Guatemala birth certificate from the US: US$6 through RENAP

Guatemalan birth certificates are issued by the Registro Nacional de las Personas (RENAP). From the United States there are two channels: RENAP’s eportal (or the RENAP SE app for Android) and a Guatemalan consulate. The price for someone requesting it from abroad is US$6.00 (RENAP fee schedule, Article 6, checked October 3, 2026) — not the Q15.00 charged at a RENAP office in Guatemala. If you pay online by card, the fee schedule adds a 25% surcharge. An online certificate arrives by email and is printed on bond paper.

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Key facts

ItemDetail (checked October 3, 2026)
Issued byRENAP
Channels from the USRENAP eportal or RENAP SE app (Android); Guatemalan consulate
Fee from abroadUS$6.00 (RENAP fee schedule, Article 6; RENAP’s services-abroad page says “US$ 6.00 (pago en consulado)”)
Online card surcharge25% “as a processing surcharge with the bank” (Article 7)
Fee in Guatemala (reference only)Q15.00 at RENAP offices
Online deliveryBy email; printed on letter-size bond paper
ValiditySame as an office-issued certificate, per RENAP
Verificationrenap.gob.gt/verificacion-de-certificado

RENAP’s pricing rules for requests from abroad

RENAP’s fee schedule (Board Agreement 15-2020 and amendments) has four rules that matter for someone in the US:

  1. Article 6 — two dollar prices. For services “requested abroad at mobile consulates, consular offices, consulates or embassies and electronically,” the birth certificate costs US$6.00 and the DPI US$15.00.
  2. Article 7 — card surcharge. When a service is charged electronically by debit or credit card, there is an additional 25% cost.
  3. Article 8 — everything else, one dollar per quetzal. Except for the birth certificate and the DPI, RENAP services requested abroad are charged “under this fee schedule, at the rate of one US dollar (US$1.00) for each quetzal (Q1.00).”
  4. Article 9 — rounding up. In all the cases described in the preceding articles, when a fee produces decimals, the amount is rounded up to the next whole number.

So a quetzal price in RENAP’s table is not the price from abroad. RENAP’s pages do not explain how the eportal identifies a request as coming from abroad; confirm the amount on screen before paying.

How to request it online, step by step

RENAP describes these steps in its undated notice “Certificado de nacimiento en línea”:

  1. Go to eportal.renap.gob.gt or download the RENAP SE app from the Play Store (Android).
  2. Create a user account with your Código Único de Identificación (CUI) and an email address. In the app, RENAP emails the username and password “once your identity is verified.”
  3. Choose the birth certificate and enter the details of the person who needs it.
  4. Pay by credit or debit card or with the boleta de banco (bank payment slip) option.
  5. Receive the certificate by email and print it on a sheet of bond paper.

RENAP does not say whether eportal identity verification works the same for everyone living in the US. RENAP’s services-abroad page notes the online link is “only if you have a user account.”

If you don’t know the CUI: search by name

RENAP offers online certificates by name, for when the CUI is not known. You enter the full name and the date of the event (birth, marriage, death, among others); the search works better with more details. Payment is by card or with a bank payment slip, which RENAP says can be purchased at BANRURAL and BANTRAB.

At the consulate

RENAP’s services-abroad page lists “US$ 6.00 (pago en consulado)” and, as the requirement, “make the corresponding payment.” The sources checked do not state the payment method at the consulate or the delivery time; confirm with your consulate. The list is at Guatemalan consulates in the US.

Validity of a certificate printed at home

According to RENAP, a certificate obtained online “has the same validity and security measures for any procedure”: it carries a verification code, a unique identification number, a sequential number and a QR code, and the signature and seal on the back also have legal validity. Authenticity can be checked on RENAP’s verification page.

When you are asked for a recent certificate

The RENAP pages checked do not set a general expiration for the certificate, but some procedures ask for a recent one:

Other certificates: marriage and death

  • Price in Guatemala: “of the other registry entries” Q25.00 (RENAP certificate issuance page).
  • Price from abroad: RENAP publishes no dollar line for these certificates; the Article 8 rule applies (US$1.00 for each Q1.00). Confirm the amount before paying.
  • A relative’s death certificate: according to an undated RENAP notice, the first issuance of a death certificate is free and must be done in person. RENAP’s fee schedule (Article 10) limits the free first certificate to the one issued at the time the death is registered; later death certificates carry the scheduled fee, which the notice gives as Q25.00 in Guatemala. Online, the eportal issues death certificates for relatives and third parties using the deceased’s CUI.

If the marriage took place in the US and is not yet registered in Guatemala, it has to be registered first: see registering a US marriage in Guatemala.

Using the certificate in the US: apostille

If a US institution asks for the certificate with an apostille, that is done online with Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after a prior legalization step at RENAP. See apostille of Guatemalan documents from the US.

Not the same as a US birth certificate

The RENAP certificate is for people registered in Guatemala. If your child was born in the United States, the state issues the birth certificate: see vital records by state. To register the child as Guatemalan, see registering a US-born child at the consulate.

Your US immigration status

RENAP’s pages ask for the CUI or the registry details and the payment. None asks for US immigration documents.

Official sources

Last verified: 2026-10-03. General procedural information for educational purposes. RENAP fees and channels change. Verify directly with RENAP or your consulate before paying. Not legal advice.