FAQ-APP-019

The ECA program Certificate Policy (CP) and IdenTrust Certification Practice Statement (CPS) require that citizenship be proved based on a valid passport. If you are citizen of a non-U.S. country and you do not have a passport, you are not eligible to obtain a certificate under the ECA Program. However, if you are citizen of the United States, you can also prove your citizenship based on the following documents:

1. Birth Certificate. Certified birth certificate issued by the city, county, or state of birth, in accordance with applicable local law. A certified birth certificate has 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 1 year of birth. A delayed birth certificate, filed more than one year after birth, is acceptable if it lists the documentation used to create it and is signed by the attending physician or midwife, or lists an affidavit signed by the parents, or shows early public records. 
2. Naturalization Certificate. A Naturalization Certificate is a document issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) since October 1, 1991, and the Federal Courts or certain State Courts on or before September 30, 1991, as proof of a person obtaining U.S. citizenship through naturalization. 
3. Certificate of Citizenship. A Certificate of Citizenship is a document issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) as proof of a person having obtained U.S. citizenship through derivation or acquisition at birth (when born outside of the United States). 
4. FS-240 - Consular Report 
5. DS-1350 - Certification of Report of Birth