Need a New Passport and Don’t Have an Original Birth Certificate?

Need a New Passport and Don’t Have an Original Birth Certificate?

If you are applying for a new United States Passport, the U.S. Government has a strict policy that requires all new passport applicants to include proof of citizenship. Usually proof of citizenship is an original state-issued birth certificate with a raised seal or naturalization documentation.

If you do not have an original copy of your birth certificate or your child’s birth certificate, there are a number of items that you can use to replace this essential proof of U.S. citizenship. Below is a list of acceptable documents to use in place of your birth certificate. If you are traveling soon and need to get your passport fast, please contact us. Our team of passport specialists can help you gather the required documents and get your passport as quickly as you need it.

Missing Birth Certificate Passport Requirements

You can read more about the original birth certificate passport policy on our previous blog post. The following list explains each option for the missing birth certificate passport requirement.

  • Early Public Records:

If you do not have an original state-issued birth certificate, you can submit with your passport application and identification a combination of early public records as evidence of your U.S. citizenship. Early public records must be submitted with a birth record or Letter of No Record (detailed below).

Early public records should show your name, date of birth, place of birth, and preferably be created within the first five years of your life. Examples of early public records are:

  • Baptismal certificate
  • Hospital birth certificate
  • Census record
  • Early school record
  • Family Bible record
  • Doctor’s record of post-natal care

Please keep in mind that if you are submitting an Early Public Record, it is not acceptable on its own, it must be submitted with a combination of other records.

  • Delayed Birth Certificate

If you were born in the U.S., but you do not have a birth certificate because your U.S. Birth Certificate was not filed within the first year of your birth, you can instead submit a Delayed U.S. Birth Certificate. A Delayed U.S. Birth Certificate filed more than one year after your birth may be acceptable if:

  • It lists the documentation used to create it (preferably early public records) and
  • It is signed by the birth attendant or lists an affidavit signed by the parents

If your Delayed U.S. Birth Certificate does not include these items, it should be submitted together with Early Public Records, detailed above.

  • Letter of No Record

If you were born in the U.S. but do not have a birth certificate for a passport because you don’t have a previous U.S. passport or a U.S. birth certificate of any kind, you must instead submit a state-issued Letter of No Record that shows:

  • Your name
  • Your date of birth
  • The years for which a birth record was searched
  •  Acknowledgement that no birth certificate was found on file

NOTE: A Letter of No Record must be submitted together with Early Public Records, as described above.

  • Form DS 10: Birth Affidavit

If you were born in the United States and do not have a birth certificate to submit with your passport application, you may submit the Form DS-10, or a Birth Affidavit as evidence of your U.S. citizenship. The birth affidavit:

  • Must be notarized
  • Must be submitted in person with Form DS-11
  • Must be submitted together with Early Public Records (detailed above)
  • Must be completed by an affiant who has personal knowledge of birth in the U.S.
  • Must state briefly how the affiant’s knowledge was acquired
  • Should be completed by an older blood relative

NOTE: If no older blood relative is available, it may be completed by the attending physician or any other person who has personal knowledge of your birth

Foreign Birth Documents + Parent(s) Citizenship Evidence

If you claim citizenship through birth abroad to U.S. citizen parent(s), but cannot submit a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth, you MUST submit ALL of the following:

  • Your foreign birth certificate (translated to English)
  • Evidence of citizenship of your U.S. citizen parent
  • Your parents’ marriage certificate
  • A statement of your U.S. citizen parent detailing all periods and places of residence or physical presence in the United States and abroad before your birth

Unacceptable Documents

The following documents will not be accepted as a replacement for a U.S. Birth Certificate when you are applying for a new U.S. Passport:

  • Voter registration card
  • Army discharge paper
  • Social Security Card