Immigration Guide · Honduras
Honduras birth certificate (RNP) for USCIS: copia de folio
Which Honduran birth certificate USCIS cases need (the RNP copia de folio), how to request it from the United States, and what to check before translation.
The Honduran birth certificate for USCIS is the copia de folio del libro de nacimientos issued by the Registro Nacional de las Personas (RNP): a photocopy of the original registry book page where your birth was recorded, countersigned with the registrar’s signature and seal. You file it with a complete English translation and the translator’s certification that USCIS requires. The copia de folio is free, and from the United States you request it through a proxy.
In Honduras the hard part is rarely getting a birth record. It is getting the right one, because the RNP issues several birth documents and most of them look alike.
Copia de folio or certificación: which one works
The State Department Reciprocity Schedule for Honduras names a single document: the Copy of Birth Folio, issued by the RNP, with the original seal and signature of the registrar at the issuing office. The same entry adds that the certificación, the hoja de vida, the literal, the expediente de vida and their annotations are not acceptable for immigrant visa processing.
That schedule is not just for consulates. The USCIS Policy Manual (Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 4) tells officers to check it to see which birth records exist in each country. The RNP itself describes the copia de folio as the requirement the U.S. National Visa Center sets for a Honduran’s permanent residence.
The difference is what each document reproduces. The RNP defines the copia de folio as a photocopy of the page from the original registration book. In other words, the entry as it was written, plus whatever was noted on it later.
What it looks like, depending on the year
According to the State Department, folios from before 1984 may be handwritten and carry only the RNP stamp or logo. The RNP explains why: those births were recorded at municipal town halls, before the Registro Nacional de las Personas existed. Since 2000, folios have been typed.
The format of the copy cannot be changed. It depends on the year the birth was recorded, and the RNP only redoes it through a reposición de oficio, when the original book is damaged, lost or destroyed. If your entry predates 1984, expect a handwritten photocopy even if you request it today.
Where a Honduran file gets complicated
Filing the certificación instead of the folio. The two are easy to mix up, because both are RNP birth records. For permanent residence, request the copia de folio even if you already have another birth record at home.
The registrar’s countersignature. The RNP requirements sheet asks for the copy to carry the signature, seal and date of the municipal civil registrar who issues it. Without that countersignature, a photocopy of the book is just a photocopy. In the translation, each signature and seal is described where it appears.
Marginal annotations. Corrections, acknowledgments of paternity or maternity, and the divorce notices the RNP sends to the birth books are written in the margin of the entry. The copia de folio reproduces them because it is an image of the whole page. Since the translation must be complete, all of them are translated and identified as marginal notes.
Registration by reposición. Honduras gives six months to record a birth. When that deadline was missed, the birth is recorded through a reposición por omisión, with a resolution from the RNP’s Oficialía Civil. The resulting entry shows a registration date long after the date of birth, and that gap is not an error.
Adoption. Since 2008, adoptions have been recorded in a single book kept by the Registro Civil Municipal of the Distrito Central, and the adoptee receives a new birth entry. If that is your case, confirm with your attorney which folio fits your filing before requesting it.
Papers added to the folio. If you authenticate and apostille the copy, each step adds its own seals and signatures. All of that is part of what you file and is translated with the folio.
Requesting it from the United States
The copia de folio is requested at the Registro Civil Municipal where the birth was recorded. It can also be requested at the RNP Central Archive in Colonia 21 de Octubre, Tegucigalpa. The exception is people registered in municipality 0801, the Distrito Central, who request it at the Registro Civil Municipal of Tegucigalpa. The request is made in person, and the RNP asks for the applicant’s identity document.
From outside Honduras, the State Department says you may send a proxy. The office has the right to ask for a notarized document authorizing that person, and you can sign it at any Honduran consulate and mail it to them. Consular appointments are booked through the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRECI).
The RNP does not publish a single processing time: delivery depends on each Registro Civil Municipal.
If your filing calls for an apostille. Honduras has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 2004. For the copia de folio to be valid abroad, the RNP lists three steps: the registrar’s countersignature; authentication at the RNP General Secretariat, paid with a TGR receipt; and the apostille at SRECI, which also handles it online through the Gobierno Digital portal. The USCIS regulation does not require an apostille, so confirm whether your case needs one before going through all three steps.
Before you send us the document
Check the title on your birth record. If it says certificación, hoja de vida or literal, it is not the copia de folio: request the one from the book before translating. If you already have the folio, confirm it carries the registrar’s signature, seal and date. Send us every page you received, including the authentication and the apostille if you requested them, and flag any marginal note, even if it is hard to read.
Frequently asked questions
Which Honduran birth certificate does USCIS ask for?
For Honduras, the State Department Reciprocity Schedule lists the Copy of Birth Folio (Copia de Folio del Libro de Nacimientos), issued by the Registro Nacional de las Personas (RNP) with the registrar's original seal and signature. The same entry states that certificaciones, hojas de vida, literales and expedientes de vida are not acceptable for immigrant visa processing. The USCIS Policy Manual tells officers to check that schedule for each country.
How do I get my Honduran birth certificate if I live in the United States?
The copia de folio is requested at the Registro Civil Municipal where the birth was recorded, or at the RNP Central Archive in Tegucigalpa. From abroad, you can send a proxy. The office may ask for a notarized document authorizing that person, which you can sign at any Honduran consulate and mail to them.
Does the copia de folio need an apostille for USCIS?
The USCIS regulation does not require an apostille. If your filing asks for one, the RNP lists three steps for the copia de folio to be valid abroad: the municipal civil registrar's countersignature, authentication at the RNP General Secretariat, and the apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRECI). If you have it, it gets translated too.
I was registered late in Honduras. Does my birth certificate still work?
Yes, as long as it is the copia de folio of the entry. When a birth was not recorded within six months, the RNP registers it through a reposición, with a resolution from its Oficialía Civil. That resolution belongs to the file and is best translated together with the folio.
Official source
Review the applicable federal requirement directly at 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3) on eCFR .
About this document: State Department Reciprocity Schedule.
Fidelis Certified Translations is an independent translation service and is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by USCIS or any U.S. government agency. Final acceptance of any document rests solely with the receiving agency or institution.