In short
Act 61-2019 addresses a very concrete problem: many people leave a penal institution without a valid ID, and without ID you cannot apply for a job, or housing, or health reform coverage, or even another ID, because getting one almost always requires having another. The Act defines a person about to liquidate a sentence as one with six months or less left, and from there orders the Secretaries of Health, of the Family, of Treasury and of Transportation and Public Works to establish, through collaborative agreements with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the terms for granting them a free first copy of the birth certificate and of a Real ID, plus referrals for an evaluation to acquire, if qualified, the benefits of the Health Reform Plan and of the Nutritional Assistance Programme. The paperwork is not done by the person alone: the Act orders Corrections to designate a socio-penal worker or other personnel to request the birth certificate from the Demographic Registry on the inmate’s behalf, and to handle the referrals.
What is it?
It is the right to leave a penal institution with papers. Act 61-2019 declares it public policy to provide valid identifications to ex-inmate citizens and orders a diligent, expedited process so that whoever is about to liquidate their sentence can acquire personal identifications before leaving. Concretely: a free first copy of the birth certificate and of the Real ID, and referrals to be evaluated for health reform coverage and for PAN. The Act cites itself as the Act on identification for the ex-inmate person.
Who can do it?
Article 6 sets four minimum criteria: being an inmate; having six months or less left to liquidate a sentence in a penal institution of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; satisfying any other requirement established by agreement; and committing to comply with all applicable laws, rules and norms. The third is open by design: additional requirements live in the collaborative agreements between the agencies, which we do not publish because we did not read them. The Act also defines, in Article 3, that an ex-inmate is the person who complied with the sentence passed by a court, and that liquidating a sentence is the moment they comply with it.
Requirements
- Being an inmate with six (6) months or less left to liquidate a sentence in a penal institution of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Articles 3(d) and 6).Verified against the official source
- Satisfying any other requirement established by collaborative agreement between the agencies, and committing to comply with all applicable laws, rules and norms (Article 6).Verified against the official source
- Corrections must keep a register, with recurring updates, of inmates within six months or less of release (Article 5(a)).Verified against the official source
- Corrections must designate a socio-penal worker, person or personnel to request the birth certificate from the Demographic Registry on the inmate’s behalf (Article 5(b)).Verified against the official source
- Corrections must designate personnel to request a referral or other steps directed at easy access to an evaluation for the Health Reform Plan and Nutritional Assistance Programme benefits (Article 5(c)).Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The problem the Act came to solve
Worth understanding because it explains the design. The statement of motives describes it bluntly: depending on the case, members of the correctional population have no current identification documents when they liquidate their sentence, while others have lost them or are indigent, so they lack valid documentation to identify themselves once in the free community. And it points at the loop: that also affects the process of applying for another valid identification, because holding a current one is required. If they go to request the birth certificate they are asked for a valid ID; if they go to request social security, likewise. Without the first document you cannot get the second.
Step 2: Six months, not release day
Article 3(d) defines a person about to liquidate a sentence as any member of the correctional population in Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation institutions with six months or less left to liquidate their sentence. That is when the process opens. And it does not depend on the person asking: Article 5(a) orders the Corrections Secretary to create a regulation establishing the institutional procedure for keeping a register, with recurring updates, of inmates within those six months. The register belongs to the institution; the Act expects the institution to know who enters the window.
Step 3: What is given free of charge
Article 4 lists it. The Secretaries of Health, of the Family, of Treasury and of Transportation and Public Works shall establish, through collaborative agreements with Corrections, the terms for granting a free first copy of the birth certificate and of a Real ID type identification. And in the same article, the referrals for an evaluation to acquire, if qualified, the benefits of the Health Reform Plan and those of the Nutritional Assistance Programme. Two honest precisions. First: the Act says first copy, so the free part is one and not however many are needed afterwards. Second: the referral is for an evaluation, and the Act expressly writes if qualified, so it does not guarantee the benefit but access to being evaluated.
Step 4: Who does the paperwork
Not the inmate on their own, and this is the most useful thing the Act says. Article 5(b) orders the Corrections Secretary to establish the corresponding procedure to designate a socio-penal worker, person or personnel at their sound discretion, to request the birth certificate from the Demographic Registry on the inmate’s behalf. Article 5(c) does the same for referrals: designate personnel to request a referral or other steps directed at easy access to an evaluation to acquire the Reform and PAN benefits, the latter attached to the Department of the Family. So the right question inside the institution is not where the office is, but who is the person designated for this.
Step 5: The four criteria and the one left open
Article 6 says every participant must meet the following minimum criteria to be eligible for the free first copy of the birth certificate and the Real ID, and for the granting of the referral: being an inmate; having six months or less left to liquidate a sentence in a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation penal institution; satisfying any other requirement established by agreement; and committing to comply with all applicable laws, rules and norms. The third is what prevents giving a closed list: the additional requirements are not in the Act, they are in the collaborative agreements between the agencies, and we did not read those.
Step 6: Who is who in this Act
Worth being clear about because there are five entities and none does everything. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation keeps the six-month register and designates whoever files on the inmate’s behalf. The Department of Health is where the Demographic Registry lives, which issues the birth certificate. The Department of Transportation and Public Works is the one that issues the Real ID type identification. The Department of the Family administers the Nutritional Assistance Programme the referrals go to. And the Department of the Treasury is the fourth Secretary Article 4 names among those who must sign the agreements. The Act assigns the inmate no role beyond meeting the Article 6 criteria.
Where to do it
Inside the penal institution. The Act creates no external counter and no public form: Article 5 orders Corrections to designate a socio-penal worker or other personnel to request the birth certificate from the Demographic Registry on the inmate’s behalf and to handle the referrals to the Reform and PAN. The certificate is issued by the Demographic Registry, which is in the Department of Health; the Real ID by Transportation and Public Works; PAN is administered by the Department of the Family. The Act publishes no addresses, telephones, forms or portals, and we do not guess government internet addresses.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
One clarification about this entry first: the body that operates this process inside the institution is the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which this site does not carry among its agencies. So as not to invent an attribution, the guide is filed under Health, the first of the four Secretaries Article 4 names and where the Demographic Registry that issues the first document lives; the text says at each step who does what. What we did not read and therefore do not publish: the collaborative agreements between the agencies, which is where the operative terms and the additional requirements of Article 6(c) live; the regulation Article 5(a) orders Corrections to create; and the rules of the Demographic Registry, of the Real ID programme, of the Health Reform Plan and of the Nutritional Assistance Programme. Of those we report nothing. Four gaps in the text, said plainly. First, the Act sets no term for the documents to be issued nor for the agreements to be signed. Second, it does not say what happens if the person leaves without the process having been completed. Third, it mentions no form. Fourth, it does not say whether the free first copy is lost when not used within the six-month window. Cost shows as free because the Act itself publishes it that way: a first copy, free of charge.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until release day: the window opens when six months or less remain on the sentence.
- Believing you must go to an office: the Act orders Corrections to designate a socio-penal worker to file on the inmate’s behalf.
- Thinking all copies are free: the Act speaks of a free first copy of the birth certificate and of the Real ID.
- Reading the referral as an approval: Article 4 says referrals for an evaluation to acquire, if qualified, the benefits.
- Looking for the complete list of requirements in the Act: Article 6(c) refers to any other requirement established by agreement.
- Assuming Health does everything: the Real ID belongs to Transportation and Public Works and PAN to the Department of the Family.
- Believing the person must apply to enter the register: Article 5(a) orders the institution to keep that register updated.
- Thinking the Act covers social security: it names the birth certificate, the Real ID, the Reform and PAN, and nothing else.
Frequently asked questions
When does the process start?
When the person has six months or less left to liquidate their sentence. That is how Article 3(d) defines it, and Article 5(a) orders Corrections to keep a register with recurring updates of those inside that window.
Which documents are free?
A free first copy of the birth certificate and of a Real ID type identification. That is what Article 4 says. The free part is the first copy; the Act says nothing about subsequent ones.
Do they give me health reform coverage and PAN?
The Act gives a referral for an evaluation to acquire, if qualified, those benefits. It is access to being evaluated, not the grant of the benefit. PAN is attached to the Department of the Family.
Do I have to request it myself?
The Act is not designed that way. Article 5(b) and (c) orders Corrections to designate a socio-penal worker or other personnel to request the birth certificate from the Demographic Registry on the inmate’s behalf and to handle the referrals.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico
Salud
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
August 31, 2026
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