Author
The birth of a child is registered automatically and free of charge for a beneficiary of international protection, the same as for all children born in Slovenia. A state registrar visits the hospital and carries out the procedure. The parents are given a copy of the birth certificate.
One identified problem in relation to marriage registration is that partners cannot be registered as married in official records if they do not present the requisite documentary evidence. Also, in relation to this, when a child is born, the mother’s partner is not listed in the register as the father, unless the required documentary proof of marriage is presented. Unlike Slovenian citizens, beneficiaries of international protection in practice cannot acknowledge paternity in front of a state official and be registered as fathers on that ground. Problems also occur when beneficiaries want to get married and need to prove they are not already married. However, in practice beneficiaries in these situations have been allowed to testify they are single, instead of presenting an official document from their country of origin.
Another shortcoming within the civil registration system is that beneficiaries of international protection cannot legally change their name before Slovenian authorities.
However, access to social welfare and integration rights for beneficiaries of international protection, as well as their reunited family members, do not depend on civil registration.