How to register an adoption with Puerto Rico’s Demographic Registry

It is the process by which the Demographic Registry records an adoption in the civil registry. The Registry explains it citing Article 21A, Section 1136: if an adopted person’s birth was previously registered with the Demographic Registry, the entry for that birth is replaced by another recording the registrant’s new legal status, as if they were the adopters’ legitimate child. It is not a marginal note on the old entry: it is a replacement. And what happens to the earlier documentation is carefully regulated, because the family’s privacy depends on it.

Which of the four procedures applies depends on two facts: where the adopted person was born and where the adoption took place. If they were born in Puerto Rico and their birth was already registered, the Article 21A replacement of the entry applies. If they were born in Puerto Rico but their birth is not registered, Article 21B provides that registration be made from the data resulting from the adoption. If the adoption took place outside Puerto Rico but the person was born here, Article 21C allows registration at the interested party’s request by presenting an authenticated copy of the resolution or decree authorizing the adoption; the Registry notes that the Rules of Civil Procedure call this process an EXEQUATUR. And if the person was born outside Puerto Rico but was adopted here, Article 21D places the task on the Registry’s side.

• Identifying which of the four scenarios applies to you, based on where the adopted person was born and where the adoption took place: Articles 21A, 21B, 21C and 21D.Verified against the official source
• If the adoption took place outside Puerto Rico and the person was born here, presenting an authenticated copy of the resolution or decree authorizing the adoption, following the Article 21B procedure. The Registry notes that the Rules of Civil Procedure call this process an EXEQUATUR.Verified against the official source
• Having the court resolution: the Registry names it among the documents kept in the file alongside the original entry.Verified against the official source
• Handling it at the Central Office: the Registry states this process is carried out only at the Central Office, Metro Center, Calle Mayagüez #5, San Juan, PR 00910.Verified against the official source

• The court resolution authorizing the adoption. If the adoption was outside Puerto Rico, an authenticated copy of the resolution or decree.
• The original birth registration entry for the adoptee, where one exists: the Registry keeps it in a sealed envelope along with the resolution and the other documents.
• Current photo identification of whoever handles the filing.

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   Step 1: Locate your scenario among the four

   Born in Puerto Rico with the birth already registered: the entry is replaced (Art. 21A). Born in Puerto Rico with the birth unregistered: registration is made from the adoption data (Art. 21B). The adoption happened outside Puerto Rico and the person was born here: it is registered at the interested party’s request with an authenticated copy of the resolution, what the Rules of Civil Procedure call an EXEQUATUR (Art. 21C). Born outside Puerto Rico and adopted here: the Registry Chief sends a certified copy of the resolution to the officer at the place of birth, and the Registry keeps a special register for those cases (Art. 21D).

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   Step 2: Obtain the court resolution

   It is the document the whole process rests on. If the adoption was in Puerto Rico, it is the court resolution that authorized it. If it was elsewhere, the Registry asks for an authenticated copy of the resolution or decree, a stricter requirement than a plain copy, and one to arrange in the jurisdiction of origin.

3. 3

   Step 3: Understand what happens to the original entry

   The adoptee’s original birth registration entry, the court resolution and the other documents are kept at the Registry in a sealed envelope, and they are confidential documents. It is useful to know in advance: the earlier information does not disappear, it is sealed.

4. 4

   Step 4: Be clear on who can request the original data

   The Registry regulates it this way: no certification it issues will show the original registration data, unless the applicant so requires and a competent court has so ordered for justified cause. And it adds an important exception: no such authorization is needed when the applicant is the adopter or the adoptee. In other words, the adoptive family does not need a court order to access that information.

5. 5

   Step 5: Go to the Central Office in San Juan

   Like the Registry’s other special procedures, this one is not done at a local office: the Registry states the process is carried out only at the Central Office, Metro Center, Calle Mayagüez #5, San Juan, PR 00910.

Only at the Demographic Registry’s Central Office: Metro Center, Calle Mayagüez #5, San Juan, PR 00910.

• Bringing a plain copy of the resolution or decree when the adoption was outside Puerto Rico and the Registry asks for an authenticated copy.
• Doing a separate late registration first when the person was born in Puerto Rico without being registered, when registration is made from the adoption data.
• Accepting a refusal of the original registration data while being the adopter or the adoptee, when the Registry says no judicial authorization is needed in those cases.
• Going to a local Demographic Registry office, when this process is carried out only at the Central Office in San Juan.
• Expecting a marginal note on the old entry, when what happens is a replacement of the entry by another recording the new legal status.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov

• Demographic Registry — vital event certifications

  Departamento de Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov