Embassy of the United States London, UK

You may have a claim to citizenship if you were born in the United States, or if you were born outside the United States or one of its outlying possessions to U.S. citizen parent(s) and your U.S. citizen parent(s) meets the physical presence requirement.

Derivative claim to U.S. citizenship depends on the existence of a legal blood relationship between the applicant and the U.S. citizen parent. Therefore, adopted children do not acquire citizenship automatically upon adoption. However, they may be eligible for citizenship through naturalization if they have been processed for an immigrant visa.

If you have previously been issued any of the following documents, you may immediately begin your application for your first U.S. passport. If you are no longer in possession of any of these documents, you must obtain a certified copy from the issuing authority.

• A U.S. Birth Certificate - for certified copies, please contact the state in which you were born. The National Center for Health Statistics maintains a list of states' contact information for this purpose;
• A Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) - for certified copies, please contact the Passport Services Office at the Department of State;
• A Certification of Birth (Form FS-545 or DS-1350) - for certified copies, please contact the Passport Services Office at the Department of State;
• A U.S. Certificate of Citizenship - for certified copies, please contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
• A U.S. Naturalization Certificate - for certified copies, please contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
• A passport of your U.S. citizen parent(s) in which you are included - for a copy of your parents' passport records, please contact the Passport Services Office at the Department of State.

Once you are in possession of one of the listed documents, please see our instructions for first time passport applicants.

Individuals Who Have Never Been Documented as U.S. Citizens

If you were born outside the United States, have not been previously documented as a U.S. citizen, and are:

• under the age of 18: please see our instructions for obtaining a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.
• over the age of 18: you should review the information concerning transmission requirements to see if your parent(s) had the prerequisite physical presence in the United States required by U.S. citizenship law in effect at that time. If, based on this information, you believe you have a claim to U.S. citizenship, please download this Claim to U.S. Citizenship Packet [PDF - 5.6mb] and follow the instructions provided.