Naturalization Certificate Thread poster: finnword1
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finnword1
United States
Local time: 03:22
English to Finnish
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I am a naturalized U.S. Citizen. I have been asked to supply a copy of my Naturalization Certificate. It reads in red letters: "IT IS PUNISHABLE BY U.S, LAW TO COPY, PRINT OR PHOTOGRAPH THIS CERTIFICATE". I said no. Anybody with comments?
| | | | Jean Lachaud 
United States
Local time: 03:22
English to French
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This is a question for a(n immigration) lawyer, to expect a valid answer.
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 03:22
Romanian to English
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| Yes, you can send a copy | Jan 6 |
It depends who asked you for the copy.
Recently, I sent my Nat.Cert. to the Dept. of State to get an Apostiile (it took over three months), then, I had it translated by an approved translator (in the target country) and the consulate made copies of the Nat. Cert.
That is OK.
If it is an agency, hmmm, use your best judgement.
Good luck,
Lee
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 03:22
Romanian to English
+ ...
If you are required to provide an “authenticated” copy of your Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship to someone outside of the U.S. government, you must make an appointment with your local USCIS office to authenticate your photocopy of your certificate. “Authentication” is a term used by the U.S. Department of State and other governments to describe what USCIS refers to as a “Certified True Copy.” These two terms refer to the same thing. When you require a Cert... See more If you are required to provide an “authenticated” copy of your Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship to someone outside of the U.S. government, you must make an appointment with your local USCIS office to authenticate your photocopy of your certificate. “Authentication” is a term used by the U.S. Department of State and other governments to describe what USCIS refers to as a “Certified True Copy.” These two terms refer to the same thing. When you require a Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship to be authenticated, be sure to say that you want a "Certified True Copy" of the certificate.
You do not need to obtain a Certified True Copy if the U.S. government asks for a copy of your certificate for official U.S. government business. You may use a normal photocopy of your certificate for legitimate U.S. government business. For example, when you apply for a U.S. passport, you must submit the original Certificate of Naturalization, and you should also submit a normal photocopy that has not been authenticated.
In order to certify a copy of the certificate, you must make an appointment with your local USCIS office and bring both your original document and your photocopy. We do not authenticate or certify copies as true through the mail or electronically. Please call the Contact Center at 800-375-5283 to request an appointment.
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/how-do-i-guides/us-citizens/how-do-i-obtain-an-authenticated-copy-of-a-certificate-of-naturalization ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 09:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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finnword1 wrote:
I am a naturalized U.S. Citizen. I have been asked to supply a copy of my Naturalization Certificate. It reads in red letters: "IT IS PUNISHABLE BY U.S, LAW TO COPY, PRINT OR PHOTOGRAPH THIS CERTIFICATE". I said no. Anybody with comments?
Are you sure you're quoting the full text there? I googled for this, and the most commonly reported quote is "IT IS PUNISHABLE BY U.S. LAW TO COPY, PRINT, OR PHOTOGRAPH THIS CERTIFICATE, WITHOUT LAWFUL AUTHORITY". Then I googled some more, and the consensus seems to be that what this means (i.e. "without lawful authority") is that you're not allowed to make a copy of it and then pretend that your copy is an original (i.e., you're not allowed to use the copy in situations where an original is required, where the recipient might assume that your copy is an original). The most common advice to ensure that you remain on this side of the law is to make a black-and-white copy, not a colour copy. After you've made a copy, I suppose it would be wise to redact any identifying information apart from your name.
| | | | finnword1
United States
Local time: 03:22
English to Finnish
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TOPIC STARTER | one can break a U.S. law ? | Jan 7 |
No, my Naturalization Certificate does not have those additional words. To be on the safe side, I prefer not to have to Google, in order to find out whether a law can be broken. If the Department of Justice does not like the wording, they need to ask the Congress, to change it. Google won't help.
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 02:22
English to Russian
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The important point is that this is a two-way street - no one has a legal right to request it, except for certain government authorities. Not even private sector human resources. That is exactly what my immigration officer told me during my final interview. You could put a nosy translation agency in serious trouble by forwarding their request to the "lawful authority."
... See more The important point is that this is a two-way street - no one has a legal right to request it, except for certain government authorities. Not even private sector human resources. That is exactly what my immigration officer told me during my final interview. You could put a nosy translation agency in serious trouble by forwarding their request to the "lawful authority."
https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/employee-rights-and-resources/employee-rights
Your employer may not:
Ask for specific documents because of your national origin, ethnicity, immigration or citizenship status, race, color, religion, age, gender, disability, or genetic information, or because of any other protected characteristic. For example, your employer may not:
Ask for a document issued by the Department of Homeland Security because you are not a U.S. citizen.
Ask for a U.S. passport to prove you are a U.S. citizen.
There is no crime in googling questions on obtaining such copy as there are perfectly legal reasons and processes for recovering/obtaining it, or for lost/damaged cases.
***Yes, it is illegal in the US to photocopy a Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, or green card “without lawful authority”. This means that it’s okay to make a copy when a copy is required for some government application, but it’s not okay to make a copy for other purposes. The law is 18 USC 1426(h):
Whoever, without lawful authority, prints, photographs, makes or executes any print or impression in the likeness of a certificate of arrival, declaration of intention to become a citizen, or certificate of naturalization or citizenship, or any part thereof—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 25 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of this title)), 20 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 929(a) of this title)), 10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the offense was not committed to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking crime), or 15 years (in the case of any other offense), or both.*** ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 09:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
So, what happens if you lose the thing?
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Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 03:22
Romanian to English
+ ...
| Personally, I think it is a Catch 22 | Jan 7 |
IrinaN wrote:
Your employer may not:
Ask for specific documents because of your national origin, ethnicity, immigration or citizenship status, race, color, religion, age, gender, disability, or genetic information, or because of any other protected characteristic. For example, your employer may not:
Ask for a document issued by the Department of Homeland Security because you are not a U.S. citizen.
Ask for a U.S. passport to prove you are a U.S. citizen.
If any the above are not allowed, how can an employer know if he breaks the law by hiring an illegal alien?
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 03:22
Romanian to English
+ ...
| Common sense will help | Jan 7 |
finnword1 wrote:
No, my Naturalization Certificate does not have those additional words. To be on the safe side, I prefer not to have to Google, in order to find out whether a law can be broken. If the Department of Justice does not like the wording, they need to ask the Congress, to change it. Google won't help.
There certain situations where you are required to provide copies of your Nat. Cert. It is perfectly legal to do it! As I wrote in my first post, use your common sense.
Writing that Google-ing for information from the source (ICE) is unsafe, tells a lot.
Lee
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