The registration of births that occurred less than a year ago in Portugal and abroad, done electronically, will no longer be a temporary measure, but will be final, according to Tuesday’s release of Diário da República.
In the decree, which “finally establishes electronic birth declaration”, the government also envisages simplification of records carried out in hospitals and medical institutions.
In 2020, the government introduced electronic registration amid the pandemic, aiming to “encourage the practice of acting through remote communication within registration processes and procedures” and included this registration in the digital justice platform.
“This service has proven to be very useful and convenient both for citizens living in the country and for the Portuguese community living abroad, who no longer need to go to the registry office or the consular service to register the birth of their children. “, explains the decree published today.
Therefore, this decree introduces changes to the Civil Registration Code.
At the same time, “in order to facilitate a faster and simplified application to the registry office immediately after the birth of a child, a new method of reporting the birth to a medical unit employee is provided, until the moment when the pregnant woman is discharged.”
This measure is part of a project under the Recovery and Resilience Plan to “modernize the core information systems of registration services, based on the principles of “digital by definition” and “single declaration”.
“A declaration of birth made before an employee of a medical institution is, for all legal purposes, equivalent to a statement made directly before a civil registry officer, with all provisions governing the registration of birth and the establishment of affiliation.” This can be read in the decree-law, which will amend the Registration code.
Births in Portugal can be registered electronically at the health care facility where the child was born, or in person at the civil registry office.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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