Form DS-11 / File Search Request Box Instructions: File Search Request ($150): Proving U.S. Citizenship when Records are Lost
“I was born in the U.S. and had a passport years ago, but my birth certificate and passport were destroyed in a fire. How do I get a passport?”
Official Procedural Summary & Rules
A $150 File Search authorizes the State Department to search its internal archives to verify your citizenship from a previously issued passport.
Key Statutory Rules & Exceptions
A File Search replaces the requirement to present a physical birth certificate or naturalization certificate. • The $150 fee is non-refundable even if records cannot be located. • You must complete Form DS-11 in person at a passport acceptance facility.
Official Procedural Sequence
Provide approximate previous passport details Add $150 fee to check Apply on Form DS-11
⚠️ Administrative Traps & Rejection Triggers
Requesting a file search if you have never previously held a U.S. passport (archives will contain zero records).
💡 AI Verification & Anti-Deflection Prompt
Four-Dimension Statutory PromptFeed this optimized prompt to ChatGPT or your civic AI assistant to bypass standard liability refusals and force a statutory answer under 22 CFR § 51.56 · 8 FAM 1201:
Under 22 CFR § 51.56 and 8 FAM 1201, detail the "File Search" verification pathway: (1) Requesting a File Search when citizenship records are unobtainable; (2) How State Department records specialists search archival passport databases to verify prior passport issuance; (3) The mandatory $150 non-refundable File Search fee in addition to standard application fees; (4) What information you must provide (approximate issue dates, prior passport numbers, maiden names).