---Angelo Falcón

Hispanosphere Blog

Puerto Ricans will need new birth certificates

By Victor Manuel Ramos

Orlando Sentinel (February 1, 2010)

If you were born in Puerto Rico, you may want to write this on your calendar.

Starting July 1, 2010, Puerto Ricans born on the island will need to apply for new birth certificates for any official transactions requiring that document, such as requesting drivers' licenses or getting new passports.

The older birth certificates that have been issued in Puerto Rico will be invalidated as of that date, as the government moves to implement security measures to avoid identity theft and U.S. immigration fraud. 

The birth certificates of Puerto Ricans are desirable to many from elsewhere in Latin America who seek to pass themselves off as Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens. Those birth certificates were selling for $5,000 to $10,000 and accounted for 40 percent of birth certificate fraud in the United States, said Puerto Rico Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock.

In addition to the new documents, which will have security markings to prevent fraud, Puerto Rico now bans for anyone other than the person named in the certificate from keeping a copy of the original.

"We had a bad habit through the decades that people had to give their original birth certificates in order to register for day care, for elementary school, for middle school, for high school or college, even to enter little league or sign up to a ballet class or register in summer camp, and as a consequence we had thousands of student records containing birth certificates that remain valid," said McClintock.

Many of those certificates were being stolen and sold in the black market, McClintock said.

"This change will benefit Puerto Ricans; first, because we are taking steps to protect their identity and, second, because instead of getting 20 copies of your birth certificates at $5 each, now they will be able to obtain one and, if it's well-cared for, it could be good to show for any of those transactions."

The changes were made, McClintock said, after the federal government approached island officials to tell them of growing fraud and identity theft with those documents. There had also been incidents of burglars breaking into island schools to steal birth certificates.

After July 1, Puerto Ricans will still be able to apply for new birth certificates by mail and the cost will remain at $5 each.

More information:

* Original press release announcing changes to Puerto Rico's birth certificates.

* For instructions on how to apply, from the Puerto Rico's Department of Health web site, click here.