bardo, I completely agree that nina should get replacements (you never know what you might need them for), but you can prove their citizenship with the expired passport.

Link regarding how to prove citizenship:

http://www.dre.ca.gov/proof.htm#List%20A

I've got the application instructions my son used a few weeks back right in front of me. There is not special requirement that your children present a birth certificate and a passport as proof of citizenship. Either will suffice.

A person who was under 16 when their past passport was issued cannot apply by mail. (Perhaps that is the source of confusion.) A person who is under 14 needs both parents present when applying, or a notarized statement from the absent parent giving permission to apply.

That's it. The people at the 800 number are wrong. You do not need the children's birth certificates to apply.

I think you've missed a key point here. If someone has stolen all your birth certificates (are you POSITIVE they're not just misplaced) you're all in danger of identity theft.

With them someone can start from the beginning, get new SS# - and make a whole new identity with YOUR names. Also - if it's someone smart they may be able to get YOUR SS# - plus a lot of other info.

I would notify the local police - and do a search of the various credit agencies to make sure you don;t get any surprises. (A friend of mine was turned down for a credit card and found out it was because her house was being foreclosed on - when she didn't own a house!)

Truly, what NYtraveler said would be what I was focusing on if you are sure they were stolen from you. Why would someone take them, unless they had an idea to do something illegal with them?

Oddly enough, my son's new passport -- for which he submitted only his old passport as proof of citizenship -- just arrived. He was thirteen when his last passport was issued. Just under five weeks to process.

On the theft issue, first make sure you haven't simply misplaced them. Then report them stolen and see what the police advise.

you can get them online to at something like

vitalstatistics.com

anyway, you can have them sent to you in 7 days or less. Of course, overnight if you want to pay the extra dough.

DD's new passport just arrived yesterday. She was 13 when she got the old passport. The only thing besides two new photos that she needed was her old passport, NO BIRTH CERTIFICATE. Her old passport just arrived in today's mail with the appropriate holes and stamps saying it is no longer valid.

Regarding the BC, I can get copies of kids at County office - walk-ins accepted. DH's BC would need to be gotten from South Dakota state office. My BC from county office in Ohio.

With your birth certificates the ones that have them could become you. You are set up for ID theft. With those papers they could obtain a SSN, drivers license, passport etc. With those supporting documents for verification of identity they can apply for credit or any number of things. ID theft would be easy with those documents in ones possession... In addition somewhere along the line they may be even to get a hold of your SSN's. You may want to take a look at these sites for your own protection.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft//

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/02/idtheft.shtm

It will be easy for you to replace the documents but always keep in mind if these have been stolen they could come back to haunt you sometimes in the future.

Thank you all for your replies.

I'm not positive they were stolen, I have no proof, but the people who help my cleaner (who I do trust) don't speak English and sometimes aren't employed by her for long, so I don't really know them nor can I trust them. It might be beneficial to them to have US birth certificates for many reasons, but I haven't accused anyone nor do I intend to.

I scoured the house for 3 hours yesterday and no sign of the BC's, but I have been known to misplace things.

At any rate I'm going to go to the passport agency at the post office tomorrow and see if they will accept the old passports, if not, I'll have to drive down and get new birth certificates then go back.

I'll let everyone know the outcome, thanks again for all of your help!

Suzie, how long did it take for the new passports to come? I'm hearing conflicting info on that as well.

Nina--I had the same experience as Suzie in getting my son a new passport. His old one was issued when he was 12 and he is now 16, almost 17 so we had to do an application, not a renewal. We went to the local courthouse and submitted the application form, 2 pictures and the old passport and all was accepted w/o need for a birth certificate.

the point that had been confusing to me on all websites I checked was whether both parents had to be present with him to sign the application. They were content to have him sign with one parent (me) at age 16.

We applied August 20th and got the new passport in 3 1/2 weeks (regular service). this was processed in NH which is supposed to be a busy office.

It's my understanding that two parents have to be present ONLY if the child is 14 and under.

Glad to hear you didn't need the birth certificates for renewal though, I hope we can do the same.

I know that this is not really germane to your predictment, but if I were you I would tell your cleaning person to not let anyone else into your house unless you give approval.

You said you trust your cleaning person, but she/he is letting people into your home that you don't trust?

We have a cleaning person that we really trust but would consider getting another one if this happened to us. Just something to consider to save you future problems.

They are saying to allow 12+weeks for passports. I got one a while ago and had to expedite it and got it in 6 days.

However, my aunt and uncle waited 14 weeks for theirs and my BIL and SIL's were 13 weeks.

Sorry...just saying.

Like Debi, I've used vitalchek.com to get a fast, certified copy of a birth certificate. If you need to get them replaced quickly, that's the way to go.

nina,
It was 5 weeks to the day from application to receiving the new passport.
ST

You are definitely in danger of identity theft if you don't know where those birth certificates are. Consider putting a fraud victim alert on your credit reports associated with each person affected. You need to contact TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian (those are each .com). Look for Fraud or Identity Theft sections. You are also entitled by law to a free copy of your credit report each year from each agency. Visit www.annualcreditreport.com for these (NOT the free credit report site that's advertised on tv and radio). You don't have to sign up and pay for anything to put the fraud alert on your credit reports (although they'll be happy to sell you services).

I wouldn't put a fraud alert on your credit file because it will cause you all sorts of heartache when you apply for credit yourself. But I would sign up for a service that emails you whenever credit is applied for in your name or there is any other change to your credit report (all the bureaus have them). That way, you can nip any problems in the bud before they grow into a huge fiasco. In this day and age, everybody should get the service.

Also, the next time you get your social security statement, check it to see if the annual salary looks about right. That's an easy way to see if somebody is illegally using your SSN. If so, your annual salary will be way overstated.

If you really want to be safe consider placing a Security Freeze on all three of your credit files. Most states now allow these. That way no one can have access to your credit files except ones you are currently doing business with.

http://www.consumersunion.org/campai...3484indiv.html

Credit monitoring services are not needed. They can do nothing for you that you cannot do for yourself. They can only report after fact information and cannot prevent any one from making hard enquiries on your credit files... If you want to opt out and stop receiving unwanted credit applications etc this site will help.

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t