Venezuela Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
At the Family History Library, the microfilm collection of the civil registration records for Venezuela covers the years 1836-2000. However, the current digital records collection that is available through FamilySearch Historical Records includes only the civil registration for the city of Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela for the years 1873-2003. Eventually, more records will be added for other localities.

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in indexes; this will help access a specific record quickly. Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings or misinterpretations. If the information was scanned, there may be optical character recognition errors. When searching the index it is helpful to know the following: • The county where the birth, marriage, or death occurred • The name of the person at the time of the event • The approximate event date • The event place Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct. When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Add this new information to your records of each family. Looking in the same collection, you may be able to identify other members of the family: • Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual. • Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

If you want to find more information about the family, the pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records. For example: • Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information. • Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple’s birth records and parents’ names. • Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records. • Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records. • Use occupations to look for employment records or other types of records such as military records. • Use the parents’ birthplaces to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family. • The name of the officiator is a clue to the family’s religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties. • Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.

Keep in mind: • The information in marriage records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant. • Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s. • There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another record. If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following: • Check for variant spellings of the surnames. • Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner, if known. • Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. • Search the indexes and records of nearby counties. Record Description (Heading 2) (Physical Description and Preservation Status)

This collection includes births, marriages, and deaths that are registered in separate books at different municipal offices of the civil registry. Most records are well-preserved. Earlier records are handwritten in Spanish; newer records are handwritten in formatted records.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found on most birth records include the following: • Date and place of registration • Name of the child • Date and place of birth • Parents’ names • Parents’ nationalities • Parents’ occupations • Parents’ residence • Witnesses’ names

The key genealogical facts found on most marriage records include the following: • Date and place of registration • Name and surname of the groom • Personal information of the groom (date and place of birth, nationality, and occupation) • Names of the groom’s parents • Maiden name of the bride • Personal information of the bride (date and place of birth, nationality, and occupation) • Names of the bride’s parents • Residences of all involved • Witnesses’ names

The key genealogical facts found on most death records include the following: • Date and place of registration • Name of the deceased person • Personal information of the deceased (sex, age or birth information, occupation, marital status) • Date, place or address, and time of death • Cause of death • Spouse information if the deceased was married at the time of death • Sometimes parents’ names • Sometimes the names of the heirs • If a will is available

Record History
Before 1873, the Catholic Church was the only organization that recorded important events in a person’s life, such as baptism, marriage, and death or burial. However, in the early months of 1826, the government was already manifesting an interest in creating the civil registration of the judicial and non-judicial civil acts of their citizens under the National Treasury Department in the mortgage annotations office. The government also wanted a duplicate copy of the Catholic Church registers to use for civil records.

Why This Collection Was Created
The civil registration was created to record the vital information of important events in the life of the citizens.

Record Reliability
The civil registration records are one of the best sources for genealogical research after 1873. For records issued before this date, it is recommended that you search the Catholic Church records.

Related Web Sites
Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE)

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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection
Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines in the Wiki article listed above.

Examples of citations:

• United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71 • Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023

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Style Guide link
For guidelines to use in creating Wiki articles that describe collections of images and indexes produced by FamilySearch, see: FamilySearch Wiki: Guidelines for FamilySearch Collections pages.

Sources for This Collection
• Maracaibo (Zulia). Oficina de Registro Civil • “Venezuela, Zulia, Maracaibo Civil Registration”, database, FamilySearch (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start), 2010; from Republica de Venezuela, Ministerio de Justicia, Direccion de Registros y Notarias. “Venezuela civil registration” (Registros civiles de Venezuela), 1873-2003. Oficinas de Registro Civil de la Republica de Venezuela. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

We welcome your assistance in adding source citations for individual archives when collection data was collected from various sources or archives. The format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.