United States of America: Procedures for illegal immigrants to apply for a birth certificate for their children born in the United States; whether they are required to produce any documents to apply for a birth certificate; whether the birth certificate given to the children of illegal immigrants is different from the one given to the children of citizens or legal residents of the United States

Details on the requirements and description of birth certificates for each state and county of the United States could not be researched for the purposes of this Response. A portal with links to Websites of agencies responsible for vital records for each state can be found at .

Further to USA40549.E of 9 January 2003 and earlier Responses, an information officer at the Vital Records office of North Carolina provided the following information during a 10 September 2003 telephone interview:

State law regulates the issuing of birth certificates, and each state may have its own standards. In North Carolina, birth certificates are prepared by the state registrar in Raleigh or by the registrar of deeds of each county of the state. If the birth occurred in North Carolina, the certificate issued is the same regardless of the specific residence status (or lack thereof) of the parent or parents. The only condition for having a birth certificate issued in North Carolina is to be in the state at the time the child is born, regardless of residence status.

A state-wide standard stipulating the minimum information that a birth certificate must contain, includes the name of known parents to the extent they can be identified; however, because there is no standard format, each county can issue a certificate with their own design, shape and colour.

A certified copy of a birth certificate that took place in North Carolina can be issued by the registrar of deeds of the county where the birth was recorded, or by the state central registry (Vital Records) office in Raleigh.

Verification of the authenticity of North Carolina birth certificates can be requested directly from the State Registrar, also in Raleigh.

The information that follows was provided in a 12 September 2003 telephone interview by a United Church Pastor in North Carolina who frequently assists migrants, including persons with no legal status (illegal immigrants or illegal aliens), in various areas of the state. The Pastor has also worked with migrant farm workers in Arizona and Virginia.

One simply cannot generalize for the entire United States. Birth registry is a local or county-level matter, so even within a state, there can be great differences. In North Carolina alone, there are 100 counties, so there are 100 systems of different fees, formats, etc.; there is no single instruction sheet or detailed set of procedures that can accurately apply to the whole state.

In North Carolina, the general procedure is for hospitals to send the birth-related information to the registrar of the county where they are located; if the birth does not take place in a hospital or health centre, the country registrar should be notified and provided with the pertinent information. To obtain a copy of the birth certificate, the parent has to contact the local registrar, in person or by mail, fill a form and pay a fee. Two weeks can pass from the moment of birth to the time when a birth certificate can be provided.

Throughout the United States, officially, there should be no distinction for birth registration and certificates whether a person is legally in the country or not, as long as the child is born there. In principle, there should be no problem in registering the birth and obtaining a birth certificate for a child born in the United States; however, there can be problems, the most common of them arising from a lack of information or knowledge of key aspects of birth certification. Nevertheless, there could be individual circumstances that could present specific problems for registering a birth or obtaining a birth certificate.

Hospitals cannot turn back a person who is giving birth, and a growing number of hospitals have translators on site or on call (although the situation is generally different in rural areas). However, some migrants may have reasons to fear approaching hospitals or any institutions – it all depends on the place and the situation of the individuals, including where and how they live and work, and who they deal with.

For example, when the Pastor worked with farm workers in a rural area of Virginia some ten years ago, the workers were afraid of the farm's crew-leader, and had an even greater fear of those outside the workplace, as there was a deep hatred of migrants in the area. The Pastor went on to say that in a place like that, migrants could have reason to fear even the local hospital; among other things, there were stories circulating among migrants of babies having been taken at hospitals, and worse. In one case the Pastor assisted an illegal farm worker couple in Virginia who had their baby in a chicken coop and were hiding, because they were afraid of being found; but then again, this was in a county where two people had just then been convicted for slavery.

Rural areas of North Carolina close to urban centres turned out to be different from certain rural areas of Virginia. Although there is growing awareness and communication among migrants in North Carolina, there are occasional and serious problems, and in various areas of the country there still are places where illegal migrants are afraid because of the general mistreatment or abuses taking place there.

The Pastor is not aware of cases in which parents had been denied a birth certificate for their child. However, a common problem with illegal migrants giving birth in the United States is lack of information. There are cases where the parents did not get a birth certificate for their child for years, and when they realize they need one, they might have great difficulty obtaining it. Some persons may have only kept a paper issued by the hospital notifying them that the birth information was forwarded to the country registrar, and they may think that this constitutes a birth certificate. When they do find out what to do to obtain a certificate, the county court or registrar office may be quite far, there may not be public transport available where they are living and they may not be able to take days off during office hours, and at registrars' offices usually English is the only language spoken.

In North Carolina, births with complications are often transferred to the hospital of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, which is in Orange County. However, persons from outside Chapel Hill might now know what county the hospital or university campus is located in; the pastor knows of cases where persons working and living in rural areas only know that their child was born at "UNC," which in some cases could make location and contact with the correct authorities difficult.

There are cases where the specific rural county where a person gave birth some time ago may be even harder to locate for a migrant, and if a person has moved to another state after giving birth, it could present more serious problems. The Pastor knows of cases in which a person has finally found out where they can obtain a certificate, but is unable to make the trip, or cannot afford the waiting time involved (for example, if they have to travel urgently and must obtain a U.S. or foreign passport for their child). It can be hard, but not impossible; generally speaking, a copy of a birth certificate can be obtained by mail, even from outside the United States, by writing to the pertinent official of the county where the birth was registered and paying the fee. Some states have, or are in the process of creating centralized registries to allow requests for copies of county-issued certificates from a central office in the state capital or elsewhere; however, it is not clear to what extent and how far back in time the centralization of records has gone in some places.

However, there are places where a birth certificate may be issued and sent to the parent(s) automatically; the pastor is aware of at least one county in West Virginia where birth certificates were promptly issued and sent to the parents without them having requested the certificates.

Finally, there are cases in which a person knows the place where a birth was registered, but the records may have been lost. The pastor knows of at least one case where a person was born in a rural county in Alabama, where the local courthouse burned down and all its records were lost. The person had to appear before the local judge with two long-time residents of the place who were able to attest that the person was born there.

References to the existence of different versions of birth certificates for citizens, legal residents and persons who are not legal residents of the United States, could not be found among the various state and federal information websites and publications consulted.

For additional legal information related to birth in the United States, please find attached copies of sections 301, 308 and 309 of the Immigration and Nationality Act as published by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS, formerly known as Immigration and Naturalisation Service or INS). Section 301 is cited in USA40549.E and USA33480.E, and refers to nationality and citizenship at birth; section 308 refers to those who could be considered nationals but not citizens of the United States at birth, with particular reference to birth in outlying possessions of the U.S., and section 309 refers to children born out of wedlock.

Also attached for reference, please find an excerpt of an April 2002 article on document fraud, which has a specific section on United States birth certificates.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Iglesia Unida de Cristo/United Church of Christ, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 3 September 2003. Telephone interview with pastor.

North Carolina. 10 September 2003. Vital Records office, Raleigh. Telephone interview with an information officer.

Attachments

Center for Immigration Studies, Washington, DC. April 2002. Marti Dinerstein. "America's Identity Crisis: Document Fraud is Pervasive and Pernicious, " 1-3. [Accessed 12 Sept. 2003]

United States of America. 2003. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). Title III, Chapter 1. "Nationality at Birth and by Collective Naturalization," Sections 301, 308-309. Immigration and Nationality Act. [Accessed 5 Sept. 2003]