Declaration card

The declaration card of Yankee Leong, the first Bahá’í from Malaya.

A declaration card or registration card is a card that can be used as a formal declaration of enrollment in the Bahá’í community. Reasons for using declaration cards in the process of enrollment may include accurate keeping of membership statistics, identifying adult Bahá’ís eligible to vote in Bahá’í elections, providing official confirmation of status as conscientious objectors (those who object to certain types of military service), and more.

The use of declaration cards within the worldwide Bahá’í community varies by location and depends upon the policy adopted by the relevant National Spiritual Assembly. In the United States, the policy has remained essentially the same since the 1930s; a person must sign a declaration card stating their belief in Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and their understanding that there are laws and institutions to obey (the card does not specify them). Many countries follow this pattern. Canada historically required signature of a card, which largely served to identify conscientious objectors; this was made optional early in the 21st Century.