HOW TO SECURE A COPY OF LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRY BIRTH CERTIFICATE (LCR) IN THE PHILIPPINES

So you've spent considerable amount of time, energy, and money to secure a copy of your birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA. You think you've got it all covered, until you're told your PSA birth certificate isn't good enough. What now?

RELATED: How to get birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA, formerly NSO) central outlet in Sta. Mesa, Manila

The birth certificate secured from the PSA represents the duly authenticated copy of the birth certificate of any person born in the Philippines. This is precisely the reason why many institutions -- including schools, banks, courts, government offices, and even private employers, among others -- require the submission of a PSA birth certificate for enrollment, employment, or entering into contracts.

However, there are certain instances when a PSA birth certificate is not enough. One of these is when an entry or entries in the said document is/are not clear or legible enough.

For example, the school registrar may request for an LCR on top of the PSA birth certificate of a student in order to ensure the correctness of the facts on record. Another example is when the Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court of the Philippines requires an applicant for the bar exams to secure an LCR on top of the PSA birth certificate when entries in the latter are not legible enough.

When the inspector assigned to receive your PSA birth certificate finds entries therein that are hardly readable, often you get asked to secure an LCR. This is a document from the local civil registry of your place of birth bearing a printout of your birth details as kept in the said registry.

The LCR is printed on heavy stock paper in standard font that leaves little doubt as to the clarity of the entries. By and large, it serves to supplement the PSA birth certificate.

Thankfully, the process of securing an LCR birth certificate is anything but complicated. Here's how:

1. Go to the local civil registry of your place of birth; most, if not all, local civil registries are housed within the city or municipal halls of their respective jurisdictions.
2. If you are no longer living in the city or municipality of your birth, you may either authorize another person to secure an LCR birth certificate on your behalf or try to personally secure one yourself.
3. Head to the window or desk that handles birth certificates and state your request. You will then be asked to fill out a slip of paper where, similar to the PSA, you will be required to fill out your birthday, your name, as well as the names of your father and mother. Once done, hand in the slip to the desk or window.
4. Upon receiving the slip, the person in charge will then search the local civil registry's records via the computer terminals.
5. Once your birth details are found, you will be asked how many copies of the LCR birth certificate you'll be needing. As of August 2018, the price per copy of the LCR birth certificate is P50.
6. Head to the cashier, hand in the slip to the person in charge, and then pay the required total charges.
7. Lastly, from the cashier, present your receipt to the person in charge at the birth certificate section of the local civil registry in order to claim the copy/copies of your LCR birth certificate.
8. Before leaving, inspect your LCR birth certificate to identify errors, if any. Additionally, see to it that it bears the signatures of duly authorized public officials and that it has been dry-sealed.

Were you ever asked to supply an LCR birth certificate on top of your PSA birth certificate or know someone who was? Let us know in the comments section what for and how you went about it. Cheers!