depends on context--need more! sometimes this is what the french mean when they refere to this...

again need more context then I could tell you exactly, but sometimes it is this too...problem is that French govt often has very specific types of documents that dont exist/dont have equivalents in the US...
Could you please give the actual sentence where it is used

Civil status certificate issued by the registry office

- acte d'adoption d'enfants: Adoption certificate (issued by the registry office)

Il me semble que le terme complet est: acte du bureau de l'état civil - je me trompe peut-être!

This term refers to a document or certificate attesting the civil status of a person, whether a birth, a marriage, an adoption etc. As a generic term I prefer civil status record because it can refer to any of the above.

Examples:

"Dans une situation transfrontalière, la question qui se pose est de savoir si une situation juridique constatée par un acte d’état civil dans un État membre sera reconnue dans un autre État membre et s’il peut produire les effets civils attachés à cette situation."

The question in this case is whether in cross-border cases a legal situation recorded in a civil status record in one Member State should be recognised in another one and whether it should also produce the civil effects connected with the situation.