be, to the municipality of the place of birth or to the diplomatic or consular representation, which will update the civil status of the persons concerned.
The following documents, accompanied by their translation into Arabic, must be attached to a handwritten request:
- The original (certified copy) and a photocopy of the final divorce judgment.
- The original of the notification of the divorce judgment to the opposing party (document usually provided by the bailiff responsible for serving the judgment).
- A certificate or attestation of no opposition, no appeal, and no recourse to cassation, to be requested from the clerk of the foreign court that issued the judgment.
- If the marriage was celebrated abroad, the transcribed marriage certificate from the territorially competent diplomatic or consular representation is mandatory.
- A copy of an Algerian identity document.
Certificate of Customary Law
The presence of the concerned individual is mandatory, and they must be equipped with:
- An Algerian identity document (Algerian identity card, Algerian passport, consular registration card)
- A full copy of the birth certificate less than 3 months old.
Certificate of Life-Protection
The presence of the individual is mandatory. They must be equipped with:
- The Algerian identity document of the individual (passport, consular card, or Algerian national identity card).
- The family book or a full copy of the birth certificate.
- Payment of stamp duties.
Attestation of Algerian Nationality
This document is only issued to individuals registered with the diplomatic or consular post.
Documents to be provided:
- An Algerian identity document of the individual (passport, consular card, or Algerian national identity card).
- A full copy of the individual's birth certificate.
- A full copy of the father's birth certificate.
- A full copy of the mother's birth certificate if the father is a foreigner.
Important:
The attestation of nationality does not substitute the certificate of nationality, which is only issued by a court in Algeria.
Divorce/Exéquatur
In order to be enforceable by consular services, any divorce judgment issued by a foreign court must be endorsed with an 'exequatur' from the competent court in Algeria.
To obtain the exequatur of a judgment issued in civil matters, one of the former spouses must submit a request through a lawyer in Algeria to the Judge of Personal Status of the court corresponding to their place of birth if they were born in Algeria, or to the court of Sidi M'Hamed in Algiers if they were born abroad.
The following documents, accompanied by their translation into Arabic, must be attached to the request:
- The original (certified copy) of the judgment,
- The original of the notification of the judgment,
- The certificate of no opposition, no appeal, and no recourse to cassation,
- A copy of the summons to appear for the party who is absent from the hearings in case of a default judgment.
Issuance and translation of documents
Upon presentation of the family book and an Algerian identity document, the service in charge of civil status can issue family and individual records as well as extracts of civil status records (birth, marriage, death) established by the municipalities in Algeria or by diplomatic and consular posts.
This same service can provide translation into French of family books and civil status documents (birth, marriage, death) issued in the national language. An Algerian identity document is required.
Family Record Book (Livret de famille)
The issuance is done on the basis of:
Algerian Spouses:
- A full copy of the marriage certificate dated less than 3 months old
- Birth certificate (full copy) dated less than 3 months old for both spouses
- Consular card of the spouse
Algerian Husband, Foreign Wife:
- A full copy of the marriage certificate
- Birth certificate of the husband (full copy) dated less than 3 months old or a copy of the S12 birth certificate
- Consular card of the husband
- Copy of the wife's identity document
Foreign Husband, Algerian Wife:
- A full copy of the marriage certificate
- Birth certificate of the wife (full copy) dated less than 3 months old
- Consular card of the wife
- Copy of the husband's identity document
- Certificate of the husband’s Muslim faith
Duplicate Family Record Book:
- Declaration of loss, theft or damage
- Algerian identity document (national card or passport)
- A full copy of the marriage certificate less than 3 months old
- Copies of the birth certificates of the spouses and children if applicable
- Payment of stamp duties.
Translation of the Family Record Book issued in Algeria in Arabic:
- Family Record Book
- Marriage certificate less than 3 months old
- Stamp duty.
Certificate of Celibacy, Non-Marriage, or Non-Remarriage
The presence of the concerned individual is mandatory. They must be equipped with:
- A full copy of the birth certificate less than three (03) months old, issued by the municipality of birth, with all marginal annotations (none for singles if applicable, not crossed out or overloaded) plus a photocopy.
- An Algerian identity document (passport, consular card, or Algerian national identity card) plus a photocopy.
- Two witnesses registered with the consulate, equipped with their registration cards or their passports or Algerian national identity cards.
- Pay the stamp duty.
Important:
This document is issued under the responsibility of the witnesses, who are liable.
Certificate of Consent to Marriage
For the issuance of this document, the presence of the guardian and the young woman is mandatory.
It is issued upon presentation of:
- An Algerian identity document of the guardian (passport, consular card, Algerian national identity card) plus a photocopy.
- An identity document of the young woman (passport, consular card, Algerian national identity card) plus a photocopy.
- The birth certificate of the young woman.
- The family book.
- A copy of the Algerian identity document of the person who will represent the legal guardian in fulfilling the formalities related to the marriage.
Certificate of Concordance or Individuality Act
When a civil status document contains a spelling error, transcription error, or any other mistake, a certificate of concordance or individuality act is established in the presence of the individual, based on:
- A full copy of the birth certificate less than 3 months old.
- The Algerian identity document of the individual (passport, consular card, or Algerian national identity card).
- No stamp duty is required.
Transcription of Civil Status Documents
Transcription is the process of registering civil status documents (birth, marriage, and death) with the civil status service of the consular post, which are issued by foreign municipalities. It is a mandatory preliminary step for obtaining Algerian documents (consular card, passports, national identity card, 12S, etc.).
Only acts of individuals whose Algerian nationality is established can be transcribed in the consular civil status registers.
The transcription is based on the place of birth, death, or marriage, and not on the place of residence.
Transcription of Birth:
It is carried out based on:
- Two full copies of the birth certificate (originals less than three months old).
- The family book.
- The certificate of Algerian nationality or, if not available, an Algerian identity document and the full copy of the birth certificate of the father and grandfather born in Algeria (photocopy + original).
- If it is a minor (their presence is not required), an Algerian identity document of one of the two parents.
Transcription of birth certificates of children following a change in the civil status of the parents or one of them.
The transcription of birth certificates of children, where one or both parents have changed their civil status as a result of naturalization, can only be done based on an order from an Algerian court.
This process is necessary to avoid inconsistencies between the child's civil status and that of the father or mother born in Algeria and to avoid legal procedures related to the establishment of civil status documents and inheritance.
Transcription of Marriage:
It is carried out based on:
- Two full copies of the marriage certificate (originals).
- The family book.
- An Algerian identity document.
The transcription of the marriage certificate between an Algerian national and a non-Muslim is not admissible unless the spouse converts to the Islamic religion. The transcription application must include the conversion certificate issued by the authorized religious authority.
If the spouse is a national of a country practicing multiple religions, a document attesting to their Muslim faith must be provided (birth certificate, identification document, or travel document mentioning their faith).
Other marriage transcriptions:
The transcription of marriages celebrated by foreign chancelleries and religious marriages is done based on an order of transcription issued by an Algerian court.
Transcription of Death:
It is carried out based on:
- Two full copies of the death certificate (originals).
- The family book.
- An Algerian identity document of the deceased and the applicant.
Rectification of civil status records transcribed with the Algerian consular services.
"No civil status record received at a diplomatic or consular post can be rectified for reasons of errors or omissions, except by decision of the president of any court throughout the national territory. If a record transcribed in the civil status registers is rectified by a foreign judicial decision, it must receive exequatur from any court throughout the national territory." Article 108 of Ordinance No. 70-20 of February 19, 1970, relating to civil status, modified and supplemented by Law No. 17-03 of January 10, 2017.
Furthermore, as part of the generalization of remote judicial services provided, and in order to allow our Algerian community established abroad to benefit from the same advantages as those offered to Algerian citizens residing in Algeria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, and the Ministry of Justice have implemented a new mechanism allowing for electronic rectification of errors contained in the civil status registers maintained at consulates or diplomatic representations through the Ministry of Justice's electronic services portal.
The request is accompanied by the necessary documents for the rectification of civil status records (birth certificate, marriage certificate, or death certificate), as applicable.