Article 42 of the Saudi Civil Status Law
المادة 42 من نظام الأحوال المدنية
The Article requires the births registrar to notify his department weekly with a statement of birth events and the certificate copies, and requires the department to record them within three days on the child's father's page.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يجب على كاتب سجل المواليد في نهاية كل أسبوع إشعار إدارة الأحوال المدنية التي يتبعها ببيان على النموذج المعد لذلك يتضمن جميع واقعات الولادة التي قيدها في سجله مع إرفاق نسخة من شهادة الميلاد، وعلى الإدارة قيد الواقعات خلال ثلاثة أيام في صفحة والد الطفل.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 42 explained in plain English
This Article links the births register at the office with the recording of the family at the civil status department, and contains two duties:
- On the births registrar: at the end of each week he notifies the civil status department he belongs to by a statement on the prescribed form containing all the birth events he recorded in his register, attaching a copy of the birth certificate.
- On the department: to record these events within three days on the child's father's page.
In this way the newborn moves from a mere event recorded in the births register to a person recorded on his family's page. These duties are administrative and fall on the government bodies, not on the parents.
It is preceded by Article 41, which requires the births registrar, after registering the birth, to draw up a birth certificate in two copies bearing the entry number and date, one handed to the reporter as the Implementing Regulations specify and the other sent to the department. It is followed by Article 43, which requires the birth certificate to be presented, within 15 days of receiving it, to one of the civil status departments to check its entry, stamp it with the directorate's seal and add the newborn to the family record book.
The recording on the father's page that the department carries out under this Article is one thing, and adding the newborn to the family record book after presenting the certificate is another, regulated by Article 43.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Active contributorFrequently asked questions about Article 42 of the Saudi Civil Status Law
When is a newborn recorded on his father's page at civil status?
The department must record the events within three days of the weekly statement from the births registrar, on the child's father's page.
Does the civil status office send birth data to the department?
Yes. At the end of each week the births registrar must notify the department with a statement of all the birth events he recorded, with a copy of the birth certificate.
More articles on Birth Registration
- Article 8
The article requires the event registers for Saudis and foreigners to include a births register, a deaths register and a marriage and divorce register, and others may be added by decision of the Minister of Interior.
يجب أن تشمل سجلات الواقعات للسعوديين والأجانب سجلا لتسجيل المواليد وسجلا لتسجيل الوفيات وسجلا لتسجيل الزواج والطلاق، ويمكن إضافة غيرها من سجلات الواقعات للسعودي
- Article 32
The Article requires all births in the Kingdom, and all Saudi births abroad, to be reported within the periods set by the Civil Status Law.
يجب التبليغ عن جميع المواليد في المملكة وعن جميع المواليد السعوديين في الخارج خلال المدد المحددة في هذا النظام.
- Article 34Amended (1422 AH)
The Article requires births to be reported at a civil status office within 15 days of birth, extended to 30 days if the birthplace is more than 50 kilometers away.
يكون التبليغ عن المواليد لدى مكتب من مكاتب الأحوال المدنية على النموذج المعد لذلك خلال خمسة عشر يوما من تاريخ الولادة. وتكون هذه المهلة ثلاثين يوما إذا حدثت الو
- Article 35
The Article requires a birth that occurs while traveling outside the Kingdom to be reported within 15 days of arrival, to the Saudi representation in the destination country or to any civil status office on return.
إذا حصلت الولادة أثناء السفر خارج المملكة وجب التبليغ عنها خلال خمسة عشر يوما من تاريخ الوصول، ويوجه التبليغ إلى الممثلية العربية السعودية في البلد الذي يقصده ا
- Article 36
As an exception, the Article allows a birth abroad in a place far from the Saudi representation to be reported by registered mail, provided a birth certificate from the competent authority containing the entry data is attached.
استثناء مما سبق إذا حصلت الولادة في الخارج في جهة بعيدة عن مقر الممثلية السعودية جاز التبليغ عنها بوساطة البريد المسجل بشرط أن يكون التبليغ مصحوبا بشهادة ميلاد
- Article 37
The Article requires twins to be reported each on his own and recorded separately, stating the hour and minute at which each was born.
يبلغ عن المواليد التوائم كل على انفراد ويقيد كل منهم على حدة مع الإشارة إلى الساعة والدقيقة التي ولد فيها كل منهم.
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.