Getting Civil Registry Documents at PSA Regional Office in Cebu City

I have found myself needing PSA documents many times than I could have ever wanted. For some reasons, everyone seems to want original copies of everything. I usually order online just for convenience's sake. 

However, in times of great urgency, the best way really is to visit the office for a chance to have the document on the same day or just within three days. And that was the case for me a couple months ago so I decided to just write about my experience so if you're also needing to go and this is your first time or it has been ages since you've gone, this might help you prepare for it.

In this post:

• What civil registry documents can you get at the PSA office?
• Where is the PSA Regional Office in Cebu City?
• Booking an appointment
• Things to bring
• My experience at the PSA Office
• Step One. Main entrance
• Step Two. Filling out the forms
• Step Three. Screening
• Step Four. Encoding and Payment (+Fees)
• Step Five. Releasing

What civil registry documents can you get at the PSA office?

• Marriage certificate
• CENOMAR for unmarried citizens or Advisory on Marriages for married citizens or those with history of annulment or those who require a declaration of their current marriage
• Birth Certificate
• Death Certificate

Where is the PSA Regional Office in Cebu City?

The regional office is on the ground floor of Gaisano South Capital Building, Colon St, Cebu City.

Part One: Booking an Appointment

I recommend that you book an appointment online prior to going to the office. They do take walk ins but if there's too many people at the office, you might end up waiting in line longer. 

Go to https://appointment.psa.gov.ph/ and click on "Civil Registration Service Appointment System" (see photo above).

The next page has very detailed information on the next steps to complete the booking of your appointment. The entire booking process is actually very simple and straightforward. To make sure you have a successful booking, wait for the appointment confirmation email before closing the appointment window.

Things to bring:

• Printed appointment confirmation
• Valid government ID. Check out the list of valid identity documents that PSA accepts here:
• https://procurement.psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/21-10-1248002.pdf
• Black ballpen
• Authorisation letter
• Proof of relationship (not always asked for, but it's good to have in case they ask for it)

Part Two: My experience at the PSA Office

Step One. Main entrance. I went to the main entrance which is along the side of Colon St. I couldn't take a photo of this entrance because I was too scared to use my phone in the area. I did see a lot of photos on Google maps though in case you're curious about it. This is where the queue started. The security guard on this entrance checked my appointment confirmation and valid ID. 

Step Two. Filling out the forms. I was told to fill out a form for the specific documents that I needed. Each PSA document has a different form colour and one form is only for one person which means you need to fill out multiple forms if you're getting documents for multiple people. 

Prepare all the necessary information that you need to fill out the forms. To check what information you need for your document, see links below:

• Birth certificate - https://psa.gov.ph/birth-certificate
• CENOMAR - https://psa.gov.ph/cenomar
• Marriage Certificate - https://psa.gov.ph/marriage-certificate
• Death Certificate - https://psa.gov.ph/death-certificate

You can also find pdf versions of the forms here: https://psa.gov.ph/application-form

Step Three. Screening. In a table just near the door is the screening area. There was a queue and when it was my turn, I was asked for my appointment confirmation and the forms I filled out. The staff validated my information by asking me a series of questions. After the validation, the staff stapled a priority number on my paper and I was told to approach any empty counter since there wasn't many people at that time.

If there happens to be a lot of people when you go there, there is a tv monitor near the payment counters for the priority numbers.

Step Four. Encoding and payment. Since there was no queue, I went straight to an empty counter and I was told to place my appointment confirmation and form stapled with the priority number and my valid ID in a basket at the counter. The staff further validated all the information I wrote on the form and asked for my payment.

After paying, I was told by the cashier that I can go back the next day or wait for an hour for my document. I chose to wait for an hour.

As of the writing of this post in December 2023, these are the PSA schedule of fees at the regional office:

• Copy issuance of birth certificate, marriage certificate and death certificate: Php 155.00
• Authentication: Php 155.00
• CENOMAR: Php 210.00
• CENODEATH: Php 210.00
• Viewable online (Birth, marriage, death): Php 130.00
• Viewable online (CENOMAR, CENODEATH): Php 185.00
• Doc Print: Php 80.00
• Premium annotation: Php 255.00

The latest schedule of fees can be found here: https://psa.gov.ph/application-form

Step Five. Releasing. For my document, I need not need to wait for the next day. I was given a choice between the next day and the next hour to which I chose the latter. When it was time, I approached the releasing counter. She asked for my form and receipt and printed out the documents that I applied for.

In conclusion...

The process only took around 20 minutes plus the one hour waiting time. It was surprisingly quick. I went on a Wednesday afternoon but I'm not sure if it's the same in the morning or in other days.

The office also had good air conditioning. Not the best service, but they also weren't terrible so I was overall happy with how my afternoon turned out.

Hope this helps!