VisaUS citizens use Form N-565 to replace a lost citizenship certificate
Replacement applicants need the correct document category, loss evidence and fee for their filing method.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Use the replacement procedure for a document already issued
US citizens whose existing naturalization or citizenship certificate was lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged can use Form N-565 to request a replacement. This guide concerns replacing an issued certificate, rather than applying for naturalization, obtaining a first citizenship certificate or replacing a passport. USCIS’s instructions identify those replacement grounds and separate them from changes of personal information or correction of a USCIS error.
Select the actual replacement ground. Losing the paper does not itself change its recorded facts, and the agency-error category is different from loss or damage.
Explain the loss and match the certificate type
The N-565 form asks applicants to select the type of document sought and all applicable grounds. Its loss branch asks when, where and how the document disappeared and identifies a copy of the old document if available, a police report and/or a sworn statement. Explain the event concretely rather than selecting a box without an account of what happened. Its current-information section also records other names and the mailing address. It asks for the current marital status and whether citizenship has been lost or renounced since acquisition. Answer the actual questions accurately; the requested replacement is not a new naturalization application.
The separate instructions require US government-issued photo identification and the specified photographs. For a damaged document, enclose the damaged original; a copy alone is not the described substitute. Compare the completed form with the evidence before filing. If no certificate copy survives, say so and supply the available evidence under the loss instructions without inventing missing facts.
Choose the fee for the filing method and actual ground
The USCIS fee schedule lists US$505 for online N-565 filing and US$555 for paper filing. The US$50 difference concerns the filing method, not faster processing or a stronger application. It separately lists a zero fee where the certificate’s incorrect information resulted from USCIS error, and identifies possible fee-waiver eligibility. An ordinary loss is not described as that agency-error category.
Check the current N-565 entry and the applicable waiver instructions before payment. A free correction ground should not be selected simply because the replacement is urgent or the applicant cannot find the old original. Conversely, someone asserting an actual agency mistake should check that ground and the evidence required before paying an ordinary replacement fee. A payment receipt confirms a transaction; it is not approval of the replacement request. Keep the payment evidence with the application record.
Follow the online instructions for any physical documents
A USCIS certificate-information fact sheet describes N-565 filing online or by mail. An online account allows fee payment, case-status checks, responses to evidence requests and management of contact information. It also says applicants may have to mail original certificates and photographs after online filing, where applicable. Online submission therefore should not be understood as permission to discard a damaged original or ignore later physical-document instructions.
The sheet says paper applicants can still create an online account using the account-acceptance notice and can receive mailed notifications even without using that account. Its audience includes families dealing with citizenship documents, but the quoted filing choices concern N-565 itself. Follow the current application’s individual instructions for addresses and requested originals rather than treating a general fact sheet as confirmation of a present receiving office.
Distinguish a lost certificate from one never delivered
USCIS provides a separate Non-Delivery of Document enquiry for a document that was issued but did not arrive. That tool asks for the case receipt number, A-number where applicable, filing date and application type. It advises checking Case Status Online and allowing approximately 30 days after the system says a document was mailed. This is a delivery-enquiry instruction, not a deadline for replacing a certificate lost years after receipt.
If the replacement case is pending, use the processing-time tool with the form and category shown on the receipt instead of relying on an old national average as a completion promise. Keep the mailing address and case reference accurate, respond to any evidence request and retain submission records. Neither a delivery enquiry nor a pending N-565 receipt guarantees when another institution will receive acceptable citizenship evidence.
