Replacing your naturalization certificate

A couple of days ago, I received a call from a friend who wanted to apply for a US passport for the first time. I told her that she would have to apply through the post office or the county office and one of the requirements is that she would have to bring evidence of US citizenship, either a birth certificate, certificate of citizenship or a naturalization certificate. In her case, a naturalization certificate after she became a US citizen through that route in 2011. For some reason or another, she did not get around to securing a US passport.

However, the problem is my friend could not find her certificate of naturalization. She could not remember where she placed it or she could have lost it when they moved residences. Without the certificate of naturalization, obviously, her passport application will not even be accepted. So how do you replace a naturalization certificate?

There is a form at USCIS that you have to use in order to request for a replacement. That is Form N-565, Application for Replacement naturalization/Citizenship Document. You can file this form either by mail or online. Take note that you can file this form not only if you lost your naturalization certificate but also if there has been a typographical error by USCIS, legal change of name, date of birth, gender, marital status, or if the original certificate has been mutilated or destroyed.

The fee, as of this writing, is $555. You would have to provide passport-size photos, and evidence reflecting legal change of name such as a court order, divorce decree, marriage certificate, or new birth certificate. A police report of the lost certificate would also have to be provided. A copy of the mutilated or destroyed original certificate would also have to be submitted if that is your basis for a replacement request.

One lesson we learn here is that an important document such as a naturalization certificate would have to be safely stored away where you can always retrieve it when you need it. Of course, it would also help if you keep copies of all your immigration documents just in case you lose the original.

$555 is too high a price for what could have been a preventable loss.

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US-licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader’s specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at [email protected]