Death certificates can only be applied for by people close to the deceased individual and more often than not, these are the family members, loved one or relatives. They have to provide documentation about the deceased individual, along with some supporting documents about their connection with the deceased individual. Furthermore, they can only register the death of a person after they have received confirmation from a medical practitioner. If there were any suspicions about the passing of the person, there would be a police check involved and the death would only be registered after the police provide a go-ahead.
While people coordinate the death certificate process with the Registrar of Births and Deaths, it can be time-consuming with instances where people have delayed or put off going through the process. Much like most Government processes, there is a time limit within which they have to register the death, and that is 21 days after the incident. If there were delays in the process, there would have to be reasons why, with additional paperwork and in some cases, a late fine.
To make the process a lot smoother, the Government has launched its eGovernance platforms that take all their mandatory documentation processes online allowing people to apply for them from the convenience of their homes. They can do this from their home and have the death certificate mailed to their address if all the information that they have uploaded is correct and matches their supporting documentation as well.
The same rules apply for birth certificates that are usually done by the medical practitioner who assisted with the birth of the individual. The hospital or medical clinic usually helps with the process since the parents will have a lot more to coordinate. On the off chance that they have not handled the process, or they have implied that they would rather for the documentation, they have three weeks to get it done. They would need some documentation from the hospital stating the details relating to the birth of the child, and they would have to submit that along with their documentation and address information
While applicants can apply for their birth certificate, much like the death certificate online, they can choose to use the website for all the assistance that they might need and coordinate it through the Registrar of Births and Deaths as well. The website allows people to download the forms that they need, and they can submit them at the office, or they can upload their information to the website in one easy step.
All the Government websites dealing with online applications do a lot more than assist with the registration of the documents. They also coordinate other aspects of the platform, like allowing applicants to apply for duplicate copies of their certificates. They can also make changes to the documents if there were errors of typos.
Another process handled through the eGovernance platform is applying for a passport. A passport is one of those documents that people do not need, but it comes in useful to have lying around. It is a requirement if an individual is leaving the country, so many people hold off on the application process until they have to start planning a trip. The process takes about a month to get through, and the passport comes in quite handy when applying for multiple other Government documents.
People can download the passport application from the website, and they can, like all other Government processes, choose to apply for it online or through the office. Many applicants are not comfortable uploading their information online and can download and print their forms and submit them at the office. The list of supporting documents are online, and they can use it to gather these documents and drop them off, at the office. The passport website also provides options for making changes to the passport, if there are spelling errors, renewing it or even finding the paperwork to apply for a new one, if the previous one was misplaced.
Other than coordinating with these processes, the websites are a source of information for applicants and help create awareness on the importance of Government documentation.
