Frequently asked RNP and paperwork questions in Honduras
Registering births, the identity card and surnames — answered with the article of the Ley del Registro Nacional de las Personas that settles them.
What do I do if a birth was never registered? (late registration)
The Law does not call it “late registration” — it calls it omisión de inscripción (omitted registration), and what you apply for is reposición. Article 78 provides that, where a registration of a natural person’s acts or events has been omitted, the interested party or their representative must apply for reposición before the Civil Registrar. If you are looking for the procedure by its official name, that is the term you will see at the counter.
Legal basis: Article 78 of the Ley del RNP.
How long is there to register a birth?
One (1) year from the birth, under Article 53, for births occurring in national territory. After that period the same article sets out what happens, and the route is the reposición in Article 78.
Legal basis: Article 53, Article 78 of the Ley del RNP.
Which RNP services are free?
More than people think, and it is in the law. Article 37 requires the RNP to provide free of charge: registrations, certificates of registration, annotations, cancellations, issue of the identity card and its replacement, renewal and the identity card for under-18s, and correction of the card and of registrations where the error is the institution’s fault. If the RNP made the mistake, fixing it is not charged for.
Legal basis: Article 37 of the Ley del RNP.
What do I do if my identity card was lost or stolen?
You apply for a replacement on the official form the RNP sets for issuing the identity card and the under-18 card (Article 98), and that replacement is one of the free services under Article 37.
Legal basis: Article 98, Article 37 of the Ley del RNP.
How long is the identity card valid?
Ten (10) years from issue, extendable once only, for up to one (1) year, on the terms set by Article 101.
Legal basis: Article 101 of the Ley del RNP.
How are a child’s surnames assigned?
Article 52 sets the rule: the child is registered with the father’s first surname as the first surname and the mother’s first surname as the second. The article itself governs what happens where there is no paternal acknowledgment. If the father refuses to acknowledge the child, the route is a declaration of paternity — that is in family questions.
Legal basis: Article 52 of the Ley del RNP.
What does being in the Central de Riesgo mean?
It is the credit register run by the Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros. What it is, how to check your own record, how much of your wage can legally be garnished and what counts as a usurious loan are all set out in credit bureau.
Source
Ley del Registro Nacional de las Personas (Decreto No. 62-2004, as amended) — articles 37, 52, 53, 78, 98 and 101. The questions come from the public enquiry bank of the Consultorio Jurídico Gratuito de la UNAH; the answers are our own and cite the applicable article. The enquiry about ISV payment methods is not answered here because we do not hold the corresponding law in citable form.