What is meant by place of birth on a passport

[Wesley Clark]

My parents were pregnant for me in town X, but since it was a small town they went to a hospital in town Y to give birth to me, then brought me back to town X. So do I list town X (where my parents were living and where I was raised) as my place of birth or town Y (where the hospital I was born in was located) as my place of birth? My birth certificate says I was born in town Y, so I am thinking that is the one I use on a passport application.

[Musicat]

Where were you when you emerged from the womb? That's where you were born. I can only see a problem if you were born on a moving train, car, boat or plane.

[Giles]

It's where the hospital was located, not the home that you went back to when a few days old.

[mnemosyne]

Since your birth certificate is likely to be the supporting document for your passport approval, the town you were born in is the one one listed on the birth certificate. If the two don't match, there's a chance your passport application could be refused.



Funny story - my grandmother went into labour with my mom while visiting a friend in a town she happened to loathe. This hated town had a perfectly usable hospital. She forced my grandfather to drive back to their home town - about 45 minutes away - because she kept saying "I will NOT have my child be born in W-!!"

[robert_columbia]

It's similar for me. My parents were living in a small city, but went up and across the river to a larger one to give birth to me. I'm not sure if the smaller city even had a full hospital back then, as a larger city was so close. Also, my parents insurance probably wanted them to go to the larger city. My "place of birth" is the larger city, and it's the one I use to apply for a passport, and what my birth certificate says. Now, my "hometown" or "where I am from" is more liquid - I feel OK saying either the small city or the large one as the my place of origin.

[RealityChuck]

I was born in a hospital in a different town from where I lived; I always need to use the place where the hospital is located as my place of birth.

That's also where your birth certificate is kept. A town without a hospital only has birth certificates for those born at home.

[Nava]

Like so many other things, it varies by the legalities of where you are.

It will be the place listed in your birth certificate - now, which place is listed? In Spain it used to be the place where you actually exited the womb, but with the advent of maternity wards this meant that there were thousands of villages where the birthrate was exactly zero (many provinces have a single maternity ward and there are places where people prefer to go someplace else which they perceive as having better hospitals - this is a serious problem for Madrid's medical system, for example). While factually accurate if you like your nits well-picked, it didn't reflect the actual amounts of babies seen around any of those places.

The law was changed to allow parents to record the town where they actually live, the town where the kid would have been born if it was a home birth. It is also possible to change old records to reflect this, although I don't know anybody who has done it; I do know many people who have used their "home at time of birth location" for place of birth since the law was changed (my nephew for example).

[Omar Little]

Town Y.

It's common tourist trap. Most people avoid it.

[SciFiSam]

Yup, the one on your birth certificate. They don't actually care where you grew up, esp. if it's within the the country whose passport you're applying for - they just want to be able to check that you really were born when and where you claim.

I grew up in a largish town of c.100,000 people, which was served by a hospital in a teeny tiny village, population c.600. The hospital was huge and served several nearby towns. This is the town that appears on my birth cert and my passport and the same goes for hundreds of thousands of people living nearby despite so few people really living there. This looks even weirder now that the hospital's closed.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by SciFiSam

Yup, the one on your birth certificate. They don't actually care where you grew up, esp. if it's within the the country whose passport you're applying for - they just want to be able to check that you really were born when and where you claim.

But it could make a difference if the hospital is in a different country. For example, if a Canadian woman went into labour and gave birth while visiting the United States, the child's birthplace would be the U.S. and the child would be a U.S. citizen. (It would also be a Canadian citizen if either the mother or the father were Canadian.)

[RadicalPi]

Not that it means all that much, but I thought I'd point out that if you're American, the passport itself will only have the state name under "Place of Birth." So, it's not like you'll have to worry about saying the wrong place if someone asks. Just a small, probably worthless, piece of info.

[Asympotically fat]

My place of borth in my passport just says London, which is obviously a pretty big place. I think my Birth certificate says the borough and district in London where the hospital that I was born was located not the borough and district where my family lived and I spent the first few years of my life.

[robcaro]

Just list the name of the town/city, state shown on the birth certificate. My passport shows only the state and country. "South Dakota, USA."

[SciFiSam]

Originally Posted by Giles

But it could make a difference if the hospital is in a different country. For example, if a Canadian woman went into labour and gave birth while visiting the United States, the child's birthplace would be the U.S. and the child would be a U.S. citizen. (It would also be a Canadian citizen if either the mother or the father were Canadian.)

Yes, definitely - the place of registration is important to the govt. The govt still doesn't care where you actually grew up. If you were registered in Oklahoma City but spent your entire childhood in Los Angeles, the govt doesn't care about Los Angeles - and I mean any govt, not just the US; if you're entitled to a British passport by, say, marriage, they will also only want to know about Oklahoma.

[psychonaut]

So what happens if you're born at sea? What gets put into your identification documents then? Just the words "at sea"? The name of the body of water? The latitude and longitude coordinates?

[elfkin477]

Yes, it's town Y, and that's not too unusual if your parents lived somewhere too small to support a hospital. I've never lived in the city I was born in, though I lived in both of its neighbors.

[Keeve]

Originally Posted by Nava

this is a serious problem for Madrid's medical system, for example). While factually accurate if you like your nits well-picked, it didn't reflect the actual amounts of babies seen around any of those places.

Why is this a problem? Does the government allocate resources based on the number of births rather than on the current population? Just wondering.

[Mops]

Originally Posted by Keeve

Why is this a problem? Does the government allocate resources based on the number of births rather than on the current population? Just wondering.

I can see how this can screw up population forecasts - if you project a town's population growth rate as (births - deaths + population influx - population outflux), you'll mistakenly forecast a population decline for a town without a maternity hospital, a population growth for a town with one.

[SciFiSam]

Originally Posted by Mops

I can see how this can screw up population forecasts - if you project a town's population growth rate as (births - deaths + population influx - population outflux), you'll mistakenly forecast a population decline for a town without a maternity hospital, a population growth for a town with one.

Hence things like the census. Otherwise the tiny village where my hospital was located would have thousands of school places despite having only a few hundred residents.

[Dr. Drake]

For place of birth, my US passport just says "California, USA." My Canadian one is both more and less specific: "San Diego, USA" (there's also a San Diego in Texas). My birth certificate lists the hospital's address as "place of birth," but there's also a line for "residence of mother," and I bet I could have used either town.

[Zsofia]

My dad's just has a county, as he was born at home in rural Georgia. Caused a raised eyebrow once.

[Cub Mistress]

My US passport just lists "France" as place of birth even though I am native born American. I was born to two American citizens while my dad was stationed at an Air Force base in France.This has caused extra questions and requests for extra documentation when I did a clinical day at the VA in nursing school and for my son's security clearance in the Air Force. I just don't see how one gets more All-American than to draw one's first breath on a Military base!

[Monty]

Well, an American base overseas is still the territory of the country hosting the US military there. Like you, I was born to American citizens living overseas, but in my case, my father was in the Army, not the Air Force, and, of course, I am a natural born citizen complete with the Certificate of Citizenship.

[Snnipe 70E]

You should put the city that is in the county that your birth certificate is recorded.

I have always had a problem with that. I was born at home. The ranch house is in Monterey County Ca. The address on my birth certificate is Box 131 Route 4 Watsonville Ca. Watsonville is in Santa Cruz county. When I started school there was some problems because the school could not verify my birth in Santa Cruz county.

I took the procedure of writing residence Monterey County Ca. I got questions on that and would have to explain why.

My passport only shows California.

[China Guy]

Place of birth is where you were born and not where your parents resided. I just had to get a copy of my birth certificate, and it's from bumfuck S Dakota, which was a few hours away from bumfuck Wyoming where my parents lived. But think about it, if anyone is going to check your records, they start from the birth certificate, which is tied to where you were physically born.

Monty - you have an actual certificate of citizenship? I know you're no spring chicken and things change over the decades. These days all you get is a "certificate of birth abroad", which means you are a natural born citizen but it's not a birth certificate....

[JpnDude]

The last time I got my U.S. passport renewed, I did it locally via the U.S. embassy in central Tokyo. It was interesting to see that under "Issuer" was "United States Department of State" instead of the usually "Passport Agency <<city>>"

For the record, both my passport and Japanese "green card" (actually off-white) say "California, USA"

[Nava]

Originally Posted by SciFiSam

Hence things like the census. Otherwise the tiny village where my hospital was located would have thousands of school places despite having only a few hundred residents.

Yes, but Mops is correct, one of the things it screws up is population forecasts, which in turn is what leads to allocation of certain "growth" resources. Schools get closed if there aren't enough kids in the area - but new ones get built only if there are projections for enough kids.

It can also influence things like access to government aid: there are programs which I can request on account of "being from Navarra". This can be demonstrated in two ways: a birth certificate showing I was born in Navarra (or valid ID, which in turn required a BC the first time I asked for it, stating I was born in Navarra) or a certificate from the census stating I've been living in Navarra for X years (where X varies according to the program). Others require the recipient to be a resident (access by birth does not apply), but for those for which it does, whipping out my DNI is a lot faster than going to the census for a cert - and I'm entitled to those for as long as I live. Similar programs are in place in many regions and yes, I know people who were born somewhere unexpected "because their mother happened to be there".

[eenerms]

Funny..my passport just says 'United Kingdom" for place of birth. I don't recall any of my US passports listing the town.

[suranyi]

Originally Posted by eenerms

Funny..my passport just says 'United Kingdom" for place of birth. I don't recall any of my US passports listing the town.

US passports list just the state if you were born in the US. Just the country if you were born outside the US. They never list the city you were born in. But I think you still have to give that info on the passport application.

[Giles]

My Australian passport says I was born in Sydney, which is strictly speaking not true: I was born in North Sydney, which was and still is a separate municipality from the City of Sydney, at the other end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. My parents' home, and my first home, was in a different local government area, in Warringah Shire, which still covers some Sydney northern outer suburbs: I suppose that if I'd been born there, my passport would still say "Sydney".

[Keeve]

Originally Posted by Wesley Clark

My parents were pregnant for me in town X, but since it was a small town they went to a hospital in town Y to give birth to me, then brought me back to town X. So do I list town X (where my parents were living and where I was raised) as my place of birth or town Y (where the hospital I was born in was located) as my place of birth? My birth certificate says I was born in town Y, so I am thinking that is the one I use on a passport application.

I hope the OP comes back some day to explain why the heck he entertained the possibility that "place of birth" might actually mean "place where raised".

[Kyla]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

My dad's just has a county, as he was born at home in rural Georgia. Caused a raised eyebrow once.

His birth certificate, or his passport? Because every passport I've ever seen just has the state of birth listed, unless the bearer was born outside of the US, and then it lists the country.

I've compared my cousin's US and UK passports - her US passport lists her place of birth as the UK. Her UK passport lists her place of birth as London.

[Mr Downtown]

I grew up in Texarkana, Texas, but was born at the hospital 400 feet inside Arkansas. So I'm forever cursed with "Arkansas" in my passport.

[GreasyJack]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I grew up in Texarkana, Texas, but was born at the hospital 400 feet inside Arkansas. So I'm forever cursed with "Arkansas" in my passport.

No "Native Texan" license plate for you!

[Mr Downtown]

Rather ironic, since I'm the guy who (in 1979) came up with the "Native Texan" meme. A t-shirt printer called Schuerz & Co. in Austin made quite a bit of money off my $25 idea.

[robert_columbia]

Originally Posted by RadicalPi

Not that it means all that much, but I thought I'd point out that if you're American, the passport itself will only have the state name under "Place of Birth." So, it's not like you'll have to worry about saying the wrong place if someone asks. Just a small, probably worthless, piece of info.

Or the territory - I was born in a US territory and have a territorial birth certificate. My US passport lists the territory as my place of birth.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

I'm also born in a different city than the place where my parents lived, and both cities, while neighbours, are in different provinces. So my birth certificate is actually issued by a province in which I've never resided.

[Darth Nader]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Rather ironic, since I'm the guy who (in 1979) came up with the "Native Texan" meme.

Huh. So your name is Robert Shaver and you lived in Colorado in 1978? Cool.

[obfusciatrist]

Lived from birth in Vancouver, Washington. Born at a hospital across the river in Portland, Oregon. Whenever it is the government asking my birthplace is Portland.

My youngest sister is the only one of us born in Vancouver, Washington, and she cheated by squirting out so fast he was born on my mom's bedroom floor.

I assume the reason they care is so that if they want to start verifying your identity they know where to begin looking for official birth records so the most important thing is what jurisdiction is holding your paperwork.

[amanset]

Originally Posted by JpnDude

The last time I got my U.S. passport renewed, I did it locally via the U.S. embassy in central Tokyo. It was interesting to see that under "Issuer" was "United States Department of State" instead of the usually "Passport Agency <<city>>"

For the record, both my passport and Japanese "green card" (actually off-white) say "California, USA"

That happens with British Passports too. Mine says "FCO" (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) instead of the usual issuing city.

[Omar Little]

Originally Posted by obfusciatrist

My youngest sister is the only one of us born in Vancouver, Washington, and she cheated by squirting out so fast he was born on my mom's bedroom floor.

added emphasis, mine.

Gender identity issues?

[Keeve]

Originally Posted by Omar Little

Gender identity issues?

Possible. But I think a typo (like missing the "s") is just a bit more likely...

[A. Gwilliam]

Originally Posted by amanset

That happens with British Passports too. Mine says "FCO" (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) instead of the usual issuing city.

Interesting. My old passport (issued as a replacement in 1998) has

BRITISH EMBASSY
WASHINGTON DC

(Incidentally, I've never been to Washington DC! )

[Giles]

My passport says it was issued in Washington DC, too -- and it was, because I went to the embassy there to give them the form to renew it. Ohio is supposed to be handled by the Australian consulate in New York, but I go to DC much more often than I go to NYC.