Amid the excruciating delays faced by thousands of Cubans in obtaining basic documents, such as birth or marriage certificates, the government has introduced a new bill that seeks to completely transform the operation of the Civil Registry.
The information was published on the official website of the Cuban Parliament, following an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers held in recent days.
The draft Civil Registry Law was presented by Justice Minister Oscar Silvera Martínez, who explained that it is an urgent measure to improve and computerize the system, strengthen its institutional framework, and establish clear rules for the work of civil registrars.
A long-awaited reform
The Civil Registry is currently one of the most overloaded services in the country. Citizens from every province report endless waits to obtain simple certifications that are vital for accessing other rights.
The difficulties are further exacerbated for those who need certified, updated, or legalized documents, as part of immigration processes, international marriages, or applications for Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law (LMD).
In many cases, files are delayed for months due to transcription errors, poor file conditions, lost books, or the inability to obtain a certificate from the municipality of origin. Added to this is the slowness of a system that, in much of the country, continues to operate manually, without interconnected databases.
What would change with the new law?
According to official textThis future legislation will regulate the organization and operation of the Civil Registry, the recording of registrable events and acts, the disclosure of their content, and the resulting legal effects. A differentiated disciplinary regime will also be established for registrars, which implies greater oversight of staff serving the population.
Minister Silvera described the registry function as "extremely broad and complex" and emphasized that it is vital for public policy planning, as it is one of the main sources of demographic and social statistics. In this sense, computerization would not only streamline procedures for ordinary citizens but would also allow the State to better manage its decisions on population, migration, and administrative issues.
Will there be real results?
Although the intention is positive, many Cubans wonder when and how this transformation will actually be implemented. So far, several laws have promised digitization and efficiency, but in practice, procedures remain clogged, especially in rural municipalities or areas with poor connectivity. The challenge will be to take this digitalization beyond official rhetoric and ensure that citizens can access their documents in a reasonable timeframe, without corruption or technical obstacles.
Other laws announced
In addition to this draft, the Council of Ministers submitted three other legal texts to the National Assembly of People's Power:
Code of Children, Adolescents and Youth, which seeks to guarantee the rights, participation, and inclusion of minors and young people.
Cuban Sports System Law, the first of its kind, which regulates the principles and organization of sports in the country.
Law on the General Regime of Contraventions and Administrative Sanctions, which reorganizes fines and sanctions for administrative violations in different areas.
These measures are part of the country's legislative agenda, but it is the reform of the Civil Registry that could have the greatest immediate impact on the daily lives of millions of people.
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42 comments
The civil registry is a totally corrupt bureaucracy. If you have money you solve it, otherwise you die waiting for a document and when they do it for you, it brings thousands of errors to correct and it is the never-ending labyrinth.
The lack of respect, mistreatment, indolence, poor work, delays, and the entire mess that exists in the Civil Registries can't be solved by a new law or anything else. Add to that the fact that they're almost never operational, especially in the interior of the country, which only exacerbates the poor customer service... The LMD ends, or the time we have for the process runs out, and we won't have the new law, nor will the problems be solved... 🤷🏼 How pathetic it all is!!!
At the Santa Clara legal consultancy located on Colón Street, the process is cumbersome. I've been waiting since October for some educational documents for procedures abroad, and these are the hours that we haven't had those documents in our hands. It's been 7 months, almost 8, and not a single call or response of any kind. However, those who pay a fortune are attended to immediately and their documents are resolved.
It is an evil that in Cacocum Holguín... there is a subversive and tyrannical element at the head of the civil registry authorized by the minister himself to mistreat clients... I am talking about citizen Maria de los Ángeles Vázquez... the main civil registry officer of the territory... about whom complaints have been filed up to the Ministry and she continues there mistreating and mistreating the population...
In total they give you five appointments and if you are from a neighboring area you cannot do any paperwork because due to transportation when you arrive all the appointments are already given and sometimes you arrive there is no one to do any paperwork and they tell you we have already given the appointments in that it takes me months to get a marriage registration, the LMD ends and through the civil registries you cannot get there and counting the electricity issue that is never there or connection and if you go to correct it they tell you there are many cases it cannot be, we are full
My image of the work in the registries is terrible, I have been to several to obtain certifications: 1-You request an appointment, you go on the appointed day and they collect your application. 2-You wait more than 20 days and when you go to collect your certification it is not printed and they have you several hours and when they give it to you it has errors, there is no electricity, it does not have the state stamps but there are always people outside selling for $ 500 or more, that is why the office never has a connection, they take longer than expected and with the same client they start to get certifications of friends and for $, the client in need sees and suffers all of that.
BT in the civil registry of the province of Artemisa, the case is exactly the same as in all the provinces, it seems like an unsolvable problem, you request the documents after having to get up early because being the provincial one they only give you 10 appointments and when you manage to get in they tell you to come within 20 business days and when you arrive at 20 days the girl takes out the book in front of you and looks for the information, then I get worriedcupWhat are the 20 days for?
The 20 days are so that the customer is always dissatisfied, because to request these hours and to collect these hours that are supposed to be already printed, you have to review and sign with a stamp, but that is never the case.
I requested my birth registration and it appears as Argelia LaO Méndez. I don't have a father, but that was when they changed it to the computer and now it's not anyone's fault, so it's mine. You are the ones who work poorly.
I requested my birth registration
I requested my registration
I requested my registration
I would like someone to give me an answer to this concern. On 11/10/2024, my nephews and I requested the services of a lawyer in Camagüey to correct errors in our birth certificates since we are living in Sancti Spiritus.
This process was very difficult for us. In November, the lawyer notified me that the process for me and my nephews was done. It turns out that they still haven't entered the correction of one of my nephews into the civil registry system, nor mine, which is in Florida, Camaguey. Every time the lawyer goes to the civil registry in Camaguey, they tell her that they still haven't been able to enter it into the system because there is no connection. I need someone to tell me what I can do because I need these certifications for immigration procedures, and time goes by and I can't resolve this situation.
My opinion is that they have created a system that is not effective, not everyone has a telephone and sometimes the process is done and when the day comes they are not there and everything has to be done again and everything is money that is scarce. It is an institution that needs any document it is not for pleasure it is a matter of necessity the state demands that everything be legal but institutions like these as they are are useless they do not realize or do not want to see. I live in Guanabacoa and I have given up on documents that I earned, I hope and I have hope that it will change someday every time they invent something it is garbage everything is for more work, I do not say if heart attacks increase but we are still behind Asia.
Good morning
When COVID-19 hit, all processing offices limited the number of procedures available.
Each collective law firm, notary office, or civil registry established its own laws and terms, something that is here to stay.
These processing offices work 8-hour shifts. I don't understand why they handle 10 cases per day.
This has generated long waits, and outsiders, the shift resellers, work at the doors of these offices.
The same notaries have prices for procedures starting at 10,000 pesos and up.
At the civil registry of the hill, the procedures take 21 days and when they are to provinces it can take 5 months. with 4,500 cup you have the registration at the moment.
I would also like to congratulate the Boyeros notary. You arrive, they will write you down, and your appointment is guaranteed. Although it shouldn't be, you should be served on the same day.
The Arroyo Naranjo civil registry offers excellent service; you can obtain your documents within a week.
Something very important
When you request legalization of a title at the Ministry of Justice, it may take from 5 months or more, but this service is paid for at the time of the contract.
Transcripts and thematic plans at Victoria de Giron University Rector are digitally registered. Simply print the information upon request and pay for it. The international legal consultancy explains that they are two years overdue.
Sometimes, when they arrive, they have errors and you must wait this time again to receive it. After having the document, you must pay again to have it legalized, and it takes more than 5 months.
Is this something that is indicated or are the secretaries of the Victoria de Girón faculty inept?
Since the December medical report, I've made several requests to the Guantánamo Civil Registry and have yet to receive a response. It only tells me that it's pending the assignment of a registrar, which apparently hasn't been found yet.
This computerization process needs to be completed as soon as possible, as I know of registries where it takes months to obtain accurate information, and sometimes, if you don't pay extra, or "under the table," as they say here, they don't give you the information in a timely manner or exactly as it appears in the files. It even seems as though they don't perform the search with malicious intent—at least that's the opinion of many, like me, who haven't been able to access the information they're looking for.
Hello, I am processing Spanish citizenship together with my son, who belongs to the civil registry of Abreus, province of Cienfuegos. Everything was going very well until we had to correct some simple errors in the names and surnames of my parents. That's where my karma began. From March 2024 to February 3, 025, I could not get an appointment for the correction. I was told that due to thermal energy problems, the machines could not be used, so one correction would be made per day as long as I had all the documents for the correction.unent that I delivered because I gave them the two original registrations of my parents for the correction of the errors that appeared in my registration. Well, despite me having the order of the queue as # 4, I was given the turn to correct the errors on the 11th. I showed up that day and the truth is that if I had everything for the correction, an application was filled out as if I was starting from scratch and they asked me for my phone number claiming they would call me, which they never did until I. Already a little upset because when I called they never gave me a logical answer and already upset I showed up in April, almost 60 days after having submitted my papers, they tell me that they had already corrected me but they hadn't called me, they tell me something that I honestly didn't understand well, but when they give me a piece of paper I verify the registration and zero correction it was the same as I had submitted it, I had to leave again upset with empty hands due to so much negligence and they were also upset because I complained about the delay and the violation of the time established by law I had to wait 2 more weeks for them to call me but it turns out that although they are doing the process together for my son and I for citizenship, we are stopped in time and time is running out because they did not want to do my son's subsanction together with mine and now the same thing is happening that happened to me and a process that a lawyer is handling for us is stopped due to lack of registrations for some simple errors in the sanction. Do you think that is fair enough to delay so much negligence?
and bureaucracy.
At the civil registry on 10 de Octubre, the service is terrible and the motto is "come back in 10 days, it's not in the system or there's no connection or the power goes out at 10 and at 2 or 3 in the afternoon we can't help anyone because we have to wait for the server to work or something like that." It's taken me 5 months to get my birth certificate and my parents' marriage certificate, and what can I say about my father's death certificate, which when they gave it to me I had to rectify.
I applied for three birth registrations in Camagüey since January. I went in February because it arrived in my email as if it was ready, but I can't access the PDF to print it. They wrote me down to give me the supposed "satisfaction" and nothing. Anyway, I went this week and there are still delays, that's all they say, and we have to keep waiting. I don't think my sister will have time to get Spanish citizenship because everything is done at the pace that can be done and very calmly, and the laws are to be applied when it suits them.
A law that speeds up registration procedures is very important, but the most important thing is to improve the infrastructure and for the community to be better. I work in a registry and the connection speed is not bad, but the network goes down all the time, for one reason or another. My municipality is large and there are only three computers, four more computers would be needed to provide an acceptable service. Otherwise, I don't see corruption. There are always clients who try to bribe, but you have to remember that dignity and decorum are very important and never accept and fall so low.
nothing is solved by telling lies
For that year is that the law of the Ministry of Civil Registry going to come into force, because I have been trying to get two birth certificates since September 2024 and I have not been able to because they have to be requested from the east of the country and that entity to upload to the system has to have electricity and what they give you is mainly barely two hours a day, so how will it be possible for me to request said birth certificate if there is no way to go?
I have been waiting for a month and a half for my husband's and my registrations so I can correct the registration of our oldest child, which due to their error, is now delayed.
I requested the registrations through the municipality of Guanabacoa, where I have been living for 23 years, and my civil registry is Boyero, which has not sent my information so they can print my registration. My husband's is in Centro Habana and the same thing happens. It is truly disrespectful. Add to that the issue of the current, in which you must request the first time slot on the Ticker app because otherwise you can stay for another day.
Disappointing to do any paperwork at the civil registry
Yes, something must be done about the procedures in the civil registries, but what is also affecting is that we wake up every day in those places without connection or power. So what are we talking about? I myself have been in the process of correcting errors since January 2024 and I don't know when it will be finished because the blackouts do not allow those who work in the civil registry or any of the processing places in this country to work. I hope that some measure is taken but quickly because we only have until October to present documents at the Spanish embassy in Cuba. Thank you.
I hope that measures are taken regarding this, I have been trying to get all my registrations out for almost a year and still nothing, due to the energy citation and the poor connection of the system. Please, I hope everything will return to the times before when everything was on paper and pencil,
Wow, a great achievement, thank goodness someone realized the obstacles that the people face in receiving these documents. It is necessary that they also try to help us legalize the ownership of the houses, which is a wait of years and this problem is not resolved when it is not one thing, it is another. Please help the people with this, the people of Jaruqueños cannot take this problem any longer, thank you very much.
I don't think anything needs to be changed. Before, it wasn't digitalized and you solved it the same day. You arrived at the place and it was in order of arrival and you worked 8 hours.
During the pandemic, shifts were given out due to the current situation, but that phase is over and we want to continue giving 10 to 15 shifts. Now, at 10 a.m. they are doing nothing, and this is what happens in most organizations that serve the population, not to mention the corruption that exists, where if you don't give money, they don't solve your problems.
The problem is that the directors of these organizations do not require or supervise the work of the people who serve the client,
all these irregularities can be detected,
And as long as they believe it is a favor they are doing us and are not committed to doing their job as it is, they can add a thousand things and the problem will not be solved.
It's paranoia here in Manatí-Las Tunas. There's no printer; you have to print the document on the street. The staff's treatment of the public is rude; I've seen it, experienced it, and I think the staff should be educated. And keep in mind that the civil registry belongs to the Justice Department.
I already made mine and I don't see it.
I ask Parliament why it doesn't give legal guardianship to mothers who live and care for their children with problems their whole lives and have to go through a court for every single thing they do. Whoever removed guardianship from these people is horrible, beyond words.
The delay is only to get money out of people, because if you pay right away everything appears
Very true. Before, it was done manually, and there were fewer people at the registry, and the paperwork was done immediately. I've been requesting a birth certificate for three months, and they'll never arrive because they're not in the system. That's the response I always get. Waiting so long is unacceptable.
There is a great deal of corruption in the Cuban Registries. They tell you that the system is collapsed and a million other obstacles to obtaining a reward in exchange for providing a service, only in exchange for money if they don't suck up to you for weeks and months.
You have to wait to see if the change works, because there is so much bureaucracy that you get an appointment through the damn apk ticket and it is so that they give you an appointment... then you get an appointment twice and not the first time to request it.
And when they digitize the Civil Registry, what electricity will they use? Because here in Cienfuegos, as in all the provinces except Havana, there's never any electricity, and we all know this is here to stay.
Going to the Civil Registry is one of the worst procedures you'll ever have to go through. Officials won't work unless they receive 2 pesos or more for a birth certificate with a full volume and folio, and don't even mention if they have to do a search. This week I went to the Civil Registry in Santiago de Cuba, and they didn't even bother to search for it. They told me: "IT'S NOT IN THE SYSTEM."
But it hasn't been put on!
It is impossible to try to resolve any document; corruption and indolence know no bounds.
I highly doubt it can be resolved with laws.
Very true. Before, it was done manually, and there were fewer people at the registry, and the paperwork was done immediately. I've been requesting a birth certificate for three months, and they'll never arrive because they're not in the system. That's the response I always get. Waiting so long is unacceptable.
It is incredible that the number of laws and projects that are approved for work and no solution to the problems that truly affect the people
Well, in the municipality of Esmeralda there is no registrar and no one guides you and it is a game of chance for an inclusion that is not in the system.
Regarding the civil registry draft, very well, many delays. Now we also have to look at the lack of connectivity in Cuba. It's not just the LMD, because it's almost finished, and people have suffered many delays and stagnation in the procedures. And it's still a preliminary draft. As I say, it's so late to arrive...
Well, I was at the civil registry in Alamar last February, and there's no paperwork or printer. You have to bring a flash drive to get the document, go to a house on the same block to have it printed, or go to the Transconsul office next to the civil registry.