Any death that occurred within the Botswana territory or Botswana citizens that have passed away abroad, should be registered immediately or within the first two months, either at Department of Civil and National Registration office in Botswana or Botswana embassy abroad. This should be done by a designated family member/friend or next of kin. Department of Civil and National Registration Office Contact Details, Botswana Embassy/Mission Abroad Contact Details

Below are the different scenarios for death certificate application in Botswana;

• Application for on-time registration of death that occurred in health facilities or outside health institutions, (Immediately after death, less than 30 days of the death).
• Application for Late Death Certificate (after 30 days of death).
  

Apply In-Person

1. Application for on-time registration of death that occurred in health facilities or outside health institutions, (Immediately upon death, less than 30 days of the death)
2. The process begins with the registration of death and the issuance of notification of death. If the death occurred in the hospital, all medical facilities in Botswana are required to register the death and provide a death notification card.
3. However, if the death occurred at home, the Kgosi is authorized to register death in his location and obtain a Confirmation letter from Kgosi, the person concerned should then visit the Department of Civil and National Registration near you to complete the process.
4. Once you have the death notification card, you are required to collect and complete the Application form for Death Certificate, Forms are available for free at the Enquiries Desk at any of the offices of the Department of Civil and National Registration countrywide.
5. Submit the duly completed application forms along with the relevant attachments as mentioned under the “Required Documents” section of this page, to the Department of Civil and National Registration office, death registration unit.
6. Upon submission, the application is checked for completeness and correctness by the civil register clerk, if everything is in order, the clerk will enter the death into the death Register. Applicants are issued with an acknowledgment slip as proof of submission of the application.
7. Where death is registered within 30 days of its occurrence, the death certificate is issued for free within the day or within one week.
8. The two copies of the death certificates will then be drawn up and forwarded to the Registrar General for approval and certification.
9. After signature by the Registrar General, one original copy of the death certificate is issued and can only be collected by the next of kin being the mother, father, guardian, spouse or anyone authorized in writing by the family of the deceased. An identity document and the acknowledgment letter is required when picking up the death certificate.
10. The other copy of the death certificate will be retained by the Department of Civil and National Registration office for filing purposes.
    

Application for Late Death Registration and obtaining a Death Certificate.

1. This application is for death that was not registered within 30 days of its occurrence. If you do not have a death notification (In cases where the death occurred at home or late registration) you need to start the process at the local Kgosi office, to register the death and obtain a Confirmation letter from Kgosi, the person concerned should then visit the Department of Civil and National Registration near you to complete the process.
2. Once you have obtained the Confirmation letter, you are required to collect and complete the Application form for the Late Death Certificate, Forms are available for free at the Enquiries Desk at any of the offices of the Department of Civil and National Registration. (Contact details listed below)
3. Submit the duly completed application forms along with the relevant attachments as mentioned below under the “Required Documents” section of this page to be verified by the civil register clerk.
4. The officer will then verify, if all the necessary information and documents have been provided and that the applications comply with the selection criteria, if everything is in order, the applicant will be required to pay a levy of BWP5.00 for every month of default, up to a maximum of BWP100.00and obtain an acknowledgment letter containing details of the application.
5. The Late registration applications files are referred to a centralized Assessment Committee for review, processing and consideration, which is within 2-3 weeks.
6. If approved, the clerk will enter the death into the death Register, and two copies of the death certificates will then be drawn up and forwarded to the Registrar General for approval and certification.
7. After signature by the Registrar General, one original copy of the death certificate is issued and can only be collected by the next of kin being the mother, father, guardian, spouse or anyone authorized in writing by the family of the deceased. An identity document and the acknowledgment letter is required when picking up the death certificate.
8. The other copy of the death certificate will be retained by the Department of Civil and National Registration office for filing purposes.
   

Abroad Application

1. In the case where the death occurs abroad, applicants are required to visit the nearest Botswana mission abroad and express their interest at the front desk.
2. Submit the required documents to be validated by the embassy staff and obtain the relevant application form.
3. Along with the completed application form, submit the required documents (listed below), pay the required application fee. At the time of submission, a waiting card/slip as an acknowledgment will be issued to the applicant.
4. The application file is then forwarded to Botswana’s Department of Civil and National Registration office for processing and consideration.
5. Upon successful processing the death will be registered in the Botswana Civil register, one copy will be retained by the Department of Civil and National Registration office and the other death certificate copy is transmitted/sent to the embassy/consulate, where the application was filed to be issued/ collected by the client against the waiting card/slip.
   

Please Note (for Abroad Application):
Applicants who want their processed death certificate sent to them by post are advised to attach one of the following to their request(s):

• A registered self-addressed envelope with the appropriate stamps (letter recommendée);
• A pre-paid envelope from any recognized courier service provider.
• Not all embassies offer the post/mail return service (please consult with the embassy)
• Applicants can file their application via mail, in some embassies, please confirm with your embassy, and if they offer this service since not all embassies offer the service.
  

On-time registration (Immediately upon death, less than 30 days of the death)
Deaths that occurred in health facilities

• The applicant (relatives or guardians) should submit a Death Notification tear-off (given by the doctor who certified the death) and identity document for citizens or passports for non- citizens. These should be submitted to the Civil and National Registration Offices.

Death that occurred outside health institutions,

• Letter of confirmation of death from Kgosi or local authority.
• Statement from declarant and certified copy of their valid national identity document.
• Statements from two witnesses who know of the death and a certified copy of their valid national identity Document.

Late registration (after 30 days of occurrence),
For deaths that occurred in health facilities, the applicant should submit:

• Letter of confirmation of death from the hospital or clinic.
• Statement from declarant and a copy of their valid identity document.

Death that occurred outside health institutions

• Letter of confirmation of death from Kgosi.
• Statement from declarant and a certified copy of valid identity Document.
• Statements from two witnesses who know of the death and a certified copy of their valid identity document.
  

Department of Civil and National Registration
Ministry of Nationality,
Immigration and Gender AffairsBlock 8,
Government Enclave,
Khama Crescent
Private Bag 00240
Gaborone
Botswana
Tel. (+267)3611100/361115/3611132
Fax. (+267) 3907426
Email: mnig-pro@.gov.bw
Toll-Free Number. 0800 600 777

• Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs Contact Details
  
• Department of Civil and National Registration Office Contact Details
  
• Botswana Embassy/Mission Abroad Contact Details
  

Business hours: Monday-Friday from 8:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:00 pm -5:00 pm, closed during Public Holidays & Weekends.

• All deaths that occur within the territory of Botswana.
• All Deaths of Botswana citizens that has occured abroad

Note: That the applicant/Person concerned should be someone with legal capacity and has a valid national identity card for citizens or a Passport for foreign nationals.

• Where death is registered within 30 days of its occurrence, a certificate is issued for free.
• Registration submitted after 30 days of death attracts a levy of BWP5.00 for every month of late registration, up to a maximum of BWP100.00.
  

Death Certificate is valid forever.

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

• On-time registration (within 30 days of occurrence of death) can be completed on the same day or within one week.
• Late registration applications are referred to a centralized Assessment Committee for review and takes two to three weeks until a death certificate is issued.
  

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since january 1908.

• Full name of the applicant
• Relation of the applicant to the deceased
• District of death
• Province of death
• Burial Permit No
• Exact place of death
• Name of deceased as per Identity Card
• Sex of deceased
• Date of death
• Age of deceased
• Occupation of deceased
• Name and address of the applicant
• Cause of the death
• Results of a medical examination on the dead body.
• Declaration by the applicant
  

All deaths that occur in Botswana regardless of nationality must be registered to keep the national registry up to date. A death certificate will be issued upon registration.

Enter other informations which might help.

Other uses of a Death Certificate: Death certificate of a parent(s) or spouse is required when applying of the following document by the children/spouse of the deceased parent (s).

• Birth certificate
• National identity card
• Passport
• Marriage certificate (if re-married) {for the spouse}
• Baptism card
  

Death Registration

More information which might help people.