Vital Records (Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates)
Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates. Life events of Czech citizens that took place outside the territory of the Czech Republic are recorded upon application by Special Vital Records Office (Zvláštní matrika) located in the City of Brno.
Note: The birth of a Czech citizen must be registered within the period of 3 business days, according to the § 15 of Act No. 301/2000 Coll. on Offices of Vital Records, Names and Surnames and on the Amendment to Some Other Related Acts, as amended.
Applicants need to schedule an appointment in advance by e-mail ONLY! The address and office hours of the consulate can be found in the "about the Embassy" section of our website. Applicants must submit to the Embassy an official vital document (birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate) that records such life event in the country of origin. Every foreign (ie. non-Czech) vital document must be duly legalized for use abroad and translated into Czech language prior to its submission to the Consulate. The translation of the documents (independent of the legalization process) needs to be an official one.
The requirements for registering life events are (the following two always):
1. Proof of Czech citizenship of the applicant - accepted are valid Czech passports, national IDs ("občanský průkaz") or valid Certificates of Czech citizenship (not older than 1 year). If the applicant does not have any of these, he must first apply for the issuance of the Certificate of Czech citizenship.
2. Consular fee .
3. And:
A) WHEN REGISTERING BIRTH, the following must also be submitted:
1. Application form (Žádost o zápis narození dítěte (DOCX, 34 KB))
2. Legalized and translated birth certificate issued by the country where the birth took place
3. Marriage certificate of applicant's parents, if applicable. If the marriage took place outside of the Czech Republic, the marriage certificate must be legalized and translated into Czech language and must be already duly registered with the Czech authorities (if not, see point B below).
4. If the applicant's mother was divorced, a Czech divorce decree must be submitted (if the divorce took place outside of the Czech Republic, it must be first judicially approved by the Nejvyšší soud České republiky).
5. Should the mother of the applicant who was born of unmarried parents be widowed, her birth certificate as well as the death certificate of the deceased father must be submitted.
6. If the applicant's mother was never married, or the parents of the applicant are not married and it is impossible to determine the fatherhood according to the relevant legal rules, both parents of the applicant must provide this information in the "Zapis o narozeni" form above and both must sign the form.
7. If the applicant is a female, it is possible to record her last name in a neutral form (ie. without "-ová" added). For this, see the Czech version of our website.
B) WHEN REGISTERING MARRIAGE, the following must also be submitted:
1. Application form Žádost o uzavření manželství (DOCX, 43 KB)
2. Legalized and translated marriage certificate issued by government authorities of the country where marriage took place and Czech birth certificates of the spouses (in case only one of the spouses is a Czech citizen, only his or her birth certificate is required).
3. Death certificate in respect of a deceased spouse if the applicant was previously married and widowed. If the death certificate was not issued by Czech authorities, a legalized and translated foreign death certificate will be required.
4. Certificate of divorce (final decree) if the applicant was previously married and the marriage was dissolved. If the certificate of divorce was not issued by Czech authorities, the divorce must first be approved by the Nejvyšší soud České republiky - Supreme Court of the Czech Republic (If both divorced spouses have other than Czech citizenship, the decision of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is not necessary. It is possible to submit a certificate of divorce issued abroad which must be legalized and officially translated ).
5. For wife it is possible to record her last name in a neutral form (ie. without "-ová" added). For this, see the Czech version of our website.
C) WHEN REGISTERING DEATH, the following must also be submitted:
1. Application form Žádost o zápis úmrtí (DOCX, 37 KB)
2. Legalized and translated death certificate - issued by government authorities of the country where the death took place.
3. These additional documents should be submitted if they are available to the applicant:
a) birth certificate of the deceased,
b) marriage certificate of the deceased if applicable,
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