How to Get a Non-Availability of Birth Certificate in India

To get a Non-Availability of Birth Certificate in India, you file a written request with the Registrar of Births and Deaths for the area where you were born, submit identity documents and a sworn affidavit stating the facts of your birth, pay the search fee, and collect the certificate once the Registrar confirms no matching entry exists in the birth register. The request is made under Section 17 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which gives any person the right to have the register searched for a specific entry.¹ When the search comes back empty, the Registrar issues the NABC in place of an extract.

What an NABC Is and Who Needs One

An NABC is a signed, stamped certificate from an Indian municipal authority confirming that no birth record exists for a specific person, date, and place. It carries the same evidentiary weight as an extract from the register itself, which is why courts, passport offices, and foreign governments accept it.

Most people who need one were born before birth registration was consistently enforced in India, particularly in rural areas where births were rarely reported to the local authority. Without a registered entry, no birth certificate can be issued, so the NABC becomes the substitute document for passport applications, foreign visa and immigration filings, marriage registration, and various education, employment, and inheritance matters.

Documents and Details to Gather First

The Registrar searches a specific jurisdictional register for a specific entry, so precision matters. Before you apply, pull together:

Your exact date of birth.
The specific place of birth, meaning the hospital name or the home address, not just a city or district. Vague location details are the most common reason searches return the wrong answer.
Both parents’ full names as they would have appeared at the time of birth.
Identity proof: Aadhaar card, voter ID, or passport.
Your secondary school leaving certificate (10th-grade mark sheet) if you have one. Educational boards independently record dates of birth, and the Registrar treats this as a strong cross-reference.
A notarized affidavit declaring the facts of your birth and the reason for the search. Most offices expect the affidavit to include testimony from a parent or close relative who was present at the birth; where no such relative is available, a self-attested affidavit may be accepted.

The application form comes from the local Municipal Corporation office in urban areas or the Gram Panchayat office in rural areas. Confirm you have the current version, since municipalities update their forms periodically.

Filing the Application and Collecting the Certificate

Submit the completed form and supporting documents to the office of the Registrar of Births and Deaths for the area where you were born, or to a Jan Seva Kendra (citizen service center) that handles such filings. Pay the search fee at the counter. The amount is set by the state government under Section 17 and is generally nominal, but it varies between municipalities.

You will receive an acknowledgment receipt with a reference number. The Registrar then searches the birth records for the relevant time period, checking physical ledgers, digitized databases, or both. Timelines run from a few days in well-digitized urban offices to several weeks in areas that still work from paper registers.

Once the search confirms no matching entry, the Registrar prepares and signs the NABC. You collect it by presenting your original acknowledgment receipt. The certificate names the exact search parameters used, meaning your name, date of birth, and place, and confirms that no record was found.

The CRS Online Portal

The Government of India runs the Civil Registration System portal at crsorgi.gov.in for birth and death registration and certificate issuance.² You register with your Aadhaar number, personal details, and a mobile OTP. Whether the portal handles NABC requests specifically depends on your state and municipality; the public-facing side is built primarily for reporting home births and issuing certificates. Many applicants still need to visit the Registrar’s office in person.

Applying From Outside India

If you live abroad, apply through the Indian consulate that covers your area. The Consulate General of India asks applicants to submit a Miscellaneous Application form along with notarized copies of passport pages and proof of current residence.³ The consulate then coordinates with the relevant municipal authority in India to run the search. Each applicant files a separate application, and consulates generally require you to register on their online services portal before submitting in person or by mail.

Getting the NABC Authenticated for Use Abroad

Foreign governments will usually accept the NABC only after it has been authenticated by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. India has been a member of the Hague Apostille Convention since 2005, so an MEA apostille is sufficient for use in any other member country. For non-member countries, the MEA issues a normal attestation instead.⁴

The process runs in two steps. First, get the document authenticated at a Regional Authentication Centre. Second, submit the original document, a photocopy, and a copy of your passport to one of the MEA’s empanelled outsourced service providers. As of early 2026, those four providers are BLS International Services, Superb Enterprises, IVS Global Services, and Alhind Tours & Travels.⁴ Build a few extra weeks into your plan if the NABC is going into an overseas filing with a deadline.

If You Are Using the NABC for U.S. Immigration

The U.S. Department of State’s Country Reciprocity Schedule for India states that individuals born after April 1, 1970 who cannot obtain a birth certificate must first get a certificate of non-availability from the local Indian authority with jurisdiction over their birthplace.⁵ The NABC alone is not enough. You must also submit secondary evidence:

A school-leaving certificate, whether from a public or private school.
A matriculation or board certificate from a recognized educational board.
A notarized affidavit executed by a living parent or a close relative older than you, stating the relationship, how well the affiant knows you, your date and place of birth, and the names of both parents. If no living relative witnessed the birth, a self-attested affidavit detailing your own knowledge of the facts may be accepted.

USCIS policy directs its officers to consult the same reciprocity schedule when evaluating whether secondary evidence is sufficient.⁶ Filing the NABC without the required secondary documents is one of the most common triggers for a Request for Evidence, which can add months to a case. Line up the affidavits and school records before you file.

Getting a Birth Certificate Instead Through Late Registration

If you would rather have an actual birth certificate, Section 13 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act allows a birth that was never recorded to be registered late, on a tiered schedule based on how much time has passed:⁷

Within 30 days after the prescribed reporting period, the Registrar can register the birth on payment of a late fee, with no special permission needed.
After 30 days but within one year, registration requires written permission from the District Registrar or another designated authority, along with a prescribed fee and a self-attested document.
After one year, registration requires an order from a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or an Executive Magistrate authorized by the District Magistrate, who must verify the correctness of the birth claim.

For anyone whose birth was decades ago, the third tier is the relevant one. Under the 2023 amendment to the Act, the magistrate issuing the order must have jurisdiction over the area where the birth took place.⁸ In practice, you will present the NABC itself as part of your evidence to the magistrate, along with identity documents and affidavits. If the magistrate is satisfied, they direct the Registrar to enter the birth into the current register, and you receive a standard birth certificate that carries the same legal weight as one issued at the time of birth. The route takes longer and involves court proceedings, but it produces a birth certificate rather than a certificate of non-availability.

Penalties for False Information

Section 23 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act makes it an offence to knowingly provide false information for entry into the birth register, with a fine of up to fifty rupees.¹ The statutory fine is minor, but a false affidavit or fabricated biographical detail submitted to obtain an NABC can expose you to prosecution for forgery or fraud under the Indian Penal Code, which is far more serious. The CRS portal warns applicants about Section 23 during registration.² If the NABC is later used in an immigration filing, a false statement can also result in visa denial or deportation.

1
India Code. The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969
2
Civil Registration System (CRS). General Public
3
Consulate General of India, Chicago. Birth Certificate or Non Availability of Birth Certificate
4
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Attestation/Apostille
5
U.S. Department of State. India Reciprocity and Civil Documents
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Documentation
7
Indian Kanoon. The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 – Section 13 – Delayed Registration of Births and Deaths
8
PRS India. The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023