Report Birth Abroad

Registering Births Abroad of U.S. Citizen Children

The birth of a child abroad to U.S. citizen parent(s) should be reported as soon as possible to the nearest American Consular Office for the purpose of establishing an official record of the acquisition of U.S. citizenship at birth of a child born abroad. The official record is know as the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA). It is not a birth certificate, but is full proof that the child was a U.S. citizen at birth.

A child born outside of the U.S. to two American citizen parents acquires U.S. citizenship as long as one of the parents has resided in the U.S. prior to the child's birth. A child born abroad after November 14, 1986 to one American citizen parent and one non-American parent acquires citizenship only when the citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. for five years or more prior to the child's birth, at least two of the five years occurring after the parent had passed aged 14.

A CRBA may be issued for a child who is eligible for it upon application made by both parents of the child or legal guardian at any time before the child's 18th birthday. The American Embassy in Vientiane can only issue a CRBA for American children born in Laos. We will generally accept applications for American children born in Thailand, and will forward them to the American Embassy in Bangkok or American Consulate General in Chiang Mai for action. The following documentary evidence is required to support all CRBA applications:

1. PARENT’S PROOF OF US CITIZENSHIP: U.S. passport, naturalization certificate, or official birth certificate from a US state or territory.
2. PROOF OF CHILD’S BIRTH: original or certified true copy of child’s birth certificate. It should show the child’s and parents’ names, date and place of the child’s birth.
3. PROOF OF PARENTS’ MARRIAGE: (if applicable) original or certified true copy of parents’ marriage certificate.
4. PROOF OF TERMINATION OF ALL PRIOR MARRIAGES OF PARENTS: original or certified true copies of divorce or death certificates.
5. COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ANY NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE DOCUMENT.
6. APPLICATION FOR CONSULAR REPORT OF BIRTH (DS-2029). PRINT CONSULAR REPORT OF BIRTH APPLICATION FORM (DS-2029)
7. US PASSPORT APPLICATION (DSP-11). PRINT PASSPORT APPLICATION FORM (DS-11)
8. TWO 2" X 2" PHOTOS WITH A WHITE BACKGROUND (HEAD SIZE 1"- 1 3/8") SHOWING THE CHILD’S FULL FACE WITH THE EYES OPEN.
9. SOCIAL SECURITY CARD APPLICATION (SS-5). PRINT SOCIAL SECURITY FORM (SS-5).

FEES: There is a US$65 fee for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a US$82 fee for the passport application for a total of US$147. It may be paid in cash in US$ or the equivalent in Lao Kip.

-- IN SOME CASES THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION MAY BE REQUIRED --

EVIDENCE OF U.S. CITIZEN PARENTS’ PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN THE U.S.:

This is required when only one parent is a US citizen even if that parent was born in the US. Merely maintaining a residence in the US (i.e. having a home in the US, maintaining voter registration, etc.) is not sufficient, you must actually be in the US for a total of five years. The following items may be used to demonstrate your presence in the US: school transcripts, old passports, employment records, social security records, cancelled checks, and tax records.

AFFIDAVIT OF PARENTAGE: required for a child conceived out of wedlock.

EVIDENCE OF PARENTS’ PHYSICAL PRESENCE TOGETHER AT TIME OF CONCEPTION: required if the child was conceived out of wedlock, e.g. passports, leases, etc.

Filing the Application:

After collecting all of the relevant documents, please bring them to American Citizen Services any time during our normal business hours. Both parents and the child will have to appear before a consular officer. ACS cannot waive this requirement. The Consular officer will take the oath of the U.S. citizen parent executing the CRBA application (DS-2029). Both parents will then execute the child’s passport application. Please do not sign the form(s) until the consular officer asks you to do so. Processing for the CRBA will normally take one business day if the child was born in Laos, (issuance of passports takes about two weeks).

Obtaining a replacement or additional copies of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad

The Embassy does not retain completed CRBA files. Rather, these are forwarded to the Department of State in Washington, D.C. Replacement or additional copies of the CRBA must therefore be requested from the Department of State. Additional information including fees and request requirements is available on the Department website: http://travel.state.gov/family/issues_birth.html