USCIS does not issue certified copies of a naturalization certificate. The agency prints the original once, and if you need another one because yours is lost, damaged, or out of date, the only route is a full replacement through Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document. The fee is $505 online or $555 by mail, and processing can run many months, so file as soon as you know you need one.
Reasons USCIS Will Issue a Replacement
Your Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) is the government’s proof that you naturalized. There is no vital-records-style duplicate process for it. A replacement through N-565 is available in a limited set of situations:
- The original is lost or stolen.
- The original is damaged, mutilated, or unreadable.
- Your legal name changed after naturalization through marriage, divorce, or a court order.
- USCIS made a clerical error on the certificate itself.
Only the person named on the certificate can file. For an applicant under 14, a parent or legal guardian signs and submits on the child’s behalf.
What to Include With Form N-565
The form asks for enough of your immigration history that USCIS can pull your naturalization record. Have your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), the date and location of your naturalization ceremony, and the certificate number from the original if you still have it. You can file without the certificate number, but supplying it helps.
The supporting documents depend on why you’re filing:
- Lost or stolen: a police report if one exists, otherwise a sworn statement describing how the certificate was lost and what you did to look for it. A notary can administer the oath.
- Damaged: send the damaged original with the application.
- Name change: send the original certificate plus a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order showing the new name.
- USCIS error: return the original along with evidence that you gave USCIS the correct information during naturalization, such as a copy of your original Form N-400.
Every applicant includes a copy of a U.S. government-issued photo ID. If you live outside the United States, add two identical passport-style photos on a white or off-white background. Applicants inside the U.S. skip the photos because USCIS captures a new photograph at biometrics.
Fees and Fee Waivers
The filing fee is $505 online or $555 by mail. Biometrics are covered by that fee under the 2024 USCIS fee rule. If the replacement is because of a USCIS clerical error, there is no fee.
If you can’t afford the fee, you can submit Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, with your N-565. You qualify if you, your spouse, or a dependent receives a means-tested benefit such as Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, or SSI, or if your household income is at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Medicare, unemployment, Social Security retirement, and SSDI are not means-tested for this purpose.
How to File
You can file online through a USCIS online account or send a paper application by mail. Online filing is faster to submit and easier to track, but if your reason requires surrendering the original certificate (damage, name change, USCIS error), you still have to mail it to the Nebraska Service Center.
Paper applications go to a single lockbox address regardless of where you live:
USCIS
Attn: N-565
P.O. Box 20050
Phoenix, AZ 85036-0050
Any foreign-language document must include a full English translation with the translator’s signed certification.
After You File
USCIS mails a receipt notice (Form I-797C) with a case number you can use to check status online. You may be scheduled for a short biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center for a photograph, signature, and possibly fingerprints. Missing that appointment without rescheduling can delay the case significantly.
Processing times swing widely, from several months to more than a year depending on case volume and staffing. USCIS posts current estimates on its website, which is more accurate than any fixed number. When the replacement is approved, USCIS prints it and mails it to the address on your application, so keep that address current. If you move, update it through your USCIS online account or by filing Form AR-11.
Asking for Expedited Processing
If waiting isn’t workable, you can ask USCIS to expedite the application. Requests are reviewed case by case and granted only for pressing circumstances such as a serious illness, the death of a close family member, extreme conditions from a natural disaster, or a safety concern tied to the delay. Submit the request through the USCIS Contact Center or your online account after you have a receipt number, and be ready to document the emergency with medical records, an employer letter, or similar evidence.
Proving Citizenship While You Wait
A months-long wait creates a real problem if you need to prove citizenship for a job, travel, or benefits.
A U.S. passport is the most useful alternative. A valid passport works as standalone citizenship proof for Form I-9 employment verification, domestic travel, and most government purposes. If you don’t have one, applying for a passport can be faster and cheaper than the N-565: an adult passport book is $165 total ($130 application fee plus $35 acceptance fee), compared with $505 or $555 for a replacement certificate. The State Department can also search its records if you previously held a passport but can’t find it, though a file search for records issued before 1994 adds $150.
For I-9 purposes specifically, the form’s instructions let an employee present a receipt showing they’ve applied to replace a lost, stolen, or damaged List A document, which includes the Certificate of Naturalization. The receipt is a temporary bridge; you still have to show the actual document once it arrives.
When USCIS Cannot Correct an Error
N-565 also handles corrections, but only some. If USCIS misspelled your name or printed the wrong date of birth because of its own clerical mistake, you file at no cost, return the original, and include proof that you gave the correct information during naturalization.
If the error came from your own Form N-400 and you swore to that information at your naturalization interview, USCIS treats the information as locked in and will not administratively correct the certificate. The route in that situation is a state-court name change or correction order first, then N-565 with the court order attached. Date-of-birth corrections on a Certificate of Naturalization are generally not permitted at all; USCIS distinguishes this from Certificates of Citizenship, where a state-issued document with the corrected date of birth can support an updated certificate.
Updating Your Name on the Certificate
A legal name change after naturalization doesn’t flow through to the certificate on its own. File N-565 with the original certificate and documentation of the change: marriage certificate, divorce decree, annulment decree, or court order. USCIS also recognizes common-law name changes in states that allow them, but you’ll need a state-issued ID in the new name as proof. If your marital status has changed since the certificate was issued, include proof of that change too, even if it isn’t the reason for the new name.