FAQ

Our offices open from; 8am to 4pm (Monday-Thursday) & 8am-3pm on Fridays.

Any person desirous of being authorised to adopt a child, the court may make an adoption order.

BDM office will require:

a) Adoption Order issued by the Court accompanied with a Memorandum.

b) Photo ID of the adopted parent(s).

c) If Foreign Nationals – Provide Passport(s)

Support Document

a) Adopted parents correct birth and marriage details or birth and/or marriage certificate

a) child’s original birth certificate

b) child’s original tin letter (issued at BDM office)

c) applicant’s birth certificate

d) applicant’s TIN letter or joint card

e) applicant’s photo identification with residential address such as, voter ID, driver’s licence, or joint card

f) father’s tin number (if child is registered under said father)

Special provisions apply where the mother is unable to make the application for the Programme. In such cases the father or legal guardian will be required to provide the relevant identification documents along with a copy of the death certificate of the mother, marriage certificate or court order, as applicable.

Any birth registration made after twelve months from the date of birth is considered a late birth registration; citizens can still register at any BDM office upon payment of the prescribed fee of $21.80.

No, child’s father is not required to be present at the Registry hence child’s mother can still register the child’s birth on her own; and should parents wish to register their child together then they may do so.

However, if parents would like to add father’s particulars in the child’s registration, then it is compulsory for the father to also be present at the Registry.

Notice of Intention to Marry

a) Recent passport size photo of both parties

b) Birth certificate of both parties

c) Valid photo ID of both parties

d) Divorce Papers (if other party is divorced)

e) Death Certificate ( if either party’s spouse is deceased)

f) Both Witness ID

Special License

a) Recent passport size photo of both parties

b) Birth certificate of both parties

c) Valid photo ID of both parties (Passport for Foreigners)

d) Divorce Papers (if other party is divorced)

e) Death Certificate ( if either party’s spouse is deceased)

f) Two witnesses & their valid photo identification

g) Certificate of Single Status/Certificate of Search (or) Certificate of no legal impediment is required to be produced by the following marriage applicant:

i) Marriage applicants where one party is a local while the other is a foreigner

ii) Marriage applicants who were former citizens of Fiji attaining citizenship abroad for two years and above

iii) Marriage applicants who are foreigners

h) Statutory Declaration: for former citizens of Fiji & citizens of Fiji on work visa living abroad for less than two years

i) Marriage applicant from Japan must produce the Koseki – Shouhon, to certify their personal details.

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Any registration of change of name can be done at any BDM office convenient to you

Requirements are:

Previous birth certificate (if any) and one of the following valid photo ID:

• Fijian or overseas Passport bio data page · Fijian or international Driving Licence · Fiji Revenue and Customs Services/ Fiji National Provident Fund joint card (FRCS/FNPF Card) · Fijian Voter Card

For child under 18 years of age

• Parent(s) to provide one of the above valid photo ID
• Child’s passport size photo
• Childs previous birth certificate (if any)

To be eligible for the Programme:

a) the child must be born on or after 1 August 2018;

b) the child must be a Fijian citizen by birth;

c) the child’s parents or legal guardian must have a combined annual income of $30,000 or less, or if the father is not living with the mother the mother’s annual income must be $30,000 or less;

d) the child’s birth must be registered;

e) the child must have a taxpayer identification number (‘TIN’) (issued at BDM office)

f) the applicant (mother) must be a Fijian citizen and resident.

Applications must be made within 12 months of the date of birth of the child.

-Birth registration is free if child is registered within twelve months from the date of birth.

-After the expiration of twelve months, registrations will be classified under late birth registration with a prescribed fee of $20 (VEP).

Yes, after registering a birth or death the informant will be able to extract a copy of the certificate should they request one; provided they have paid the allocated fee.

Yes, a mother can add father’s particulars in the child’s birth registration provided;

a) Both parents must be present with the child

b) Father must accept paternity in form of statutory declaration

c) Need child consent if child has attained the age of 18

Yes this is possible:

For birth certificate

a) person who has attained the age of 18 – owner of birth certificate can correct an error on his/her birth certificate.

b) child who has not attained the age of 18 – parents/legal guardian are able to correct an error on their child’s birth certificate.

Death certificate

c) next of kin is able to correct and error in the death certificat

Yes, death can be registered at any BDM Registry Office, if the requirements are met.

As for locals, they are to apply for Notice of Intention to marry (NOI) application which after 21 days has lapsed then we issue the licence. However, for special circumstances, both parties have to apply for Special Licence application (SL) whereby both parties have to write to the Registrar-General requesting and giving ample reasons as to why a Special Licence is required.

Further, evidentiary support is needed to accompany such letter for instance receipts for booking of venue, receipts for wedding rings, return boat/air fare tickets if relatives have come across to attend the wedding and any other evidence that will support the purpose of requesting a special licence. Upon approval from the Registrar-General, then the special licence is processed and issued.

The Reregistration can be viewed with current versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer (Edge), Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Failure to reregister on the online system will result in, business names being ceased, companies will be deregistered, and foreign companies will be struck of from the register after the end of period.

All entities must digitally register using the most current details.

Entity name, entity number and registration date will not change unless the correction is made by the applicant or the Registrar of Companies.

The Reregistration can be viewed with current versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer (Edge), Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Companies who have not cleared their annual registration fee will be required to pay any outstanding as applicable under the Companies Act 2015.

For business name period expire on 15 October 2020, companies and foreign companies period expires on the 15 July 2020.

Digital registration must be done by all existing business names, companies and foreign companies registered prior to 14 June 2019 in the new Registrar of Companies digital registry. This is free and will commence from 15 January 2020.

You must log in via an e-Profile account to submit your application.

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Application can be lodged for extension in the prescribed form before the end of the reregistration period.

New certificate of registration will be available in your email inbox and entity profile after it has been approved an email notification will be sent to you.

Generally a black or blue ink pen should be used, but you should check whether the document specifies that a particular colour must be used. The ink must be permanent, and erasable pens must obviously never be used. Erasable pens do not use normal ink, but a solution that looks like ink and can be erased for a short time after application.

A conflict of interest occurs when a person attempts to serve two or more interests that are not compatible with each other. Your duty as a JP is to be an independent and impartial witness or certifier of documents. A conflict of interest should be avoided, whether it is an ‘actual’ conflict or merely ‘perceived’. If you expect to benefit in some way as a result of the JP function you will perform, there is an actual conflict of interest. Even if you do not expect to benefit, it may still be open to a third party to suspect that you might benefit, in which case there is a ‘perceived conflict of interest’. The existence of either an actual or perceived conflict of interest can lead to rejection of the document you have witnessed or certified, and can undermine public confidence in the impartiality and integrity of JPs. In some circumstances, it could also lead to the review of your appointment as a JP.

Before you witness any statutory declaration or affidavit, you must see the declarant or deponent sign the Jurat in front of you. You must never witness a signature that was already on the document when it was brought to you. However you can watch the declarant or deponent place a fresh signature on the document. To do this: • you should rule a line in ink through the signature that was already on the document • both you and the declarant/deponent should write your initials next to the ruled out signature • after following all the other requirements of the relevant procedure in this handbook, you should watch the declarant/deponent writing his/her fresh signature as close as possible to the space provided for the signature in the Jurat.

A person may attempt to intimidate a JP into witnessing or certifying a document in a way that is contrary to the law, or the procedures in this handbook. It is important that JPs do not accept such intimidation. Generally it is best to give a polite refusal, explain why you cannot meet the request, and remain firm but calm on that point. You should avoid confrontation that may escalate. You should report the matter to police, if you believe that the attempted intimidation was deliberate and intentional (even if you do not believe that the person will carry out the threat). You can also contact the Ministry of Justice if you have any concerns about any incident involving intimidation or attempted intimidation of a JP.

You must never provide legal advice in your capacity as a JP, even if you have legal knowledge. If a JP purports to provide legal advice: if a person relies on any legal advice a JP purports to provide and suffers loss or damage as a result, a court might find the JP breached his or her duty of care.

Generally, you do not need to be concerned with the content of a document, except to the extent necessary to check that it is complete and to undertake the other steps needed to perform the relevant JP function. The role of a JP does not involve verifying the truthfulness or appropriateness of the content of documents.

If you are asked to witness a document and you know or believe that it contains false information or that it may be a forgery, you should decline to witness it. If you know, or later become aware, that a document you witnessed contains false information, you should report the matter to the Ministry of Justice as soon as possible. You must never misuse your position as a JP to participate in deliberate fraudulent or other criminal behaviour. If you do so, you may be prosecuted for criminal offences and you may be removed from office as a JP.

Yes, you may keep copies of documents you sign. However, it is not mandatory that you do so.

Further, certain documents are confidential as they contain the signatory’s personal and confidential information and it will not be advisable for you to retain copies of such documents.

You are not required to read the contents of the document in detail. However, you will need to look through the document in order to carry out the procedure outlined above.

Yes, there is a requirement that you keep a log book of JP services that you provide. You must not intentionally disclose or use personal information that you have or had access to in the exercise of your JP functions, unless that disclosure or use occurs in connection with the lawful exercise of your JP functions. This duty continues to apply even after you cease to hold office as a JP.

You cannot witness or certify a document for yourself.

For example:

• you must not act as the witness for a statutory declaration or affidavit that you yourself are declaring, swearing or affirming, and

• you must not certify a copy of your own original document, such as your own birth certificate. It is not advisable for you to witness or certify a document for a member of your family. This is because of the potential for an actual or perceived conflict of interest and the risk that the document may be rejected on that basis by the organisation that requires it. If rejected, your family member would then need to complete the document again, and find another JP to witness or certify it. Avoiding the risk of such delay and inconvenience is another reason you should decline to perform JP functions for your family members.P.

No, you must provide all the information required by the document. If the document requires details which you do not have, you should decline to witness the document.

If you wish to help someone prepare a document, it is not advisable for you also to witness or certify that document. In particular, you should consider whether you might have a conflict of interest. You can ask the person to have the document witnessed by another JP.

No, marriages are performed by marriage officers and Celebrants. A JP does not automatically become a Marriage officer or celebrant. If you wish to become a Marriage Celebrant, you should contact the Ministry of Justice.

The starting process of the bankruptcy proceedings is the filing of bankruptcy notice and then a petition against a debtor.

• The petition document is prepared by a creditor or their solicitors against a debtor.
• The creditor will pay $109.00 for petition fees to the Revenue Collector at the Office of the Official Receiver (“OR Office”).
• The Revenue collector will issue a receipt for the payment.
• The creditor will file all petition documents at the Magistrates Court.
• Accounts Office will create an account for the petition and will make data entry which will be clearly marked as Petition only as the status of the account.

This is a starting process of the Winding Up proceeding against a company.

• The petition document is prepared by a creditor against a company.
• The creditor will pay $700.00 VEP for petition fees to the Revenue Collector at the Official Receiver’s Office.
• Accounts Office will create an account for the Petition Only on status of the account.
• The Creditor’s solicitors will also request for a letter of approval from our Office to be appointed as the Provisional
• Liquidator when paying for petition fees.
• We will provide them written consent.

Once High Court appoints the Official Receiver as the Provisional Liquidator of a company –

• the creditor will need to serve the Official Receiver with the Order and proof of debt claim;
• the office will open 1 file for the matter; and
• Accounts office will edit the status of the account as

• The office will prepare a service letter informing the director(s) of the Winding Up Order and to file Statement of Affairs of the company.
• Serve through mail or serve the director(s) personally.
• The director(s) should be served with the letter of service together with Winding Up Order and Statement of Affairs.
• The director(s) must sign a copy of the service letter to witness that he/she has been duly served.

After advertisement and gazette notice, the OR Office should expect to receive Proof of Debt claims from other supporting creditors against the debtor.

The creditors should file their claims on –

• A proof of debt claim form that is available at the OR Office. (They can obtain one at our office). Note that this form is not prescribed but is an approved form by the OR Office.
• Attached to the proof of debt claim should be all relevant documents to verify their claims such as invoices, small claims judgment and other relevant documentation that supports their claims.
• The OR Office to verify all proof of debt.
• Filling fees of $0.60 to be paid to the Revenue collector.
• The OR Office will then calculate O/R fees & cost and this must be checked by Accounts Section or the Head of Section.

The debtor will make arrangement of payment and file his statement of affairs.

• He/she will need to file his salary or wages slip.
• Declare all personal information.
• Declare that he/she has or does not have any mortgage, insurances, bill of sale, etc.
• Declare his/her assets or properties.
• Make an agreement of repayment with the OR Office.
• The OR Office will write to employers for direct deduction where the debtor is working.

Where the debtor makes arrangements to come and pay at the OR Office, and when the debtor does make a payment, a receipt will be provided to him stating the amount, his name and on whose account the payment is being made.

Once the searches are done, OR will hold a creditors meeting and formulate a scheme of payments if the debtor is willing to pay off his or her debts and makes an arrangement.

After advertising and gazetting, the office should expect to receive proof of debt claims from other supporting creditors against the company. The creditors should file their claims on –

• A proof of debt claim form that is available at the Office.
• Attached to the Proof of Debt claim should be all relevant documents to verify their claims such as invoices, small claims judgment and other necessary documentation.
• The office to verify all proof of debt.
• Filing fees of $54.50 to be paid to the Revenue collector.
• The office to calculate O/R fees & cost and be checked by Accounts Section or the Head of Section.

The Receiving Order once the debts are fully paid by the debtor will be rescinded by the debtor.

Default Repayment

Once a debtor has not made any payment for one month and if a debtor has defaulted repayment continually for the period of two months than the office will inform the Court the Court.

Once the Magistrates Court makes a Receiving Order and appoints the Official Receiver as the receiver of a debtor’s estate –

• The creditor will need to serve the Official Receiver with the original order and proof of debt claim;
• Official Receiver advises the creditor in writing via a letter to advertise the receiving order and also serve the receiving order on the debtor;
• The served copy of the receiving order is to be forwarded to the OR Office and an affidavit of service has to be filed in Court by the Creditor;
• In the same letter, creditor is advised to fill a form to provide all pertinent details of the debtor in particular the proper physical address and contact details of the debtor;
• OR Office then writes to the debtor to provide the statement of affairs if a proper address is provided.

You are only able to amend the entity name and to add/delete supporting documents to your application.

ROC Pass is a corporate digital identity for the entity personnel to access and transact Registrar of Companies online e-Services. ROC Pass would be the sign-on account for entities to submit ROC online applications relating to their entity in the future.

You would need to key in your email address, password and your entity number to log in to you ROC Pass.

Currently, there are 4 e-Services available:

1. Company name reservation
2. Business Name registration
3. Company registration
4. Foreign company registration

More e-Services will be introduced in the future for the ROC Pass holders to conduct transactions on behalf of their entity. (Eg. Update of entity information)

There are 4 different roles in ROC Pass:
1) Admin: This role is typically the Officeholder / Company Secretary and has all the roles of ROC Pass

2) Operations Admin: Operations Admin is appointed to conduct transactions on behalf of the entity and is typically an appointed company employee or third party. The Operations Admin is unable to manage ROC Pass accounts in the entity

3) User Admin: User Admin is appointed for the managing of ROC Pass accounts in the entity and is typically the HR admin of the company. User admin is unable to assign the Admin role and conduct transactions on behalf of company

4) Agent: Agent is appointed for the submission of public applications (ie reservation/registration) on behalf of others

Note: The agent role is only available to entities with specific business activity classifications (i.e. Legal / Accounting codes)

You can access your application by logging in to your e-Profile/ROC Pass account.

For e-Profile, click ‘home’ to access your application in your inbox. You can view the officer’s remark and click edit to make the necessary changes for re-submission of application.

For accounts that have not been activated, you can go to ‘Manage accounts and roles’ section, click on ‘Edit’ button of the account and select ‘Send activation link email’.

The ROC Pass can be obtained by:

1) Registration of entities: Applicant can indicate the assignment of ‘Admin’ role to the officeholder / company secretary of the entity. Upon approval of the registration, the personnel will receive an email for the account setup of ROC Pass.

2) Assignment by ROC office: You can visit the Registrar of Companies office to request for the assignment of ‘Admin’ role for your entity. You are required to provide a letter of authorization and photo ID document for the request.

3) Role management by entity admin: The entity admin will be able to create new ROC Pass and assign roles in the entity. You can approach your entity admin for the request of ROC Pass.

Your ROC Pass account can be tied to multiple companies and business. To log in to the ROC Pass for the specific entity, you would have to key in the entity number in the login page.

The certificate and notice are now available in your application after it has been approved. You can find the certificate/notice in the application documents section in the application

1 week from the date of lodgement

• Certificate of Title or Lease Number
• Deposited Plan Number and Lot number
• Registered proprietors name

Go to Checklist for Titles (Redirect to link address)

Go to Checklist for Titles (Redirect to link address)

Go to Checklist for Titles (Redirect to link address)

Go to Checklist for Titles (Redirect to link address)

• Yes
• We provide searches from all Births, Deaths and Marriages Offices in Fiji.
• If you wish to do a search, you can do so by visiting one of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Office.

No