Niger
A well developed and functioning civil registration system ensures the registration of all vital events including births, marriages and deaths and issues relevant certificates as proof of such registration. Civil registration promotes efficient government planning, effective use of resources and aid, and more accurate monitoring of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Birth Registration
| Legal framework for birth registration | Law 2007-30 (3 December 2007) establishing the civil registry
Decree No. 2008-189/PRN/MI/SP/D (17 June 2008) fixing the modalities of application of Law No. 2007-30 |
| Official authorities in charge of registering births | The mayors and their deputies are the civil status officers of the principal centres, and give authenticity to the acts of civil status. They are assisted by civil servants assigned or appointed for this purpose by decision of the mayor.
The registrars in the principal centres register the birth, marriage and death certificates, make transcripts and references to them, and deal with all administrative matters relating to civil status (Law 2007-30, article 38). Mayors may delegate all or part of their functions in matters of civil status to their deputies (Law 2007-30, article 39). The officials of the secondary centres are civil registrars. They sign birth, marriage and death certificates (Law 2007-30, article 37). The Ministry of the Interior, Public Security, Decentralization and Religious and Custom Affairs, Directorate General of Civil Status and Refugees (DGEC-R) oversees the process of civil registration. |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Is there a legal obligation to register the birth of a child? | Yes (Law 2007-30, article 31) |
| Is an official birth certificate issued as a result of birth registration? | Yes, immediately |
| Legal informant to register a birth | Father, Mother, One of the persons who attended the birth
(Law 2007-30, article 33) |
| Time allowed for registration | 30 days; 10 days if birth occurred in a health facility
In the civil registration centres, and in the secondary centres of groups of villages or tribes, the declarations shall be made within 30 days (Law 2007-30, article 41). Births and deaths occurring in health facilities must be declared immediately, or within 10 days at the latest (Law 2007-30, article 42). |
| Fee for birth registration | No |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
| Fee for birth certificate | No, extracts from civil status documents shall be issued free of charge. Copies of documents or extracts from civil status documents other than those requested by magistrates of the administrative or judicial order shall be stamped to the benefit of the communes |
| Penalty for late registration | Yes
Fines are applied to the persons indicated in article 33 of Law No. 2007-30, (bearing the regime of the Civil State in Niger) if they fail to make a declaration or, unless there is a valid excuse, will not be present at the administrative census prescribed by the administrative, diplomatic or consular authority. This fine is levied for the benefit of the municipalities against delivery of a receipt extracted from a special-purpose register (Decree No. 2008-189, article 75). |
| Other official fees involved in the birth registration process | No |
| Requirements or fees specific to children who are eligible for citizenship but were born outside the country | No |
| Requirements or fees specific to children whose parents are foreign nationals | No |
| Requirements for birth registration | Identification of the child’s father, Identification of the child’s mother, Name of the child |
| Information collected | Regarding the child: Name, Sex, Date and time of birth, Date of registration, Place of occurrence, Place of registration, Type of birth (single, multiple), Type of place of occurrence (hospital, home, etc.),
Regarding the mother of the child: Age, Place of birth, Marital status, Nationality, Educational attainment, Number of children born alive to the mother, Place of usual residence, Occupation Regarding the father of the child: Age, Place of birth, Nationality, Educational attainment, Place of usual residence, Number of children born to the father, Occupation |
| Processing | Manually (on paper) |
| Place of registration | Main civil registration centres: Chief places of the commune, The Central Registry, Headquarters of diplomatic missions and consuls
Secondary centres are located in groups of districts, villages and tribes, or groups of villages and tribes according to their demographic weight. |
| A birth certificate is required for: | Identification, Travel, Education, Voting |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on births | Components of the registers of civil status documents intended for statistical purposes shall be sent every 3 months to the National Statistical Institute by the officers of the main centres through the departmental and regional directorates of civil status; these components are accompanied by the monthly summary alphabetical sheets (Decree No. 2008-189, article 37). However, no publication of vital statistics is released by the National Statistical Institute. |
Download sample birth registration form
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Marriage Registration
| Legal framework for marriage registration | Law 2007-30 (3 December 2007) establishing the civil registry
Decree No. 2008-189/PRN/MI/SP/D (17 June 2008) fixing the modalities of application of the law No. 2007-30 |
| Official authorities in charge of registering a marriage | Mayors and their deputies
The mayors and their deputies are the civil status officers of the principal centres, and give authenticity to the acts of civil status. They are assisted by civil servants assigned or appointed for this purpose by decision of the mayor. The registrars in the principal centres register the birth, marriage and death certificates, make transcripts and references to them, and deal with all administrative matters relating to civil status (Law 2007-30, article 38). Mayors may delegate all or part of their functions in matters of civil status to their deputies (article 39). The officials of the secondary centres are civil registrars. They sign birth, marriage and death certificates (article 37). The Ministry of the Interior, Public Security, Decentralization and Religious and Custom Affairs, Directorate General of Civil Status and Refugees (DGEC-R) oversees the process of civil registration. |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Legal age for marriage | 18 years for males, 15 years for females (Civil Code of the Niger, article 144) |
| Is there a legal obligation to register marriages? | Yes |
| Is an official marriage certificate issued as a result of marriage registration? | Yes, immediately |
| Legal informant to register a marriage | At least one of the persons concerned, At least one of the recognized witnesses, Religious leader having celebrated the marriage, Customary authority of the place of celebration if there is no official authority
(article 33) |
| Time allowed for registration | 10 days; Marriages that are not celebrated before the registrar must be declared to the registrar within 10 days (article 43). |
| Fee for marriage registration | No |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
| Fee for marriage certificate | No, extracts from civil status documents shall be issued free of charge. Copies of documents or extracts from civil status documents other than those requested by magistrates of the administrative or judicial order shall be stamped to the benefit of the communes (article 59). |
| Penalty for late registration | Yes, fines are applied to the persons indicated in article 33 of Law No. 2007-30 (bearing the regime of the Civil State in Niger) if they fail to make a declaration or, unless there is a valid excuse, will not be present at the administrative census prescribed by the administrative, diplomatic or consular authority. This fine is levied for the benefit of the municipalities against delivery of a receipt extracted from a special-purpose register (Decree No. 2008-189, article 75). |
| Other official fees involved in the marriage registration process | No |
| Additional registration requirements or fees if one spouse was born outside the country or has dual citizenship | Yes; When one of the spouses is foreign and the other Nigerien, the marriage is registered or compulsorily celebrated in the Nigerien civil registration centres. In this case, the marriage certificate is sent to the ministry in charge of foreign affairs, which sends it to the embassy or consulate to which the foreign spouse belongs (article 77). |
| Requirements for marriage registration | Presence of spouses at place of registration, Proof of spouses’ age, Names of the two parents of the married couple, Names of their witnesses, ID numbers of spouses and witnesses, Mention of the payment of the dowry, Choice of matrimonial regime |
| Information collected | Regarding the spouses: Date of birth or age, Place of birth, Place of usual residence, Nationality, Occupation
Regarding the marriage: Date of occurrence, Date of registration, Place of occurrence, Place of registration |
| Processing | Manually (on paper) |
| Place of registration | Main civil registration centres: Chief places of the commune, The Central Registry, Headquarters of diplomatic missions and consuls;
Secondary centres are located in groups of districts, villages and tribes, or groups of villages and tribes according to their demographic weight. |
| A marriage certificate is required for: | Inheritance, Birth registration of children |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on marriage | Components of the registers of civil status documents intended for statistical purposes shall be sent every 3 months to the National Statistical Institute by the officers of the main centres through the departmental and regional directorates of civil status; these components are accompanied by the monthly summary alphabetical sheets (Decree No. 2008-189, article 37). However, no publication of vital statistics is released by the National Statistical Institute. |
Download sample marriage registration form
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Death Registration
| Legal framework for death registration | Law 2007-30 (3 December 2007) establishing the civil registry
Decree No. 2008-189/PRN/MI/SP/D (17 June 2008) fixing the modalities of application of Law No. 2007-30 |
| Official authorities in charge of registering a death | The mayors and their deputies are the civil status officers of the principal centres, and give authenticity to the acts of civil status. They are assisted by civil servants assigned or appointed for this purpose by decision of the mayor.
The registrars in the principal centres register the birth, marriage and death certificates, make transcripts and references to them, and deal with all administrative matters relating to civil status (Law 2007-30, article 38). Mayors may delegate all or part of their functions in matters of civil status to their deputies (article 39). The officials of the secondary centres are civil registrars. They sign birth, marriage and death certificates (article 37). The Ministry of the Interior, Public Security, Decentralization and Religious and Custom Affairs, Directorate General of Civil Status and Refugees (DGEC-R) oversees the process of civil registration. |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Is there a legal obligation to register deaths? | Yes (article 31) |
| Is an official death certificate issued as a result of death registration? | Yes, immediately |
| Legal informant to register a death | The surviving spouse, One of the parents, At least one of the closest neighbours (or the first informed, if not the customary authority of the place of death), Law enforcement officer, Member of the medical corps, Any other recognized witness (article 33) |
| Time allowed for registration | 30 days or 10 days if death occurred in a health facility;
In the civil registration centres, and in the secondary centres of groups of villages or tribes, the declarations shall be made within 30 days (article 41). Births and deaths occurring in health facilities must be declared immediately, or within 10 days at the latest (article 42). |
| Fee for death registration | No |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
| Fee for death certificate | No, extracts from civil status documents shall be issued free of charge. Copies of documents or extracts from civil status documents other than those requested by magistrates of the administrative or judicial order shall be stamped to the benefit of the communes (article 59). |
| Penalty for late registration | Yes; Fines are applied to the persons indicated in article 33 of Law No. 2007-30 (bearing the regime of the Civil State in Niger) if they fail to make a declaration or, unless there is a valid excuse, will not be present at the administrative census prescribed by the administrative, diplomatic or consular authority. This fine is levied for the benefit of the municipalities against delivery of a receipt extracted from a special-purpose register (Decree No. 2008-189, article 75). |
| Other official fees involved in the death registration process | No |
| Registration requirements or fees specific for the deaths of people who were residents in the country and also of foreign nationality | No |
| Requirements for death registration | Date of death, Age at death |
| Information collected | Regarding the deceased: Name, Sex, Date of birth or age, Place of birth, Nationality, Marital status, Educational level, Place of usual residence, Occupation, Number of children
Regarding the death: Date of death, Date of registration, Place of occurrence, Place of registration, Cause of death, Type of place of occurrence (hospital, home, etc.) |
| Information collected in case of fetal death | Fetal deaths are not registered. |
| Processing | Manually (on paper) |
| Place of registration | Main civil registration centres: Chief places of the commune, The Central Registry, Headquarters of diplomatic missions and consuls
Secondary centres are located in groups of districts, villages and tribes, or groups of villages and tribes according to their demographic weight. |
| A death certificate is required for: | Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance. |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on deaths | Components of the registers of civil status documents intended for statistical purposes shall be sent every 3 months to the National Statistical Institute by the officers of the main centres through the departmental and regional directorates of civil status; these components are accompanied by the monthly summary alphabetical sheets (Decree No. 2008-189, article 37).
However, no publication of vital statistics is released by the National Statistical Institute. |
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.