Salvadoran civil status records are held by the municipal registries and centralised through the national registry of natural persons. From the United States there are two practical routes to a certified copy: request it online through the government portal, or ask for it at a consulate. Events that happened here — a birth, a marriage, a death — are registered through the consulate so they enter the Salvadoran register.
Quick facts
Certified birth records carry a freshness rule that catches people out constantly: for identity and passport files, the copy generally has to have been issued within the last twelve months.
Fees breakdown
| Service | Cost | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Certified birth record online | Fee set in the government portal | National digital services platform |
| Certified record issued at a consulate | Consular tariff | Confirm the current amount |
| National identity document abroad | $35 USD | Issue, renewal or replacement |
| Registration of an event occurred abroad | Consular tariff | Requires the apostilled U.S. certificate |
| Apostille on the U.S. certificate | $3–$25 | Secretary of State |
The identity document has kept the same fee abroad for years. A transitional decree approved in 2026 waived the renewal charge for documents expiring around the 2027 elections, but that exemption applies only to procedures carried out inside El Salvador and does not extend to consulates.
How to request a record
- Gather the registration details: full name as it appears in the register, date of birth and the municipality where the event was registered.
- Use the government online platform if you only need a certified copy, and pay there.
- Otherwise book on the official appointment portal, or check whether your consulate takes walk-ins.
- For registering a U.S. event, order the long-form certificate and have it apostilled by the state that issued it.
- Present the file at the consulate, which forwards it for entry in the Salvadoran register.
- Ask for a certified copy once the record exists, and keep a spare.
Required documents
- Identity document of the person requesting the record.
- Registration details of the event, or the previous certificate if you have one.
- Long-form U.S. certificate, apostilled, for events that happened here.
- Identity documents of the parents for a birth registration.
- Supporting documents for any annotation: marriage, divorce, death of a spouse or a correction.
- Payment in the form the consulate accepts.
Where to file
Any consulate in your district can handle the request, and mobile consular days include registry services.
No offices currently listed.
Additional notes
Annotations matter
Marriage, divorce and widowhood are recorded as annotations in the margin of the birth record. An identity document cannot be updated until the annotation is in place.
Corrections
Errors and omissions in a birth record are corrected through the registry that holds it, and the corrected copy is then used for everything else. Fixing it early avoids a chain of rejected applications.
Two ways to the same document
The online route is faster and can be done from anywhere; the consular route suits people who need the document the same day they attend for something else.
Keep copies current
Because of the twelve-month rule, a certificate obtained for one procedure may already be too old for the next one. Check the date before assuming it still works.