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Puerto Ricans
will need new birth certificates
(UPI) Starting July 1, 2010, Puerto Ricans born on the island will need to
apply for new birth certificates for any official transactions requiring
that document, such as requesting drivers licenses or getting new
passports.
The older birth certificates that have been issued in Puerto Rico will be
invalidated as of that date, as the government moves to implement
security measures to avoid identity theft and U.S. immigration fraud.
The birth certificates of Puerto Ricans are desirable to many from
elsewhere in Latin America who seek to pass themselves off as
Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens. Those birth certificates were selling for
$5,000 to $10,000 and accounted for 40 percent of birth certificate fraud
in the United States, said Puerto Rico Secretary of State Kenneth
McClintock.
Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, Acting Health Department
Secretary Concepción Quiñones de Longo, and Population Registry Director,
Wanda Llovet
address the PRESS.
In addition to the new documents,
which will have security markings to prevent fraud, Puerto Rico now bans
for anyone other than the person named in the certificate from keeping an
original certificate.
“We had a bad habit through the decades that people had to give their
original birth certificates in order to register for day care, for
elementary school, for middle school, for high school or college, even to
enter little league or sign up to a ballet class or register in summer
camp, and as a consequence we had thousands of student records containing
birth certificates that remain valid,” said McClintock.
Many of those certificates were being stolen and sold in the black
market, McClintock said.
“This change will benefit Puerto Ricans; first, because we are taking
steps to protect their identity and, second, because instead of getting
20 copies of your birth certificates at $5 each, now they will be able to
obtain one and, if it’s well-cared for, it could be good to show for any
of those transactions.”
The changes were made, McClintock said, after the federal government
approached island officials to tell them of growing fraud and identity
theft with those documents. There had also been incidents of burglars
breaking into island schools to steal birth certificates.
After July 1, Puerto Ricans will still be able to apply for new birth
certificates by mail and the cost will remain at $5 each.
The SCOOP outta HORSE'S MOUTH
...
—"Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, Acting Health Department Secretary
Concepción Quiñones de Longo, and Population Registry Director, Wanda
Llovet, announced Friday that starting July 1, all Puerto Ricans born on
the island must have new birth certificates.
The new law, which was signed by Gov. Fortuño on Dec. 22, has the aim of
preventing identity theft, McClintock said in a press conference.
The Secretary of State said that “Law 191 of 2009, signed last Dec. 22
and as explained by the governor in a press conference at that time,
responds to the crisis of identity fraud created by the old practice in
Puerto Rico of seeking, retaining and archiving original birth
certificates for a multitude of events in the lives of Puerto Ricans.”
“As a result of this ancient practice, there are hundreds of thousands of
archived original birth certificates without any protection, in all
manner of public and private places, from archives without keys or
protection in the registration of an elementary school, even a cardboard
box where a Little League coach saved his files for 30 years,” McClintock
said.
He noted that 40 percent of all identity theft cases involving birth
certificates in the United States, originate from Puerto Rico.
“As a result, the procedures for issuing passports, licenses and other
documents when submitting a birth certificate takes longer [in Puerto
Rico] than with birth certificates from other jurisdictions. This old
practice has turned our schools and other institutions into targets for
thieves who seek to sell stolen certificates for between $5,000 and $10,000
each on the black market,” he said
Under the new law the retention and archiving of birth certificates is
now prohibited. As of July 1, every Puerto Rican born on the island needs
to obtain new birth certificates, which will have an indefinite validity
period."—
FACTS:
Puerto Rican-born citizens living in the United States will now have to
request a new copy of their birth certificates.
The country’s Gov. Luis Fortuño signed a law making all old birth
certificates processed prior to December 2009 not valid in any federal
agency.
A transition period will be in effect until July 1. The new law is an
effort to reduce all fraud cases reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in the past year.
According to the governmental agency, a Puerto Rican birth certificate
runs for about $5,000 to $10,000 on the black market.
Puerto Ricans born on the island receive an American Social Security
number and are eligible for a United States passport from birth.
For more information, call (787) 767-9120 ext. 2402 or visit their
Web site. http://www.salud.gov.pr/Pages/default.aspx
MORE INFO: http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=725#more-725
SEE VIDEO http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/114011/puerto-rican-born-new-yorkers-have-to-get-new-birth-certificates
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