Births and Citizenship

Persons born abroad to a U.S. parent or parents, may have acquired citizenship at birth. This determination is based upon a variety of facts: the law in effect at the time of birth, the amount of time the American citizen parent(s) lived in the U.S. prior to the birth of the child, and in some cases the marital status of the biological parents.

Applications for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad cannot be expedited. If you need to travel it is recommended you do not make definitive travel plans until you have received your child's Consular Report of Birth Abroad and U.S. passport.

To apply for a Consular Report of Birth both parents must apply in person at the American Consulate General by appointment. The following is required:

• Set up an appointment!  On the right in the box called 'An Appointment Is Required', you will find a link that will take you to another Government website where you can pick a date and time slot of your choice. When you have set up your appointment please proceed with the next steps.
• Father, mother and child must appear in person
  Both parents should appear in person if a Consular Report of Birth Abroad is applied for in conjuction with a passport application. If only one parent can be present at the time of application, a written statement DS-3053 signed by the non-appearing parent in the presence of a notary must be submitted, in which the absent parent agrees to the issuance of a passport.

• Download, print, complete and bring these application forms:
  Consular Report of Birth Abroad Form DS-2029, Application for Social Security number  Form SS-5, and Passport Application Form DS-11.
  DO NOT SIGN the forms. You will be asked to sign them at the Consulate.
• Bring your child's Dutch Birth Certificate*
  Make sure to get the international version which is in multiple languages, including English (Extract from birth registration no. ..... Civil Registry Office of name of town/city). This document usually has a letter A at the right hand top.
• Parents's U.S., or U.S. and Alien passports.
• Parents's Marriage Certificate *
  If married in The Netherlands, bring the international version. This document usually has a letter B at the right hand top.
  If you are not married take extra care reading the information at the bottom of this page on required physical presence and acknowledgement of parentage.
• Proof of termination of all previous marriages, if any*
  (divorce or death certificates).
• If only one parent is an American Citizen, that parent's proof of 5 years physical presence in the U.S. (employment records, school transcripts, tax returns, etc.). See the information at the bottom of this page for more information on physical presence requirements.
• One U.S. format: of 2" x 2" (5cm x 5cm) passport photo, on a white background.
  Check our photo specification page for a printable sample sheet and list of photo places that can make the right format pictures.
• The appropriate application processing fee (Minor passport under age 16 + Consular Report of Birth Abroad).
• Photocopies
  Please bring all your original documents as well as a set of photocopies, including copies of passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates.  For copies made by the Consulate a $1 per page must be charged. We will return the original documents to you, but we must see the original documents to accept the photocopies and process the application.   
• Make sure to double check all of the above.

*All documents presented should be in the English language. If the original document is not available in English, you must provide a sworn translation into English, with the original document.

The following requirements apply:

• At least one of the parents must be a U.S. citizen at the time of the child's birth.
• If both parents are U.S. citizens at the time of the birth, the child is a U.S. citizen, as long as at least one of the parents has had his/her residence in the United States for any lenght of time prior to the child's birth. More on what constitutes residence in the U.S.
• If one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other parent is not
  For children born after November 14, 1986 to one U.S. citizen and one alien, the U.S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States for a total of 5 years before the child's birth, two of which must have been after attaining 14 years of age.
• For children born out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father, the father must formally acknowledge parentage and agree to support the child through age 18 as well as fulfill the U.S. physical presence requirement stated above. Form DS-5507 applies.
• For children born out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother, the mother must have been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of one year prior to the child's birth.
• For children not covered in the above categories, please contact this office or see section on Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship.

PROCESSING TIME: Please note that Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA's) are printed in the United States. Please allow for seven working days to process. If the CRBA is applied for in conjunction with a passport, processing time is approximately 15 working days.

If you reside in The Netherlands but your child was born elsewhere, processing time may be several months as the application must be forwarded for adjudication to the U.S. consulate or embassy in the country of birth.

Applications for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad cannot be expedited. If you need to travel it is recommended you do not make definitive travel plans until you have received your child's Consular Report of Birth Abroad and U.S. passport.