Jophiel wrote:
It seems odd that the law would allow an "early baptismal certificate" to serve as evidence of natural born citizenship given that babies aren't baptized immediately at birth (even among devout Catholics you have some lag time in there) and the church makes no attempt to authenticate the infant's birthplace or age. Or even records his birthplace on the certificate. I could have a baby born in Mongolia, bring him to the US two weeks later and have him baptized and I'd have a document that passes muster under the AZ state law.
Seems like they just culled that part from the federal req's for Secondary Evidence of Citizenship:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/secondary_evidence/secondary_evidence_4315.html wrote:
Secondary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship
If you cannot present primary evidence of U.S. citizenship, you must submit secondary evidence of U.S. citizenship. Determine what form of secondary evidence is most appropriate for your situation based on the descriptions below.
Early Public Records
If you were born in the United States and cannot present primary evidence of U.S. citizenship, submit a combination of early public records as evidence of your U.S. citizenship. Early public records must be submitted with a birth record or Letter of No Record. Early public records should show your name, date of birth, place of birth, and preferably be created within the first five years of your life. Examples of early public records are:
* Baptismal certificate
* Hospital birth certificate
* Census record
* Early school record
* Family bible record
* Doctor's record of post-natal care
Early Public Records are not acceptable when presented alone.
AZ requires two of them, and they're more strict about which ones.
Edited, Apr 15th 2011 11:18am by Eske