If you’ve been hoping to get a national ID card without first sorting out your birth certificate, Huduma Kenya has some news for you: it’s no longer possible.
The agency addressed the matter after a Kenyan reached out asking whether ID registration could proceed without a birth certificate on hand. The answer was a firm no.
Huduma Kenya explained that anyone in this situation needs to sort out their birth certificate first, then come back for the ID.
“Please apply for a birth certificate first through the Civil Registrar’s Office or a Huduma Centre in the county of birth before applying for an identity card,” the agency said.
This marks a shift from how things used to work. In the past, Kenyans without a birth certificate still had a path to an ID, they could submit school records, religious documents, and a signed affidavit instead. It wasn’t exactly simple, though. Those applications typically faced extra scrutiny, going through a longer, more detailed vetting process before approval.
That workaround is now off the table. Huduma Kenya has done away with it, insisting that a birth certificate has to come first, full stop.
In practice, this means anyone without one will need to go through what’s called a late birth certificate application, a process with noticeably more requirements than what a newborn’s parents would deal with.
For a late application, applicants need to provide secondary evidence of identity and birth, such as a primary or secondary school leaving certificate, a clinic card, or a baptismal card.
On the cost side, the State Department for Immigration and Citizenship Services has set the late application fee at Ksh500, with a further Ksh200 charged for the certificate’s issuance.
Steps to Apply for a Late Birth Certificate
- Log into your eCitizen account and head to the Civil Registration Services section.
- Select the Late Birth Certificate application option.
- Enter your personal and family information as required.
- Scan and upload your supporting documents.
- Pay the applicable late registration fee.
- Print out the completed application form along with the payment invoice.
- Take the printed documents, together with your original supporting papers, to your nearest Huduma Centre or sub-county Civil Registration Office for verification.
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