Passports U.S. Birth Certificates in Support of a Passport Application

U.S. birth certificates are acceptable evidence of U.S. citizenship which may be used to apply for a passport. Hospital birth certificates, voter registration cards, baptismal certificate or army discharge papers are NOT proof of U.S. citizenship. A certified birth certificate must have a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal, registrar's signature, and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office, which must be within one year of the birth. In support of a passport application, a delayed birth certificate filed more than one year after the birth may be acceptable if it: Listed the documentation used to create it AND Is signed by the attending physician or midwife, or lists of affidavit signed by the parents, or shows early public records. For instructions on obtaining a certified birth certificate, click here. If you do NOT have a previous U.S. passport or a certified birth certificate, you will need: 1. Letter of No Record Issued by the state with your name, date of birth, which years were searched for a birth record and that there is no birth certificate on file for you. 2. AND as many of the following as possible: Baptismal certificate Hospital birth certificate Census record Certificate of circumcision Early school record Family bible record Doctor's record of post-natal care NOTE These documents MUST be early public records showing the date and place of birth, preferably created within the first five years of your life. This page was updated on July 10, 2005

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