How to Apply for a CRBA: Consular Report of Birth Abroad (DS-2029)

To apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), a U.S. citizen parent files Form DS-2029 at the U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where the child was born, pays a $100 fee, and attends an in-person interview with the child. The CRBA — issued as Form FS-240 — is the document that proves your child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth, and it functions much like a domestic birth certificate for identification and legal purposes. You must apply before the child turns 18.¹

Who Qualifies and the Age Cutoff

Your child must have acquired U.S. citizenship at the moment of birth under 8 U.S.C. § 1401. Whether they did depends on which parent is a U.S. citizen, whether the parents were married when the child was born, and — critically — how much time the citizen parent spent physically in the United States before the birth.

The deadline is firm: the State Department will not issue a CRBA once the child turns 18.¹ If your child has already passed that birthday, the CRBA is off the table. The alternative is Form N-600, filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which produces a Certificate of Citizenship serving the same legal purpose.² Even well within the 18-year window, apply as early as you can. Physical-presence evidence gets harder to reconstruct with every year that passes.

Physical Presence: The Requirement That Decides Most Cases

This is where CRBA applications succeed or fail. You have to prove the citizen parent lived in the United States long enough before the child’s birth to transmit citizenship.

Both Parents Are U.S. Citizens

At least one parent must have resided in the United States or its outlying possessions at some point before the child’s birth. The statute sets no minimum number of years.³

One U.S. Citizen Parent, One Non-Citizen Parent

This is the situation most applicants face, and the bar is much higher. The American parent must have been physically present in the United States for at least five years before the child’s birth, and at least two of those years must have fallen after the parent turned 14.³ Consular officers count days literally. A single day spent outside the country during a claimed period should not be counted toward the total.⁴

Some time abroad can still count toward the five years: service in the U.S. Armed Forces, employment with the federal government, work for a qualifying international organization, or living abroad as the dependent unmarried child of someone in one of those categories.³

Evidence That Proves Physical Presence

The DS-2029 asks you to list every period you were present in the United States, with month-and-year precision at minimum. If your timeline is tight, the officer may ask for exact dates. Build the paper trail before your appointment:

High school and university transcripts, which are particularly useful for documenting the years after age 14.
Social Security earnings statements showing years spent working in the U.S. economy.
Military service records such as a DD-214, which count toward physical presence even for overseas service.
Filed U.S. tax returns.
Lease agreements, utility bills, and medical records to fill gaps between larger documents.

Organize everything in date order so the officer can match it against your DS-2029 timeline. For gaps you cannot cover with records, notarized affidavits from people who can attest to your presence during those periods work as secondary evidence. The burden of proof is entirely yours.

If the Parents Were Not Married at Birth

Different rules apply here under 8 U.S.C. § 1409, and they depend on which parent is the U.S. citizen.

If the mother is the citizen, she must have been physically present in the United States for at least one continuous year before the child’s birth — significantly less than the five-year standard.⁵

If the father is the citizen, he must meet the standard physical-presence threshold and also:

Prove a blood relationship to the child by clear and convincing evidence. DNA testing may be requested.
Agree in writing to provide financial support for the child until the child turns 18.
Establish legal paternity before the child turns 18, either by legitimating the child under local law, acknowledging paternity in writing under oath, or obtaining a court adjudication of paternity.⁵

Section B of the DS-2029 is the sworn statement where the father acknowledges paternity and commits to support. It must be signed in front of the consular officer, not beforehand.⁶ A father who cannot attend the interview can instead file Form DS-5507 (Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage, and Support) separately.⁷

Documents to Gather Before You File

Assemble everything before you touch the form. Missing pieces can stall the case, and the embassy gives you only 90 days from your initial appointment to submit any outstanding documents. After that, the application is administratively closed and the fee is forfeited.⁴ You will need:

The child’s original local birth certificate from the civil registry or vital records authority where the child was born.⁶
Evidence of the parent’s U.S. citizenship: a valid U.S. passport, passport card, naturalization certificate, certificate of citizenship, the parent’s own CRBA, or a U.S. birth certificate.⁶
The parents’ marriage certificate, if applicable.
Evidence terminating any prior marriage: divorce decree, annulment, or death certificate.⁶
Physical-presence evidence for the U.S. citizen parent.
Photo ID for both parents.

Any document in a foreign language needs a certified English translation. The translator must certify in writing that the translation is accurate and that they are competent to translate between the two languages, and include their name, signature, address, and the date.⁸ A professional translation service is not required. Anyone fluent in both languages can do it as long as they provide the written certification.

Filling Out Form DS-2029

Download the current form from the State Department’s eforms site, or start the application through the eCRBA system on MyTravelGov.⁹ The form has three sections.

Section A: Biographical Information

Section A covers the child and both parents. Enter the child’s name exactly as it appears on the local birth certificate. If you want a different name on the CRBA (a common issue where the foreign certificate follows local naming conventions), include a notarized affidavit from the parent explaining the discrepancy.⁶

For each parent, provide full name, date and place of birth, citizenship, and marital status. Items 2j and 3j are where you enter the physical-presence timeline in month-and-year format. Items 2k and 3k are for qualifying time abroad in military service, government employment, or an international organization; bring official documentation of that service to the interview.⁶

At the end of Section A, choose whether to pick up the finished CRBA at the embassy or have it mailed.

Section B: Paternity Acknowledgment

Complete Section B only if the child was born out of wedlock and the father is the U.S. citizen transmitting citizenship. Leave it blank until you are in front of the consular officer.

Section C: Oath and Signature

Do not sign the form early. The oath must be administered in person by a U.S. consular officer or, for children born in U.S. military hospitals, a designated military acceptance agent. Signing before the appointment can invalidate the application.⁶

When One Parent Cannot Attend

If the transmitting citizen parent cannot appear in person, that parent completes Form DS-5507 separately and submits it to the embassy. The parent filling out the DS-2029 then checks the box indicating an accompanying DS-5507 and skips the absent parent’s biographical details on the main form.⁶

Submitting the Application and Attending the Interview

Most embassies and consulates use the eCRBA system through the MyTravelGov portal. You complete the application online, upload scans of your supporting documents, and pay the $100 fee electronically.⁹ If your consulate does not use eCRBA yet, check its website for paper-submission instructions. You generally must apply at the embassy or consulate in the country where the child was born.⁶

Once your submission is reviewed and payment processed, you schedule an in-person appointment. Bring the child. Bring both parents if possible; at minimum the U.S. citizen parent must attend.¹⁰ Bring the originals of every document you uploaded; the officer will examine them in person. If you paid online, print the payment confirmation.

At the interview, the officer reviews your documents, verifies the parent-child relationship, and walks through the physical-presence timeline. You sign the oath in Section C then. If the officer needs additional evidence, such as DNA testing to confirm paternity, you have 90 days to provide it before the case is closed.⁴ Do not arrange DNA testing on your own; the officer will give specific instructions about approved labs and procedures.

Approved applications typically process in about three weeks, though some consulates take a month or longer.¹¹

Applying for the Child’s Passport at the Same Appointment

Many parents pair the CRBA appointment with a first U.S. passport application for the child, which requires a separate Form DS-11. For a child under 16, the passport book application fee is $100 plus a $35 acceptance fee. For a book and card together, the application fee is $115 plus the $35 acceptance fee.¹² Confirm with your embassy whether both applications can be handled in a single appointment; procedures vary.

If the Application Is Denied

The most common reasons for denial are insufficient physical presence, no proven biological relationship between the citizen parent and the child, or failure to submit required evidence within the 90-day window after the initial appointment.⁴

If your case was closed for missing the 90-day deadline, you can resubmit, but only with new evidence, and you will pay the $100 fee again. Resubmitting the same incomplete package will not reopen the case.

If a denial cannot be resolved, or if the child is already 18 or older, Form N-600 filed with USCIS is the alternative route to a Certificate of Citizenship, which proves acquired citizenship at birth for the same legal purposes as a CRBA.² A parent or guardian can file the N-600 on behalf of a minor child.

1
USAGov. Prove Your Citizenship: Born Outside the U.S. to a U.S. Citizen Parent
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship Frequently Asked Questions
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth
4
U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. Frequently Asked Questions About the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1409 – Children Born Out of Wedlock
6
U.S. Department of State. Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America
7
U.S. Department of State. DS-5507, Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage, and Support
8
U.S. Department of State (Archive). Information About Translating Foreign Documents
9
U.S. Department of State. Birth of U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizen Nationals Abroad
10
U.S. Embassy in Spain. Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
11
U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Greece. CRBA – Processing Times and Return of Documents
12
U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees