New Rules for Birth Certificates

On April 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of State started requiring the full names of the applicant’s parent(s) to be listed on all certified birth certificates to be considered as primary evidence of U.S. citizenship for all passport applicants, regardless of age. Certified birth certificates missing this information are no longer acceptable as evidence of citizenship. This new requirement applies to both child passport applicants as well as adult passport applicants.