What Happens If You Lost Your US Citizenship Certificate?

If you lost your U.S. Citizenship Certificate, your citizenship is not affected, and you can request a replacement from USCIS by filing Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document. The filing fee is $505 online or $555 by mail, and processing commonly runs several months to over a year. While you wait, a valid U.S. passport works as proof of citizenship for almost every purpose you’d otherwise use the certificate for.

Search First, Then File a Police Report if It Was Stolen

Before you pay a filing fee, look again. Check filing cabinets, safe deposit boxes, and any folder or envelope tied to a past immigration application. These certificates often turn up tucked inside paperwork from the naturalization ceremony itself.

If you believe the certificate was stolen rather than misplaced, file a report with your local police. USCIS accepts either a police report or a sworn statement when you apply to replace a stolen document, and having the report on file also creates a record in case someone tries to misuse your identity.¹

How to Replace It With Form N-565

Form N-565 is the application to replace a lost, stolen, damaged, or incorrect naturalization or citizenship certificate. You can file it online through a USCIS account or on paper by mail.¹

Before you start, pull together:

Your full legal name, date and place of birth, current address, and Alien Registration Number (A-Number).
The date and place your citizenship was granted, and the certificate number if you remember it.
A marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order if your name has changed since the certificate was issued. USCIS will not update the name on a replacement without this kind of documentation.²
A police report or sworn statement if the certificate was stolen.

Only applicants living outside the United States need to include two passport-style photos. If you live in the U.S., no photos are required with Form N-565.²

If You Can’t Find Your A-Number

Your A-Number appears on your original certificate, work permits, green cards, and USCIS correspondence. If every document containing it is gone, you can file a Freedom of Information Act request through Form G-639 or the online portal at uscis.gov/foia to get a copy of your immigration file, which includes the A-Number.³ You can also call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Where to Send It and What It Costs

Online filing costs $505. Paper filing costs $555. If the replacement is needed because USCIS made an error on your original certificate, there is no fee.⁴

Paper applications go to the USCIS Phoenix Lockbox:¹

U.S. Postal Service: USCIS, Attn: N-565, P.O. Box 20050, Phoenix, AZ 85036-0050
Courier (FedEx, UPS, DHL): USCIS, Attn: N-565 (Box 20050), 2108 E. Elliot Rd., Tempe, AZ 85284-1806

USCIS may require you to appear at a biometrics appointment for fingerprints, a photograph, and signature verification before making a decision. If one is scheduled, USCIS mails a notice with the date, time, and location. Missing that appointment can result in a denial.²

How Long It Takes and How to Check Status

After USCIS receives your application, you’ll get a receipt notice with a 13-character receipt number (three letters followed by 10 digits). You can check your case at egov.uscis.gov by entering the receipt number without dashes.⁵ Processing times for Form N-565 vary and can stretch from several months to over a year depending on USCIS workloads.

Proof of Citizenship While You Wait

You don’t have to be paperless during the wait. Any of these establishes U.S. citizenship:

A valid U.S. passport, accepted for travel and nearly every official purpose.⁶
A Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550), if you naturalized and received one in addition to the citizenship certificate.⁷
A Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), for people born abroad to U.S. citizen parents.⁸

A Passport May Be the Faster Route

If your real goal is a document that proves citizenship, a passport application may move faster than an N-565 replacement. A passport is universally recognized proof and works for employment verification, benefits eligibility, and travel.

Normally you’d submit your citizenship certificate with a passport application. If you can’t, the State Department has a workaround: applicants who previously held a U.S. passport or CRBA can submit a Request for File Search alongside the passport application, and State will look up the record. For records issued in 1994 or later, there’s typically no upfront fee for the search. Records issued before 1994 require a $150 manual file search fee.⁹

One boundary worth naming: if you’ve never held a passport or CRBA and your citizenship certificate is the only primary evidence you have, the file-search route isn’t available, and you’ll likely need to complete the N-565 replacement before applying for a passport.

If You Can’t Afford the Fee

Form N-565 is eligible for a fee waiver through Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver.¹⁰ USCIS generally approves waivers for applicants whose household income falls at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.¹¹ You submit documentation of your income and household size with the I-912. Thresholds are higher in Alaska and Hawaii than in the contiguous states, D.C., and U.S. territories.

If You Need It Urgently

You can ask USCIS to expedite the application, but the standard is strict. USCIS decides these case by case and requires supporting documentation. The situations that qualify include:¹²

Severe financial loss to you or a business, where the urgency wasn’t caused by your own delay in filing.
A humanitarian emergency involving illness, disability, death of a family member, or an extreme circumstance like a natural disaster.
A U.S. government interest, including public safety or national security.
A USCIS error that caused the delay or the need for replacement.

Simply needing the document sooner does not meet the bar. If the situation is genuinely time-sensitive, applying for a passport in parallel is often the more practical move.

If Your Application Is Denied

If USCIS denies Form N-565, you have two options, both filed on Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. You generally have 30 calendar days from the decision date to file, or 33 days if the decision was mailed to you.¹³

An appeal sends the case to the Administrative Appeals Office for review. A motion goes back to the same office that denied it, and comes in two forms: a motion to reopen, based on new evidence that was not available when the original decision was made, and a motion to reconsider, based on an argument that USCIS applied the law or policy incorrectly.¹⁴ Miss the 30-day appeal deadline and USCIS will reject the appeal; late motions to reopen may be excused only if the delay was reasonable and beyond your control.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form G-639, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Request
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Status Online
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. New U.S. Citizens
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Redesigns Citizenship and Naturalization Certificates
8
Department of State. Birth of U.S. Citizens and Non-Citizen Nationals Abroad
9
Department of State. Get Citizenship Evidence for a U.S. Passport
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Poverty Guidelines
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Notice of Appeal or Motion
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AAO Practice Manual – Chapter 4, Motions to Reopen and Reconsider