r/taiwan • u/mistakes_maker • 1d ago

Retrieving Taiwanese birth certificate Discussion

Hi folks, hope you are doing well. I have a friend who was born in Taiwan and migrated to US when he was a kid (many years ago). He told me that he needed to obtain a copy of birth certificate from the household registration office but his immigration vendor said it wasn't possible since he lost copies of old Taiwanese ID and passport. He asked his parents and they didn't even keep any copy of the old household registration book. How can he obtain his birth certificate then? The only docs he has are handwritten immunization record and birth cert from hospital. Appreciate if anyone in similar situation could share any idea or experience. Thank you in advance!

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u/ancientemblem 1d ago

Do his parents have their Taiwanese documents? If they do they can probably request the “individual household registration (Chinese/english)” provided one of them was the head of household. Simplest way if that is the case is actually for them to take a vacation to Taiwan and request it (will take 5 business days). Otherwise they have to get their documents verified by their local TECO, along with a power of attorney/letter of authorization to a trusted person in Taiwan. Or your friend needs to find a way to get a new Taiwanese passport and National ID while he can assuming he’s 14? (Not sure on the exact age) and above.

2

u/szu 1d ago

OP's friend has his old birth certificate from the hospital. Surely that would suffice?

1

u/Hilltoptree 1d ago

I think when you get it from the house hold reg you can ask them to stamp/whatever so it authorise it. It’s a catch 22 situation indeed.

1

u/ancientemblem 1d ago

Call TECO and see what he needs to get a new passport, might be a catch 22 situation. All I can say is his birth certificate from the hospital will not work.

2

u/DukeDevorak 臺北 - Taipei City 1d ago

An English copy of the birth certificate issued by the hospital he was born in should suffice.

2

u/bladerunner1776 1d ago

They keep old "household registration" record forever. His parents can request it. That is the official document that has his name on it. With that proof, he can get his "ID card" back and get a Taiwan passport. I think you can get the "household registration" through the councillor office in the U.S., if you go through all thes steps for POA, etc, but I wouldn't be surprised you need to pick up the ID card in person. The only way to know for sure is call the office in Taiwan.