"Is it free" is one of the first questions new parents ask about birth registration. The honest answer depends on which route you take.
The short answer
Registering a birth for a child under five is free, as long as you do it at an NPC registration centre.
That rule was restated publicly in 2026, alongside NPC's position that death registration also carries no fee within its own early window. Section 15 of the governing law backs this up: a birth certificate is issued free of charge when the birth is registered.
Free, in this context, means no charge at the point of registering at a centre. It doesn't mean every related document you might need afterwards is free too, so don't assume a reprint or a verification request carries the same treatment.
Why the online route is different
Choose NPC's self-service portal instead of a centre, and a different rule applies. The online fee is ₦5,000, regardless of whether the child is under five.
That's not a contradiction of the free rule. It reflects the cost of running the online processing route itself, separate from the in-person centre service.
How to register a birth online sets out the online route step by step, including that fee.
What this means for older children
The free rule, as stated, covers children under five specifically. This route in general covers children aged 0 to 17, so a child of six or ten still qualifies for registration, just not necessarily under the same free treatment.
If cost is the deciding factor, ask at your nearest NPC centre before assuming the online fee is your only option.
There's also a separate deadline sitting underneath all of this. Register too long after the birth, and a different fee structure kicks in regardless of the child's age, so the free rule really only holds while you're both under five and inside that early window.
Choosing a centre over the portal
A centre visit takes more of your day than filling a form on your phone. For a child under five, it can also be the difference between paying and not paying.
NPC birth registration centres explained covers roughly how many centres exist and what a visit involves.
What to bring either way
The free rule changes what you pay, not what NPC asks for. The core requirement stays the child's NIN and a parent's attestation number.
Documents needed to register a birth has the full list, including the online route's extra conditions.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the online portal is free because centre registration for a young child is.
- Registering a five-year-old expecting the same free treatment as a younger sibling.
- Paying a third party to "waive" the centre fee, when it was never charged in the first place.
- Not asking at the centre first, and defaulting to the paid online route out of habit.
For the deadline this free rule sits inside, see birth registration deadline in Nigeria. For the wider set of NPC document guides, visit our diaspora and life events hub.