The following are NOT accepted birth certificates:
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Photocopies of any kind, including notarized copies
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Hospital birth certificates or birth records
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Army discharge papers
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Voter registration cards
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Social Security Cards or numbers
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Birth abstracts "short forms" from California or Texas (only long-form birth certificates are accepted)
Acceptable birth certificates must:
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Be issued by the city, county or state
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Include your given name and surname
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Have a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal
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Have a registrar's signature and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office, which must be within 1 year of your birth
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Birth certificate must list parents full names and dates of birth
Where can I obtain a certified birth certificate?
VitalChek Express Certificate Service provide government authorized online ordering. You can use your credit card to order government certified birth certificates from America's only nationwide authorized service.
To order your birth certificate click on your state of birth:
Washington, D.C.
NOTES:
Applicants born in California or Texas MUST submit a Long-Form Birth Certificate; short forms or abstract birth certificates are UNACCEPTABLE
A Delayed Birth Certificate filed more than one year after your birth may be acceptable if it:
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Listed the documentation used to create it and
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Signed by the attending physician or midwife, or, lists an affidavit signed by the parents, or shows early public records.
We have new information on foreign-born children adopted by U.S. citizens.
What to do if there is no Birth Record or Certificate on file
1. Submit a "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:
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baptismal certificate
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hospital birth certificate
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census record
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certificate of circumcision
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early school record
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family bible record
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doctor's record of post-natal care
NOTES:
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These documents must be early public records showing the date and place of birth, preferably created within the first five years of your life
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You may also submit an Affidavit of Birth, form DSP-10A, from an older blood relative, i.e., a parent, aunt, uncle, sibling, who has personal knowledge of your birth. It must be notarized or have the seal and signature of the acceptance agent.
