IDs, passports and civil registration
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) law, Somalia
Somalia's Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Bill sets national rules for recording births, deaths, marriages and divorces. The Council of Ministers approved it on 19 November 2023, the House of the People passed it on 24 May 2025 by 136 votes to 1 with 5 abstentions, and the Upper House approved it in November 2025. It has 6 chapters and 46 articles.
What is the CRVS law?
The Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Bill sets the rules for how Somalia's federal government records life events. It has 6 chapters and 46 articles and covers the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and related events (SONNA, 3 February 2024). It was drafted by the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation (MoIFAR), which runs a Civil Registration Services Directorate (MoIFAR).
Civil registration is different from the national ID card. The ID card is issued by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) under the Identification and Registration Act (Law No. 009 of 2023). See National ID card (NIRA) and Birth records.
What came before it?
- 2003: a national law gave local governments the duty to register births, deaths, marriages and divorces (IRB Canada 2023, as cited on Birth records).
- August 2021: the Council of Ministers approved a national CRVS Policy (same source).
How did the bill pass through government?
| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 19 November 2023 | Council of Ministers approves the draft, presented by Interior Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi | Biometric Update, 21 November 2023 |
| 3 February 2024 | Minister Fiqi presents the bill to the House of the People | SONNA |
| 24 May 2025 | House of the People passes it: 136 for, 1 against, 5 abstentions | SONNA; Goobjoog |
| November 2025 | Upper House holds second reading (19 November) and approves the bill (reported 24 November) | MoIFAR, 19 November 2025; MoIFAR, 24 November 2025 |
At the 24 May 2025 sitting, chaired by Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe), the House also passed the Internally Displaced Persons Bill by 136 votes to 4 (SONNA).
At the time the Cabinet approved the bill, Minister Fiqi said it would let local governments provide services to citizens in a coordinated and secure way (Biometric Update).
Has it been signed?
Under the Upper House's own description of the process, a bill passed by both houses goes to the President for signature and is then published in the Official Gazette (Senate of Somalia, how laws are made). The sources found for this page do not report the date of signature or gazette publication for the CRVS law.
Who runs civil registration?
MoIFAR's Civil Registration Services Directorate leads the CRVS system, with a National CRVS Steering Committee that met in 2023 and 2025 (MoIFAR, Steering Committee communiqué 2025). The directorate has its own website at crvs.gov.so (MoIFAR).
Related pages
Sources
- SONNA, 3 February 2024 · sonna.so
- MoIFAR · moifar.gov.so
- Biometric Update, 21 November 2023 · biometricupdate.com
- SONNA · sonna.so
- Goobjoog · en.goobjoog.com
- MoIFAR, 19 November 2025 · moifar.gov.so
- MoIFAR, 24 November 2025 · moifar.gov.so
- Senate of Somalia, how laws are made · senate.gov.so
- MoIFAR, Steering Committee communiqué 2025 · moifar.gov.so
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