Appendix B — Registration Procedures

B.1 Application of this Appendix

This Appendix sets out the procedures by which an owner, custodian, guardian, bowl-holder or other person having the care, control or emotional responsibility of a Betta splendens (fighting fish, or Mexican) (the applicant) is required to register that fish with the Registry. It is to be read together with the Stage 1 registration form, the Fee Schedule and, where the applicant has already lost the form, Form FF-001 (Request for a Form).

Nothing in this Appendix requires any person to do anything. The Registry nevertheless expects applicants to proceed as though it did, on the understanding that the alternative is a firm letter.

B.1.1 Persons who may apply

An application may be lodged by: (a) the person who purchased the fish; (b) the person to whom the fish was gifted; (c) a person who has been left in charge of the fish while its owner is on holiday, for the duration of that holiday plus three feeding days; and (d) a child over the age of seven who has named the fish, provided that the name has been used consistently for not less than one fortnight.

An application may not be lodged by the fish. Applications received in a fish's handwriting will be returned with a polite note.

B.2 Stage 1 (Primary Particulars)

Stage 1 collects the applicant's full name, date of birth, residential address, email address and, optionally, a website. Two further questions concern the purpose of acquisition and the applicant's acceptance of responsibility for the mental health of the fish (see Appendix D).

Stage 1 answers are retained only in the applicant's own browser. The Registry has deliberately constructed a registration system that does not register anything, which it considers the most secure arrangement available.

B.2.1 Stage 2 (Supplementary Questions)

Stage 2 will be issued by the Registry at a later date. Applicants are not required to request Stage 2, and a request for Stage 2 will be acknowledged by the issue of Stage 2. The number of Supplementary Questions is subject to revision, upwards.

B.2.1.1 Order of completion

Stage 2 must not be completed before Stage 1. Where an applicant completes Stage 2 first, the Registry will treat Stage 2 as Stage 1 and Stage 1 as having been completed in advance, and will thank the applicant for their foresight.

B.3 Allocation of official name

Upon registration, each fish is taken to have been allocated an official name in accordance with Appendix G.1. The official name is printed on the registration certificate and is (fictionally) recorded against the data dot described in Appendix E.1.

B.5 Deemed completion (inserted 1987; placed before B.4 by the 2003 amendment, which did not explain why)

Registration is deemed complete at the moment the fish becomes aware of it. Awareness is established by any of the following: a flare directed at the certificate; a period of hovering near the side of the bowl on which the certificate is displayed; or, in the absence of either, the owner's sincere belief that the fish "knows".

B.4 Certificate of registration

A printable certificate is issued in the applicant's browser following the optional $3.49 purchase described in Fees and Payments. The certificate bears a reference number in the form FAQE-YYYY-XXXXXX, the date of issue, the particulars of the fish, the official name, and the seal of the Issuing Authority.

1. The certificate is a parody souvenir. It is marked "PARODY — NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT" and carries a SATIRE watermark.
2. Certificates printed on laminated card are not more official, although they are more durable.

B.4.1 Replacement certificates

A certificate that is lost, damp, chewed or used as a coaster may be regenerated at no charge by repeating the procedure in B.4. Each regeneration produces a new reference number. The Registry regards this as evidence of thoroughness rather than of inconsistency.

B.6 Objection by the fish

Where a fish objects to registration, the objection is to be lodged under the Complaints procedure. The owner is required to transcribe the objection faithfully, including any bubbles.