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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