Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA): Documents and Interview

To apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, file Form DS-2029 with the U.S. embassy or consulate serving the country where your child was born, before the child’s 18th birthday. You start the application online through the State Department’s MyTravelGov portal at mytravel.state.gov, book an in-person appointment, and bring originals proving your child’s birth, both parents’ identity and citizenship, your marital history, and the U.S. citizen parent’s physical presence in the United States.¹ The document the consulate issues, Form FS-240, has the same legal weight as a certificate of naturalization for proving your child’s citizenship.²

Confirm Your Child Qualifies Before You Apply

The CRBA is only for children who acquired U.S. citizenship at birth through a biological parent. Whether that happened depends on how many U.S. citizen parents the child has, whether those parents were married at the time of birth, and how much time the citizen parent spent in the United States before the child was born.

When both parents are U.S. citizens and were married at the birth, the child acquires citizenship as long as at least one parent lived in the United States at some point before the birth, with no minimum number of years.³

When only one parent is a citizen and the parents are married, that citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States for at least five years before the birth, and at least two of those years must have come after the parent turned 14. The years do not need to be consecutive; the State Department adds up every stretch of U.S. presence. Time abroad on active U.S. military duty, in U.S. government employment, with a qualifying international organization, or as the unmarried dependent child of someone in those categories, counts as physical presence in the United States.³

For unmarried parents, the rules split. A U.S. citizen mother needs one continuous year of physical presence in the United States before the birth.⁴¹

Two situations often surprise applicants. Adopted children are not eligible for a CRBA. The document only recognizes citizenship acquired at birth through a biological parent; adopted children pursue citizenship through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 and separate documentation.⁵ Children born through surrogacy or assisted reproduction need a biological connection to the transmitting citizen parent: a citizen father must be the genetic father, and a citizen mother must be either the genetic or the gestational and legal mother. A citizen with no biological or gestational tie can be listed only if married to a parent who has that tie and both have acted parentally.⁶

Apply Before Your Child Turns 18

A CRBA can be issued at any point before the 18th birthday. There is no minimum age and no penalty for applying at 6 months or at 16 years, so long as it is inside that window. After the child turns 18, the case shifts from the local consulate to the State Department’s Office of Adjudication and gets substantially harder.⁷ Adults who missed the CRBA window can still document citizenship by filing Form N-600 with USCIS or by applying for a U.S. passport, but those routes are slower and more paperwork-heavy than applying while the child is young.⁸

Gather the Documents

Consular officers want originals or certified copies, not photocopies or notarized copies. Originals are generally returned after review.⁹

Your Child’s Birth Certificate

Submit the original foreign birth certificate. If it is in a language other than English, include a certified English translation. The translator signs a statement certifying that the translation is accurate and that they are competent in both languages, and includes their name, signature, address, and the date. Notarization of the translation is not always strictly required, but consulates typically expect it.

Identity and Citizenship for Both Parents

Both parents show identity, usually with a valid passport. The U.S. citizen parent proves citizenship with a passport, U.S. birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or an earlier CRBA. If the citizen parent was themselves born abroad to Americans, bring that documentation too.

Marriage and Prior Marriage Records

Married parents bring the marriage certificate. If either parent was previously married, bring proof each earlier marriage ended: a final divorce decree, annulment, or death certificate.⁹ Resolve name discrepancies across records (a maiden name on one document, a married name on another) before the appointment, since these often prompt follow-up questions.

Evidence of Physical Presence in the United States

This is the most document-heavy piece of the application. The citizen parent lists arrivals and departures by month and year if exact dates are unavailable, and supports the timeline with records such as:

School records: university transcripts, high school records, enrollment documents.
Employment records: Social Security earnings statements, pay stubs, employment contracts.
Military records: Form DD-214 or other service documentation.
Financial and residential records: tax returns, leases, utility bills, bank statements.
Medical records tied to U.S. addresses.

No single document is required. Consular officers weigh the overall picture.⁹ Parents who left the United States as teenagers often have the hardest time here, so requesting Social Security earnings data and old school transcripts well before the appointment is worth the trouble.

Book and Attend the Appointment

Every CRBA application involves an in-person visit to the U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where the child was born, or in some cases where the family currently lives. Appointments are scheduled through the embassy’s website.

Who Should Attend

The State Department asks that both parents and the child appear. If one parent cannot attend, the absent parent can submit a notarized Form DS-5507 (for paternity, physical presence, and support declarations) or Form DS-3053 (consent for passport issuance). A parent with sole legal custody, or who can produce the other parent’s death certificate or a court declaration of incompetence, can typically proceed alone.¹

The Fee

The CRBA application fee is $100 and is non-refundable regardless of outcome. If you apply for the child’s first passport at the same appointment, the passport book fee for a child under 16 adds another $100.¹⁰ Most consulates accept credit cards or local currency at the current exchange rate.

What Happens at the Interview

A consular officer reviews your originals, asks about the citizen parent’s residency history, and clarifies anything that looks inconsistent. Most interviews run under 30 minutes unless the case involves surrogacy or gaps in the physical presence timeline. Many embassies process the child’s first passport at the same visit, so bring two passport-sized photos of the child if you plan to combine them.

If DNA Testing Is Requested

When the documents alone cannot confirm the biological relationship between the child and the citizen parent, the officer may suggest DNA testing. This comes up most often in surrogacy cases and in out-of-wedlock paternity claims where the father’s name is not on the birth certificate. Testing is voluntary, but declining it when documentary evidence is thin usually ends the case. The State Department requires results with 99.5 percent or greater certainty from a laboratory accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks. The lab ships the collection kit directly to the embassy, the embassy collects the samples, and the lab reports directly back to the embassy; the family and any attorney are outside that chain.¹¹

After the CRBA Is Approved

The consulate issues Form FS-240 once the officer approves the application. Processing usually takes several weeks depending on the post, and the document is either mailed by secure courier or held for pickup. The FS-240 is definitive proof of your child’s U.S. citizenship for life.²

The Social Security number is separate. You cannot apply for an SSN at the CRBA appointment. Once the CRBA and passport are in hand, the consulate provides instructions for filing an SSN application with the Social Security Administration. On the passport application form (DS-11), enter “000-00-0000” in the SSN field and complete the declaration stating the child does not yet have a number.

Store the original FS-240 somewhere secure, like a fireproof safe or a bank safety deposit box, and keep a photocopy separately for everyday use. Replacements exist but take four to six weeks and require a notarized request and a $50 fee, with no expedited option.¹²

If Your Child Doesn’t Qualify

A child who falls short of the statutory test, usually because the citizen parent cannot document enough physical presence, still has a path. Under INA Section 322, a U.S. citizen parent can apply to naturalize a child under 18 who lives abroad, as long as the parent or the child’s U.S. citizen grandparent meets the five-year physical presence requirement. The grandparent option matters: a parent who grew up overseas and cannot meet the threshold can rely on a qualifying grandparent’s U.S. residence.¹³ This route uses Form N-600K and requires the child to be physically present in the United States for the naturalization oath.

If the child is already over 18 and never obtained a CRBA or went through INA 322, Form N-600 remains available if the person did in fact acquire citizenship at birth and simply never documented it.⁸ If the person never acquired citizenship at all, the path runs through the standard immigration system, typically a family-based immigrant visa sponsored by the citizen parent, followed by naturalization on the person’s own timeline.

1
U.S. Department of State. Birth of U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizen Nationals Abroad
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 U.S.C. 2705 – Documentation of Citizenship
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1409 – Children Born Out of Wedlock
5
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 8 FAM 506.2 Adopted Children
6
U.S. Department of State. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Surrogacy Abroad
7
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 8 FAM 506.1 Who is Eligible to Apply for a CRBA
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-600, Instructions for Application for Certificate of Citizenship
9
U.S. Department of State. DS-2029 – Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America
10
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
11
U.S. Department of State. Information for Parents on U.S. Citizenship and DNA Testing
12
U.S. Department of State. How to Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12, Part H, Chapter 5 – Child Residing Outside the United States (INA 322)