Lawyers threaten legal action as questions emerge over a verification system that reportedly confirms birth records electronically but still depends on physical registration books that officials may struggle to locate.

A troubling situation at Ghana’s Births and Deaths Registry is raising serious questions about the institution’s ability to verify birth certificates issued from its own records, with potentially damaging consequences for Ghanaians whose documents are being scrutinised by foreign embassies and immigration authorities.

The issue has now escalated to the threat of legal action after lawyers representing an affected Ghanaian formally demanded that the Registry verify birth certificates issued to their client, following difficulties that have reportedly contributed to his UK immigration application remaining unresolved for more than two years.

What makes the case particularly concerning is that officials of the Registry have reportedly confirmed that the birth registration can be located on the institution’s electronic system.

Yet formal verification remains outstanding

According to a formal demand sent to the Registrar on September 4, 2026, officials reportedly explained that despite locating the registration electronically, they are required to cross-check it against a manually maintained registration book before issuing verification.

Most concerningly, the lawyers say their client was informed that the relevant physical book could not presently be located.

This presents an extraordinary situation: the institution’s electronic system reportedly confirms the existence of the birth registration, but the institution is still unable to formally verify the record because the corresponding manual register cannot readily be found.

From administrative failure to immigration consequences

For the affected Ghanaian, this is no longer simply an inconvenience at a government office.

According to his lawyers, the birth certificate was previously relied upon in connection with his immigration to the United Kingdom. After approximately five years of lawful residence, he subsequently made an application for permanent residence.

That application has now reportedly remained unresolved for more than two years.

The lawyers say UK immigration authorities have made repeated attempts to obtain verification of the birth registration from Ghana’s Births and Deaths Registry. Those attempts, according to the formal demand, either did not receive the required confirmation or resulted in information inconsistent with the authenticity of the documents issued to their client.

The implications are serious

A birth certificate the applicant maintains was lawfully obtained from the Births and Deaths Registry is now reportedly being treated by UK authorities as potentially fraudulent or otherwise not genuine, exposing the applicant to potentially serious immigration consequences.

It is difficult to justify a situation in which a Ghanaian could be suspected of presenting a fraudulent document not because evidence has established that the document is fraudulent, but because the issuing institution is struggling to conclusively verify its own record.

The missing-book problem

The case also exposes a bigger question about how birth records are maintained and verified in Ghana.

There is nothing inherently wrong with retaining original physical registration books. Such records have important archival and evidentiary value.

The concern arises when locating a physical book becomes a critical requirement for verifying a record that has already been located electronically.

If a manual register cannot readily be found, what happens to the citizen whose record it contains?

How long does that person wait?

And what response is given to an embassy or foreign immigration authority seeking confirmation of the authenticity of the person’s Ghanaian birth certificate?

These questions become even more important if the experience documented in this case is not isolated.

How many Ghanaians are affected?

The emerging case should prompt a broader investigation into the Births and Deaths Registry’s verification system.

How many birth-certificate verification requests are currently outstanding?

How many cannot be completed because the corresponding physical registers cannot readily be retrieved?

How many requests from embassies and foreign immigration authorities have gone unanswered or received inconclusive responses?

And how many Ghanaians have consequently had visas, residency applications or other immigration processes delayed or questioned?

Until the Registry provides the relevant data, the true scale of the problem cannot responsibly be stated. But the documented experience now being challenged by lawyers is serious enough to warrant scrutiny of whether it reflects a wider systemic problem.

Lawyers threaten legal action

Lawyers representing the affected applicant have now demanded that the Registry complete its internal verification and officially confirm whether the birth certificates were duly issued by the institution and relate to the same registered birth.

They have also demanded clarification on whether the Registry previously responded to verification enquiries from the UK Home Office or UK Visas and Immigration and, if so, that any inaccurate or inconsistent information previously supplied be urgently corrected.

The Registry has further been asked to explain in writing why verification has been delayed despite the birth registration reportedly being identified on its electronic system.

The lawyers have given the institution five calendar days from receipt of the demand to act, failing which they say they have instructions to commence legal proceedings to compel the Registry to fulfil its mandate and pursue attendant costs and damages.

Presidency must take interest

This should no longer be treated merely as a dispute between an applicant and the Births and Deaths Registry.

The matter raises questions about the integrity of Ghana’s civil-registration infrastructure and, ultimately, the credibility of Ghanaian identity documents before foreign governments.

The Presidency and the Minister responsible for the Registry should take an interest in establishing whether this case points to a wider records-management problem.

An urgent review should establish the state of the Registry’s manual records, the extent of digitisation, how electronic and physical records are reconciled, whether any registration books cannot currently be accounted for, and how outstanding verification requests from citizens, embassies and immigration authorities are being handled.

There must also be clear timelines and an escalation procedure for cases where a physical register cannot immediately be retrieved.

Because the fundamental issue is difficult to dispute

If the Government of Ghana issues a citizen a birth certificate, the Government must also maintain a reliable system capable of confirming that document when its authenticity is questioned.

A Ghanaian should not have a visa, residency application, education opportunity, employment prospect or family life jeopardised because the state institution responsible for his or her birth record cannot retrieve its own documentation.

If an electronic record exists but verification grinds to a halt because officials cannot locate a physical book, the citizen should not be made to bear the consequences of that institutional failure.

A concerned citizen and applicant speaking on condition of anonymity said, "I have personally been affected by the difficulties with birth certificate verification at the Births and Deaths Registry. A birth certificate I legitimately obtained from the Registry has become the subject of questions in an immigration application because the foreign authorities required confirmation of its authenticity from Ghana.

"What has been most frustrating is that when I followed up with the Registry, my birth record was found on their electronic system, yet I was told that verification could not be completed until officials checked the corresponding physical registration book. I have since been given different explanations about the whereabouts of the book, including that it could not readily be located".

He continued, "This has caused serious immigration difficulties for both myself and my family, with my application now pending for more than two years. It is extremely distressing to have your immigration status and family life caught in uncertainty because the authenticity of a document legitimately issued by a state institution cannot be promptly confirmed by that same institution.

"I believe this goes beyond my individual experience. Other Ghanaians may be silently facing similar difficulties with visas and immigration applications. No citizen should suffer such serious consequences simply because a state institution cannot efficiently retrieve and verify its own records.”

LITISIP to transform Assemblies into digital hubs for communities - Professor Lord Mensah