New Birth Certificate Requirements for Passport Applications - Expedited Passports

If you’re applying for a passport, you should be aware that the Department of State just revised its guidelines concerning which birth certificates it will accept as proof of citizenship.

As of April 1st, 2011, all birth certificates submitted with passport applications must include your parent or parents’ names. So, before you send in your paperwork, take your birth certificate and double-check to make sure that your parents’ names are on the document.

Even if the birth certificate you’re holding has your parents’ names on it, though, the State Department has other requirements for birth certificates that could trip you up.  Here’s how to make sure your application passes muster:

• Use an original or certified copy of your birth certificate.  It should have a raised, embossed, engraved or multicolored seal on the top.
• Whether it was designed to look cute or designed to look “official,” a birth certificate issued by the hospital where you were born is NOT considered proof of citizenship.
• The birth certificate  must have your name, the date you were born, the place you were born and a registrar’s signature on it to be considered valid.
• Check the date that the birth certificate was filed with the registrar’s office. If it was filed late, more than one year after you were born, you won’t be issued a passport unless you can back it up with  secondary evidence of US citizenship.

If the certificate you have doesn’t meet the Department  of State’s requirements, you can use the CDC’s website to find out where to go to get a new certified copy, or you can order a copy through Vitalchek.

Applying for a passport can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be that way. When you apply with RushMyPassport, your case manager will make sure you know exactly what you need, helping to prevent common errors that could delay the processing of your application.

Even better, we’ll personally deliver your application to the Department of State, for processing in as little as 24 hours.

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When obtaining a passport, you must provide proof of US citizenship.  Assuming you were born in the US and don’t have an expired passport to submit with your application, you would do that by submitting a copy of your birth certificate.

However, before you submit your application, you should examine your birth certificate closely to make sure it will pass muster with the US Department of State. Here’s what to look for:

Certification

The State Department only accepts certified US birth certificates. To make sure yours is certified before obtaining a passport, look for the following:

• A raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal.
• Registrar’s signature
• If you live in California or Texas, make sure you have the long form of your birth certificate, which measures 8 1/2″ by 11.”

If you don’t have a certified copy of your birth certificate, you can order one from the Department of Vital Records for the state where you were born.

Date Filed

Next, check the date that your birth certificate was filed with the registrar’s office. This date must be within 1 year of your birth. If there was a delay of more than a year between when you were born and when the birth certificate was filed,  the State Department will not accept it on its own. Instead, you will need to submit secondary documentation, which can include:

• Early public records that include your name,  date of birth and place of birth, such as baptismal records, hospital birth certificates, census records, early school records, a family bible, or a doctor’s record of post-natal care for you.
• A signed, notarized birth affidavit, completed by an older blood relative, or, if an older relative is not available, the attending physician or another individual who had “personal knowledge” of your birth.

By submitting the right documents, you greatly increase the chances of obtaining a passport in a timely fashion.  Using a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com can also help, as you’ll work with a professional passport specialist and be provided with clear, easy-to-follow instructions to help you get all of your paperwork in order.

Interested in obtaining a passport? Apply with us today!

Birth certificates don’t usually come with an expiration date, but if you were born in Puerto Rico, yours does: July 1st, 2010. After that date, all Puerto Rican birth certificates will be invalidated, per a law passed in Puerto Rico in January.

The law was passed to address the fact that criminals have made a practice of stealing Puerto Rican birth certificates and selling them on the black market.  In Puerto Rico, it used to be quite common to submit a copy of your birth certificate for purposes like school enrollment.

For example, Luis Balzac, regional director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Manhattan, told NorthJersey.com that:

“In Puerto Rico, it’s common to give a certified birth certificate when you enroll your child in school, when your child joins a sports league, when they register for summer camp. You leave certified copies of your birth certificate all over the place, there are too many floating around in the street, and they end up in the black market.”

The Department of Homeland Security has stated that 40% of all cases of passport fraud involved stolen Puerto Rican birth certificates.

According to the New York Daily News,  California, Ohio and Nevada have announced a moratorium on accepting Puerto Rican birth certificates for identification, until after the new certificates are issued in July.  Before July 1st, you can try to apply for a new passport with your Puerto Rican birth certificate, BUT due to high number of fraud cases you may be asked to present secondary evidence of US citizenship.  To see examples of secondary evidence, check out the Department of State’s web site.

So, what happens after July1st? If you were born in Puerto Rico, you will need to apply for a new birth certificate. The fee is only $5.00, but the government of Puerto Rico isn’t accepting any applications before then.  So, you should probably expect  a bit of a wait to get your new, official birth certificate issued.  If you don’t immediately need a copy of your birth certificate to get a new passport or a driver’s license, the  Puerto Rican government is asking that you wait to apply so that the people with the greatest need can get their birth certificates first.

If you already have a US passport, there’s no reason to be concerned about the new requirements-as long as you still have your old passport, you can apply for a new passport by mail using the old one as proof of citizenship.

If you need a new passport, you will need a valid birth certificate. Once you have your birth certificate, RushMyPassport can submit your application directly to the Department of State for fast processing-often in as little as 24 hours.  Submitting your application through an expediting company can also help you find out more quickly if the government is going to ask for additional information from you, so you can get the issue addressed in enough time to go on your trip.

Apply for your new passport today!