Rush To Get New Puerto Rico Birth Certificate

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rican-born cit­i­zens liv­ing in the United States will now have to request a new copy of their birth certificates.

The country’s Gov. Luis For­tuño signed a law mak­ing all old birth cer­tifi­cates processed prior to Decem­ber 2009 not valid in any fed­eral agency.

A tran­si­tion period will be in effect until July 1. The new law is an effort to reduce all fraud cases reported by U.S. Immi­gra­tion and Cus­toms Enforce­ment in the past year.

Accord­ing to the gov­ern­men­tal agency, a Puerto Rican birth cer­tifi­cate runs for about $5,000 to $10,000 on the black market.

Puerto Ricans born on the island receive an Amer­i­can Social Secu­rity num­ber and are eli­gi­ble for a United States pass­port from birth.

For more infor­ma­tion, call (787) 767‑9120 ext. 2402 or visit their Web site.

Link to Puerto rico site Birth Cer­tifi­cate page. Infor­ma­tion about the law that was cre­ated regard­ing the New birth certificates.

Link to get a new cer­tifi­cate appli­ca­tion to apply by mail.(English)

SOLICITUD para Nuevo Cer­ti­fi­cado(En Español) por correo