OVERVIEW

The Registrar General’s Office is governed by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act [Cap 42]. The Act regulates the registration of births, deaths, marriages, name changes, aliases and the solemnization of marriages.

The Office of the Registrar General operates under the Ministry of Justice. Registrar General is appointed by the Prime Minister with the consent of Cabinet. There are also sub-registrars who are appointed by the Registrar General following consultation with the Chief Magistrate and with consent of the Prime Minister.

At present, the Registrar General is the Hon. Minister for Justice; Samiu Kuita Vaipulu. There are 7 sub-registrars in Tongatapu whereas in the outer islands, Government Representatives acts as sub-registrars except where there is a resident Magistrate, the Magistrate also acts as the sub-registrar for that district.

The Office of the Registrar General consists of the following staff members –

• 1 Deputy Secretary
• 1 Legal Officer
• 1 Assistant Secretary
• 1 Vital Statistics Officer
• 1 Digital Archivist
• 3 Computer Assistants
• 9 Clerks

For enquiries, please contact 740-0821 / 740-0817 or email helpdesk@justice.gov.to

RELEVANT ACTS & REGULATIONS

• Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2002
• Regisitrar Generals Change of Name Regulations 2011
• Registrar Generals Births, Deaths and Marriages Regulations
• Solemnization of Marriage Regulations

These are the minimum requirements for all applications to the Registrar General Office:

• Minimum Requirements for BIRTH
• Minimum Requirements for DEATH
• Minimum Requirements for MARRIAGE
• Minimum Requirements for CERTIFICATE OF NAME REGISTRATION

RGO Fees

• FEES

REQUIREMENT WHEN REQUESTING FOR DOCUMENTS
OVER THE COUNTER

1. BIRTH CERTIFICATE

• Full Name as registered on the Birth Certificate (for elderly folks – any alias?)
• Date of Birth ( Date, Month and year)
• Place of Birth ( Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vava’u, Niuafo’ou, Niuatoputapu)
• Name of parents

2. REQUESTING FOR BIRTH CERTIFICATES WHERE DATE OF BIRTH IS NOT CONFIRMED

• Full name as registered on birth certificate (staff needs time to search the registers)
• Siblings (if any) name is required to help with the search
• If the name is not found on the register, birth certificate holder will then apply for late registration of birth (refer to RGO Minimum requirements)

3. DEATH CERTIFICATE

• Full name of the deceased
• Date of death (Date, Month and Year)
• Place of Death (Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vavau, Niuafo’ou, Niuatoputapu)
• Name of the deceased’s parents

4. SEARCH FOR DEATH CERTIFICATES WHERE DATE OF DEATH IS NOT CONFIRMED

• Names that the deceased person was commonly known and called with
• An approximation of the person’s time of death (Day, Month or Year)
• Place of Death( Tongatapu, Vava’u, Niuafo’ou, Niuatoputapu)

5. MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

• Full name of Bride and Groom
• Date of Marriage( Date, Month and year)
• Place where marriage was held ( Vava’u, Ha’apai, ‘Eua, Niuafo’ou and Niuatoputapu)

Note: It is the duty of the Church Minister who solemnized the marriage to register the marriage, by returning the used marriage licence to the Registry. If the marriage certificate is searched and not found, this means that your marriage has not been registered by the Church Minister. You are then required to apply for the late registration of marriage (refer to RGO Minimum Requirements)

REGISTRATION WITHIN TIME LIMIT

1. BIRTH

Illegitimate Birth

• Original or Re-Issued Certificate of Live Birth from the Hospital
• Mother must attend registry for registration
• If father wishes to register the child, he MUST attend the registry together with the mother for registration

Legitimate Birth

• Original or Re-Issued Certificate of Live Birth from the Hospital
• Either mother or father may attend registry for registration

2. DEATH

• Original Death Certificate from Hospital (if it is a copy, must seek leave of Registrar General – refer to RGO Minimum Requirement)
• Authorization letter from next of kin (if person is not the next of kin)
• Name of Church Minister who officiated the funeral

 Note: 

Birth – Parent/s is required by law to register the birth within 3 weeks from the date of the child’s birth, however, Ministry of Justice/RGO is offering a grace period of 3 months from the date of birth for parent/s to register the birth.

Death – Death must be registered within 1 year from the date of death