The Ministry of Interior plans to launch a digital system for correcting data errors and void entries in the civil registration system by the end of this year. The system is intended to provide more options and convenience for citizens requesting corrections.
This initiative comes in response to the fact that in the first half of 2025 alone, the General Department of Identification (GDI) received 19,658 applications from citizens requesting corrections or the voiding of civil registration records.
According to a September 4 ministry statement, the requests were made both to the identification department and through municipal, district and provincial administrations. Of the total, 11,694 applications were submitted directly, while 7,964 applications were received through provincial and municipal administrations.
The GDI is currently drafting regulations to assign responsibility for data corrections and void entries to local civil registration officers at the commune, district and provincial levels.
In addition, a new electronic correction system is being prepared for use at municipal, district and provincial levels, allowing citizens to submit requests digitally. The system is expected to roll out in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The interior ministry conducted nationwide mobile civil registration campaigns in 2004 and 2006, issuing replacement birth certificates for citizens. While successful, these campaigns also revealed data errors, such as misspellings of family or given names, incorrect dates or places of birth and cases of duplicate registrations.
Top Neth, GDI director-general, said the government issued a sub-decree to address such issues and facilitate public services, granting authority to national-level civil registration officials to approve corrections and void entries.
The ministry has since issued a series of guidelines, including​ a directive (2017–2019) on correcting and voiding civil registration records, an extension directive for continuing corrections and a procedural directive on methods and requirements for corrections, which remains in force today.
Correctable data includes mistakes or missing information caused by commune/Sangkat registration officers.
Errors may involve misspellings of family or given names in Khmer or Latin script (for the individual, father or mother), incorrectly recorded gender, and wrong date of birth (solar or lunar calendar) for the individual, father or mother. There are also misidentified administrative/geographic locations, missing data in the civil registry and court-ordered corrections.
Neth noted that such errors are varied and complex. Some are unintentional mistakes by officers due to lack of care, while others stem from incorrect information provided by citizens.
To prevent future errors, the GDI has instructed commune/Sangkat clerks and civil registration officers to carefully verify all data against attached documents and confirm details with applicants before finalising registrations and issuing certificates.
Citizens themselves are also urged to review their civil registry entries carefully before approval. If they find errors, they should immediately request corrections from local civil registration officers.
