Talk about a bureaucratic headache!
In an attempt to combat fraud, identity and credit theft, as of July 1 all birth certificates issued to the close to four million Puerto Ricans on the island and almost 1.5 million Puerto Rico-born residents of the United States will expire. They will be replaced with new and more secure ones, according to the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), the representative arm of the government of Puerto Rico in the United States.
Based upon collaboration between DOS State and the Department of Homeland Security, Puerto Rico’s Law 191 of 2009 – which went into effect on January 1 – hopes to address the issue of birth certificates that have been used to unlawfully obtain U.S. passports, social security benefits and other federal services.
“In Puerto Rico, many schools and government agencies would ask for original copies of birth certificates, so you would order a new one from the government that came certified with a stamp,” said Corona resident Enrique Lugo, born in the Dominican Republic but who lived in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and has a Puerto Rican son.
The PRFAA states that hundreds of thousands of original birth certificates were stored without adequate protection, and because of the common Hispanic surnames, Puerto Rican birth certificates became desirable in the black market. Stolen birth certificates could fetch up to $10,000 each. With the new law, no private or public entity can retain the original copy of the birth certificate.
Approximately 40 percent of the passport fraud cases investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) Diplomatic Security Services in recent years involved birth certificates of people born in Puerto Rico, the PRFAA noted.
For a $5 fee, Puerto Rican residents in the United States can request and receive new certificates by mail. Veterans and people over the age of 60 will not be charged.
“Imagine the millions of people who need to get a new one,” said Lugo. “I’m not sure if this is being done because the federal government needs money, but this new certificate should be free.”
To obtain a new birth certificate, citizens born in Puerto Rico but residing in the United States must complete an application available on and after July 1, on the web site for the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Record Office, www.salud.gov.pr. They need to go to the demographics registry area within the programs section.
The completed application should be sent to the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Record Office (Registro Demográfico), P.O. Box 11854, San Juan, PR 00910, along with a photocopy of a valid government issued photo identification document. A passport or driver’s license may be used, while all other forms of government issued photo I.D. will be subject to approval. Please include a self-addressed envelope with paid postage.
To avoid a rush of applications, the government of Puerto Rico recommends that only the people who immediately need their birth certificates for official purposes such as passport application request them.
For additional information, call 787-767-9120. The Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Record Office’s hours of operation for Monday through Thursday are from 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Fridays from 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
