Section 1 of the amended Articles (376 and 412) of the Republic Act No. 9048 provides that: “No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname, which can be corrected or changed by the concerned city or municipal civil registrar or Consul General” in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
A Petition for Correction of Clerical Error may be filed at the Embassy or Consulate, where the record containing the clerical or typographical error to be corrected, is registered. The Consul General has the main authority to approve petitions. In his/her absence, a Consul or Vice Consul may perform this task.
Clerical or typographical error – refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records: Provided, however, that no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner.
Basic requirements for filing a Petition of Correction for Clerical Error:
1. Two (2) duly signed Petition for Correction of Clerical Error Forms;
2. Three (3) photocopies of the civil registry document containing clerical error/s, such as Report of Birth, Report of Marriage, etc.;
3. Present original and submit three (3) photocopies of apostillized Birth Certificate or Marriage Certificate, as the case may be;
4. For clerical correction of an entry or entries in a Report of Birth, three (3) photocopies of the following:
a. Parent/s’ birth certificate/s;
b. Parents’ marriage certificate (if in foreign language, sworn English translation); and
c. Child’s passport data page and identity/residence card.
5. Other additional supporting documents as may be deemed relevant to the clerical error/s to be corrected.
Note: A minimum of two (2) supporting documents are needed as basis for correction.
6. Processing fee: € 50.00
Procedure:
Once all the necessary documents are completed, the application may be filed personally at the Embassy either by the parent of the child (if Petition is related to Report of Birth), or the contracting parties (if it is related to Report of Marriage), or the next of kin (if it is related to Report of Death).
A Notice for Posting will be posted at the Embassy premises for ten (10) consecutive days before the Consul General/Consul can approve/disapprove the Petition. If there are no objections after the 10-day notice, a decision should be rendered within five (5) working days after the end of the posting.
Once the Petition is approved, the Embassy forwards the petition file in two (2) sets to the PSA through the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines. It usually takes several months before the Petition is approved by the Civil Registrar General. Once affirmation is received from the DFA/PSA, the Embassy will then add a marginal annotation in the civil registry document to correct the clerical error. The annotated document will be produced in four (4) copies – one (1) for the Petitioner, one (1) for the Embassy, and two (2) for transmittal to DFA/PSA. The Petitioner may retrieve a PSA-issued annotated document in the Philippines a minimum of three (3) months after the affirmation from the Civil Registrar General is received.
