Improvements in the Certificate of Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)

The Department of State has announced the introduction of a re-designed Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA). The CRBA is an official record confirming that a child born overseas to a U.S. citizen parent has acquired U.S. citizenship at birth. The re-designed document has state-of-the-art security features that make it extremely resistant to alterations or forgery.
Beginning January 18, 2011, overseas posts will still document the citizenship of children born overseas to U.S.-citizen parents, but the CRBAs will be printed at our passport agencies in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and New Orleans, Louisiana
The CRBA is issued by the American Citizen Services section of the Consulate and it is accepted by all U.S. government agencies as proof of a child's American citizenship. The CRBA can be used in the U.S. in the same way as a birth certificate issued by a city or county registrar's office.
A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth if the citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. for a period of five years, two of those years after the age of fourteen.
The Consulate may ask for supporting evidence of the relationship between the mother and the father (for example, wedding photos, letters), and supporting evidence of the child's birth, such as pre-natal records, sonograms, photos of the mother while pregnant. They may also ask for evidence of both parents' physical presence in Vietnam at the time of the child's conception.
A child born abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen father may acquire U.S. citizenship if there is clear and convincing evidence of a blood relationship between the child and the father, if the father was a US citizen at the time of the child's birth and if the father has agreed in writing to provide financial support for the child until the child reaches the age of 18 years. The father must also take steps to legitimate the child born out-of-wedlock.
Finally, a U.S. citizen parent who has a child using a foreign surrogate mother may apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen (CRBA) and a U.S. passport for the child at the U.S. Consulate. The U.S. citizen parent must be the sperm donor or the egg donor in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to a child who is conceived through ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology).
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Q.1. What kind of proof can the US citizen parent provide to show that he was physically present in the US for five years?
A.1. He can submit academic records, school transcripts, tax records, Social Security statement and employment records.
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Q.2. What is the best evidence available to parents to show the biological connection to a child born to a foreign surrogate mother?
A.2. The best evidence to show a biological relationship between the child and a US citizen parent is DNA testing. This must be authorized by the Consulate and done by an approved parentage testing facility.