NOTICE: Puerto Rico Birth Certificates

The Government of Puerto Rico enacted a new law aimed at strengthening the issuance and usage of birth certificates to combat fraud and protect the identity and credit of all people born in Puerto Rico.
The new law was based on collaborations with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to address the fraudulent use of Puerto Rico-issued birth certificates to unlawfully obtain U.S. passports, Social Security benefits, and other federal services, and to commit other types of identity theft and fraud. The new law calls for issuing new, security-enhanced certificates.
Any Puerto Rico issued birth certificate used as proof of citizenship must have been issued on July 1, 2010 or after. Otherwise, it is not valid proof of citizenship.
The Government of Puerto Rico partnered with document provider VitalChek to provide an expedited method for ordering the new certificates. The new birth certificates can be ordered on line at www.vitalchek.com or by phone through VitalChek’s 24/7 bilingual call center at (866) 842-6765. An express processing fee and shipping costs apply for this service. In addition, the Government launched an on-line application process through the E-Government website – www.pr.gov - to provide convenience and ease-of-use for those applying for the new certificate.