Question. I do not have a birth certificate. What can I provide instead?
If an applicant does not have a birth certificate, then s/he generally must provide an official statement from the local government body where the birth certificate would be on record, if it existed. This statement is a nonavailability certificate, verifying that there is no birth certificate for the individual. The nonavailability certificate is not needed in limited circumstances where the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has determined that no certificates are available for anyone born in the particular location at the time in question.
 
If one can establish that the birth certificate does not exist, then it is permissible to use secondary evidence. Secondary evidence is any other official documents confirming parentage and/or date of birth. Often, there is not a single document that contains both the date of birth and the identity of both parents. The facts can be established through such documentation as: school records (school leaving certificate), medical records, marriage records, death/estate records, military records, religious documents, ration cards and similar documents. The secondary evidence can be supplemented by affidavits from individuals, often older family members, who can attest to the individual's parentage and date of birth.