How to Fill Out Form DS-5507: Physical Presence, Parentage, and Support

To fill out Form DS-5507, the Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage, and Support, you list every period you lived in the United States and abroad in Part I, sign the paternity and support acknowledgment in Part II only if you are the U.S. citizen father of a child born out of wedlock, and sign the oath in Part III in front of an authorized official. The form supports a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) application and is not filed on its own.

Who Actually Needs to File It

Not every CRBA applicant fills out a DS-5507. The Department of State points to three triggers:

One parent is a U.S. citizen and the other is not, so the citizen parent has to document enough time in the United States to transmit citizenship.
The U.S. citizen parent cannot attend the consular appointment and needs to record their U.S. residence history from a distance.
The child was born out of wedlock and citizenship is claimed through a U.S. citizen father, who uses the form to acknowledge paternity under oath and agree in writing to support the child.¹

These can overlap. An absent U.S. citizen father of a child born out of wedlock addresses every part of the form that applies to him.

Get the Current Form

Download the DS-5507 from the Department of State’s eForms page. The instructions for each section are printed on the form itself. Read them before you start typing, because some entries — the signature blocks in particular — should stay blank until you are in front of the official who will administer the oath.²

Part I: Physical Presence and Residence History

Part I is the heart of the form for most filers. You list every period you spent inside the United States with the city, state, start date, end date, and purpose of the stay. Purpose means the reason you were there: school, employment, family visit, military service, and so on. A parallel section asks for periods you lived abroad in the same format, plus the name of any overseas employer.²

A few practical points make this section go smoothly:

List periods chronologically. The consular officer needs to follow your timeline without hunting for gaps.
Be precise with dates. Officers compare your entries to the supporting documents you bring, so vague or rounded dates that clash with a lease or transcript will slow the review.
If you run out of room, continue on a separate sheet and attach it. Do not compress years into a single line to make them fit.
Do not leave stretches of your life blank. Every year between your birth and the child’s birth should be accounted for as either U.S. or foreign residence.

How Much U.S. Time You Actually Need to Show

Part I only helps if it adds up to the presence the law requires, and the required amount depends on your family situation:

Both parents are U.S. citizens: at least one must have lived in the United States or its outlying possessions at some point before the child’s birth, with no minimum length.³
One U.S. citizen parent and one non-citizen parent: the citizen parent needs five years of physical presence in the United States before the child’s birth, at least two of them after age 14. Time abroad on honorable military service, U.S. government employment, or as a dependent of someone in such service counts toward the five years.³
One U.S. citizen parent and one U.S. national who is not a citizen: one continuous year of physical presence before the birth.³
Unmarried U.S. citizen mother transmitting citizenship: one continuous year of physical presence before the birth.

Look at Part I with those numbers in front of you. If the residence periods you have listed do not clearly clear the applicable threshold, you have either forgotten periods or you do not meet the requirement — better to find out at the kitchen table than at the consulate window.

Part II: Parentage and Support

Part II is completed only when the child was born out of wedlock and citizenship is being claimed through a U.S. citizen father. Married parents skip it. Mothers skip it. The father signs a single block that does two things at once: it is a sworn acknowledgment of paternity, and it is a written agreement to provide financial support until the child turns 18.⁴

Both commitments have to be in place before the child turns 18, along with a biological relationship proven by clear and convincing evidence, the father’s U.S. citizenship or nationality at the time of birth, and legitimation under the law of the child’s residence or a court order of paternity.⁵ The DS-5507 satisfies the written acknowledgment and the support agreement; the other pieces come in through separate documents you bring to the appointment.

Part III: The Oath and Signature

Part III is where you swear that everything in the affidavit is true and complete. Do not sign Part II or Part III in advance. Both signatures must be made in the presence of an authorized official at the moment you take the oath.² A form signed at your kitchen table and brought in cannot be accepted, and you will end up completing another copy on the spot.

Where to Sign It

Who can witness your signature depends on where you are.

If you are attending the CRBA appointment, the consular officer at the U.S. embassy or consulate administers the oath and witnesses your signature. No separate notarization is needed.

If you are the absent parent and cannot attend, complete the form and have it notarized before sending it to the embassy or consulate handling the CRBA. Inside the United States, a U.S. notary public can witness the signature. The notarized form is then forwarded to the post processing the child’s application.⁶

For a father signing the out-of-wedlock acknowledgment in Part II, the Department of State allows signing at a U.S. embassy or consulate, before a U.S. notary public, or before a local official who registers births or administers oaths.¹

If a consular officer notarizes the form for you, expect a $50 fee per seal on top of the $100 CRBA application fee.⁷ A domestic U.S. notary usually charges under $15.

Documents to Back Up What You Wrote

The DS-5507 is a sworn statement; on its own it does not prove anything. The consular officer will want records that put you in the United States during the periods you listed, spread across time rather than concentrated in a single moment. A driver’s license or a birth certificate does not show ongoing presence.

Records that carry weight include:

Certified or official academic transcripts from high school or college, which are considered among the strongest evidence because they cover semesters or years of enrollment.
Employment records: letters from employers, pay stubs, and contracts.
Tax records, including W-2 wage statements and income tax returns tied to U.S. employment.
Lease agreements, rent receipts, mortgage statements, property deeds, and property tax bills.
Utility bills at a U.S. address over time.
Medical records showing treatment over a period, such as prenatal care, childhood immunizations, or ongoing treatment.
Military service records, discharge papers, or deployment orders for honorable U.S. military service.

Social Security statements can help but should not stand alone, because income can be earned outside the country. Passport stamps may be reviewed as supplementary evidence, not as your main proof.⁸

Overlap is your friend. If Part I claims four years at a particular address, a lease, utility bills, and W-2s from the same employer covering that same window all point to the same answer. Gaps in documentation are where CRBA applications stall.

Bringing It All to the Appointment

The DS-5507 travels with the main CRBA application, Form DS-2029, which you start online through the Department of State’s MyTravelGov portal before scheduling an appointment at the embassy or consulate in the country where the child was born.¹ The child and at least one parent, preferably the U.S. citizen parent, must appear. Like the DS-5507, the DS-2029 should be completed but not signed until the consular officer tells you to sign it.

One boundary worth naming: CRBAs are only issued to children under 18. If your child has already turned 18, this form and this process are no longer the route, and citizenship would need to be documented another way.

1
U.S. Department of State. Birth of U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizen Nationals Abroad
2
U.S. Department of State. Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage, and Support
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth
4
U.S. Department of State. DS-5507 – Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage and Support
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1409 – Children Born Out of Wedlock
6
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen
7
eCFR. Part 22 – Schedule of Fees for Consular Services – Department of State
8
U.S. Embassy And Consulate General In The Netherlands. Proof of Physical Presence