TN 26 (11-99)

A. Policy

1. When to obtain

If the date on which a birth was recorded is not shown, SSA gets the recordation date or additional evidence of comparable value unless:

• The document is one of those listed in GN 00307.105A.2.; or

• GN 00307.190 shows the recordation date can be assumed.

SSA assumes, absent information to the contrary, that a record of birth for a natural-born citizen born in another country was made at or near the time of birth if the birth certificate was issued by civil authorities in one of the areas for which a recordation date can be assumed.

2. When not to obtain

SSA assumes that the DB shown on the following documents was recorded shortly after the event occurred and does not get an exact recordation date for:

1. Testimonium Ortus et Baptismi issued prior to 1940 by church authorities in countries formerly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

2. Koseki Tohon or Koseki Shohon (family registers) for individuals born in Japan.

   EXCEPTION: For Okinawa, the recordation date is assumed only for births after 1946.

3. Extrait des Registres des Actes de Naissance or Extrait des Registres de l'Etat-Civil  issued by civil authorities in Algeria prior to 7/3/62.

4. A baptismal certificate issued by a Roman Catholic Church (RCC) (as explained in GN 00307.110) showing the following five items:

   • Name of child;

   • Child's age or DB;

   • Date of baptism;

   • Parents' names; and

   • Name of officiating priest.

5. Blessing certificates issued by the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).

3. Assuming a source record was in existence

If a birth certificate issued outside the U.S. does not show a recordation date and none can be assumed under GN 00307.105A.2. or GN 00307.190, SSA assumes a civil or religious record was in existence at the time the document was issued (but NOT before the date of issuance) which showed the information on the document submitted if all of the following conditions are met:

1. The document shows the book/register and page and/or entry number from which the information was taken;

2. It was issued by an individual or agency which would have had custody of that record in question;

3. It was not issued by a civil or religious authority in a country for which this subchapter shows documentation or fraud problems; and

4. The information in the claims file or this subchapter does not cast doubt on the validity of this assumption. For example, no assumption can be made if a civil birth certificate issued in 1930 is submitted from a country whose civil recordkeeping system started in 1938.

NOTE: This assumption permits these records to be used as secondary evidence of age but does not, except for documents issued before age 5, eliminate the requirement for preferred evidence of age where it is available.

B. Definition

Evidence of comparable value is evidence of equal value. For instance, if a birth record is submitted which was purportedly established before age 5 but does not contain a recordation date, evidence of comparable value is other preferred evidence of age.

C. Procedure

If the claimant must write to a foreign country for evidence of age, tell him /her to ask specifically that the certificate show the date on which the record was established.