2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 95 - Administrative Provisions (§§ 1231 — 1251) › § 1251 - Federal Social Security—Exemption

(a) Vital Statistics Registrars are hereby authorized to issue free of charge to persons applying for the benefits of the Federal Social Security Act, birth, marriage, and death certificates or verifications.
For the purposes of this subsection, every office of the Registry of Vital Statistics that, among its duties, issues birth, marriage and death certificates or verifications, shall have the responsibility to place a poster, sign, announcement or notice in an area visible to the public, at eye level, and legible from a distance of ten (10) feet, indicating that it shall issue birth, marriage and death, certificates or verifications free of charge to those persons who request the benefits of the Federal Social Security Act.
Said poster, sign, announcement or notice shall be made and placed pursuant to the applicable sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, with a size of not less than eleven by fourteen inches (11′′ x 14′′), and print lettering with a minimum character height of half an inch (½′′). Upon request from the citizen who applies for the services, or if the personnel realizes that the applicant does not know how to or cannot read, the employees of the Registry of Vital Statistics shall, as accommodation, inform the person of the benefits established by this subsection.
(b) Only one copy shall be issued of each certificate or certified verification, once the fact is accredited that the person applying for same is seeking to avail himself of the benefits of the Federal Social Security Act at the time he makes his petition to the Vital Statistics Registry.
(c) Vital Statistics Registrars are hereby authorized to issue free of charge to any person over sixty (60) years of age, birth, marriage, and death certificates or verifications.
For the purposes of this subsection, every office of the Registry of Vital Statistics that, among its duties, issues birth, marriage and death certificates or verifications, shall have the responsibility to place a poster, sign, announcement or notice in a visible area to the public, at eye level, and legible from a distance of ten (10) feet, indicating that it shall issue birth, marriage and death, certificates or verifications thereof free of charge to any person over sixty (60) years of age. Said poster, sign, announcement or notice shall be made and posted pursuant to the applicable sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, with a size of not less than eleven by fourteen inches (11′′ x 14′′), and print lettering with a minimum character height of half an inch (½′′). Upon request from the citizen who applies for the services, or if the personnel realizes that the applicant does not know or cannot read, the employees of the Registry of Vital Statistics shall, as accommodation, inform the person of the benefits established by this subsection.
(d) Both the certificates and the certified verifications issued in these cases shall be made on special forms provided therefor and the same may be used only for the purpose for which they are issued.
History —June 15, 1966, No. 43, p. 178, §§ 1—3; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 331, § 5; Oct. 28, 2002, No. 256, §§ 1, 2.