# Country record playbook

This guide turns "I need my great-grandmother's Italian birth certificate" into a
concrete, correct plan for **where** the record is held and **how** to request it,
grounded in EasyPassport's vetted per-country dossier rather than guessed.

## First: which country, which ancestor, which record

1. **Find the country, the ancestor and the event.** If you can read the user's
   EasyPassport workspace (their application country and family tree), use it.
   Otherwise ask the user, or use the gaps listed in an EasyPassport eligibility
   result if they have one. The **country** selects the dossier; the **ancestor and
   event** (birth, marriage, death, naturalization) say which record to chase.
2. **Load that country's dossier.** Ask for this guide again with the country's
   two-letter code (for example `IT` for Italy; the index is below). The dossier is
   the single source of truth for the office, request channel, who may request,
   cost, timeline, language, apostille authority, translation rules and gotchas.
3. **Two countries?** If the need spans two countries (a record held in Italy but
   filed with a German application, say), load both dossiers.
4. **Which archive holds this ancestor's record?** The "archives and sources" guide
   for a country lists the vetted archives and providers, keyed on the country where
   the record was created, and says which sites the user must open themselves.

## The retrieval method (same shape for every country)

For each document the user needs, walk these in order and give a concrete answer
from the dossier. Do not send the user to a generic "contact the archives" dead end.

1. **Which office holds it.** Civil vital records almost always live with a *local*
   registrar (the comune, municipality or civil-registry office of the place of the
   event), with older records often transferred to a *state or regional archive*
   after a retention cutoff. The dossier names both and the cutoff.
2. **The request channel.** Online portal (give the exact URL from the dossier),
   postal request, in person, or through the consulate. Prefer the official portal.
3. **Who may request it, and what proof.** Many countries restrict recent records to
   the person or a direct descendant; the dossier says who, and what ID or lineage
   proof is needed.
4. **What identifying detail to supply.** The ancestor's full name (including maiden
   name), date and place of the event, and often the parents' names. Take these from
   the user's family tree or ask the user. Flag any detail that is missing so the
   user can find it first.
5. **Cost and timeline.** Give the dossier's figures, and say they are indicative and
   must be confirmed on the official page.
6. **Language.** The language the request must be written in. The "records request
   letter" guide composes the request itself.
7. **After the record arrives:** apostille and certified translation. The
   "apostille and legalization" guide covers the order of steps; the competent
   authority is in the dossier.

## Rules

- **Ground every office name, URL, cost and authority in the dossier.** If the
  dossier does not cover something, say so and point to the official source in its
  `Sources` section. Never invent an address, portal or fee.
- **General guidance, not legal advice.** You explain how to *obtain records*; you
  do not rule on whether a record proves eligibility.
- **Before civil registration.** Ancestors born before the country's civil-registry
  start year (given in the dossier) need **church or parish** records or the
  **national archive**; the dossier's "Historical & church records" section covers
  this.
- **Privacy.** Only use details about living relatives that the user chooses to
  share, and never include a person the user asked to keep private in a search or a
  request.

## Country dossier index

Each live country has a dossier. Ask for this guide with the country code:

| Code | Country | Descent authority (the dossier has the full picture) |
|------|---------|------------------------------------------------------|
| CA | Canada | IRCC |
| IT | Italy | Comune / consulate / Tribunal of Rome |
| IE | Ireland | Dept. of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Birth Register) |
| DE | Germany | Bundesverwaltungsamt (BVA), Cologne |
| PL | Poland | Masovian Voivode |
| PT | Portugal | Instituto dos Registos e Notariado (IRN) |
| HU | Hungary | Ministry of Interior |
| GB | United Kingdom | GRO / UKVI |
| ES | Spain | Registro Civil / consulate |
| FR | France | Service central d'état civil (Nantes) / tribunal |
| GR | Greece | Municipality (dimos) / consulate |
| LT | Lithuania | Migration Department |
| LV | Latvia | OCMA (PMLP) |
| CZ | Czech Republic | Ministry of Interior |
| SK | Slovakia | Ministry of Interior |
| AT | Austria | Provincial government (Landesregierung) |
| HR | Croatia | Ministry of Interior |
| RO | Romania | National Authority for Citizenship (ANC) |
| BG | Bulgaria | Ministry of Justice |
| LU | Luxembourg | Ministry of Justice |
| MT | Malta | Community Malta Agency |
| CY | Cyprus | Civil Registry & Migration Dept. |
| SI | Slovenia | Ministry of Interior (Upravna enota) |
| FI | Finland | Digital & Population Data Services (DVV) / Migri |
| CH | Switzerland | Cantonal civil registry / SEM |

If the user's country is not in this index, it is not yet a live descent pathway on
EasyPassport. Give general guidance from official sources only, say plainly that
EasyPassport has no dossier for it, and suggest a qualified specialist.

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General guidance, not legal advice. EasyPassport is a document-organization tool, not a law firm. Confirm your own case with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.