Important CRBA Information

Payment Methods & Details

You can pay online prior to the in-person interview. Once you complete the online application and submit the payment, you will be directed to schedule an appointment in La Paz or Santa Cruz. Please schedule your appointment at least 72 hours after payment submission. This provides time for your payment to be processed prior to your CRBA interview.

Appointments & Locations

Please note that per Embassy security regulations, all persons who wish to appear for an appointment must register their names in the appointment system to be admitted into the Embassy/Consular agency. If an application will be submitted on behalf of a minor child, both the child and the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) will require appointments to enter the Embassy/Consular agency. Once you have completed the online application and submitted the payment, request an appointment via email: ConsularLaPazACS@state.gov for La Paz and ConsularSantaCruz@state.gov for Santa Cruz.

U.S. Embassy La Paz
Schedule an Appointment
Avenida Arce #2780
La Paz, Bolivia

U.S Consular Agency Santa Cruz
Avenida San MartinEdificio Empresarial EquipetrolCalle G esquina Avenida Salvador (paralela a la Avenida San Martin), Piso 4Santa Cruz, Bolivia
The Consular Section is closed on Bolivian and U.S. holidays.

What to Bring

You must submit ORIGINAL documents or copies certified by the custodian of the record. Generally, we will return your documents after we have seen them. We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents.

- Child’s Bolivian Birth Certificate: This document is issued by the Corte Electoral and shows the parents’ names.
- Evidence of Parent(s)’ U.S. Citizenship and Identity: This may consist of a U.S. passport, U.S. passport card, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Naturalization Certificate, Certificate of Citizenship or timely filed U.S. birth certificate. A passport or government issued Photo ID must be presented as proof of identity.
- Evidence of the U.S. citizen parent(s)’ physical presence or residence in the United States prior to the birth of the child: Such evidence may include, but is not limited to affidavits, school, employment, tax and medical records, utility bills, rent receipts, or other official public documents. Evidence of time spent abroad working for the U.S. government, U.S. Armed Forces or qualifying international organization, or as s dependent child of a person working abroad for such entities prior to the birth of the child is also acceptable in some cases.
- Evidence of a biological relationship between the parent(s) and child: Such evidence may include pre-natal and post-natal medical such as the mother’s pregnancy book/records issued by a doctor, clinic, or hospital; and/or photos of the parents before, during and after the pregnancy.
- Parents’ marriage certificate, if applicable.
- Evidence of the termination of any previous marriages of the parents: divorce decree, annulment decree, or death certificate.
- If a person other than a parent or the child is applying for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad, the person must present a certified copy of legal guardianship or notarized affidavit from the parent(s) authorizing the person to make the application.

Please remember to bring all required application forms and documentation with you to the appointment. If you fail to do so, you may be required to schedule a new interview. Please bring ORIGINALS of each document.

Additional Information

Passport Book/Card Pick Up

CRBAs and passport books/cards are sent through FedEx. If you applied for a CRBA and/or passport book/card at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz or at the Consular Agency in Santa Cruz and requested that your CRBA and/or passport book/card be delivered at a specific address, you can expect FedEx to deliver it within three working days after receiving a confirmation email stating that your passport has been received. If you stated you wanted to pick up your document from a FedEx office, you can pick it up from FedEx three days after receiving the confirmation email. Please note that FedEx will charge you Seventy Bolivianos (Bs.70) upon delivery of the document.

Third Party Attendance at Consular Appointments

Generally, immediate family members may accompany passport and CRBA applicants to their appointment interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate, and all minor children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Passport and CRBA applicants also have the option of being accompanied by an attorney at their appointment interview. Attendance by any third party, including an attorney, accompanying an applicant is subject to the following parameters designed to ensure an orderly appointment interview process and to maintain the integrity of the adjudication of the application(s):

Given space limitations in the consular section, not more than one attendee at a time will be allowed to accompany an applicant (or the applicant’s parent or guardian if the applicant is a minor).
Attendance by an attorney does not excuse the applicant and/or the minor applicant’s parent or guardian from attending the appointment interview in person.
The manner in which a passport or CRBA appointment interview is conducted, and the scope and nature of the inquiry, shall at all times be at the discretion of the consular officer, following applicable Departmental guidance.
It is expected that attorneys will provide their clients with relevant legal advice prior to, rather than at, the appointment interview, and will advise their clients prior to the appointment interview that the client will participate in the appointment interview with minimal assistance.
Attorneys may not engage in any form of legal argumentation during the appointment interview and before the consular officer.
Attendees other than a parent or guardian accompanying a minor child may not answer a consular officer’s question on behalf or in lieu of an applicant, nor may they summarize, correct, or attempt to clarify an applicant’s response, or interrupt or interfere with an applicant’s responses to a consular officer’s questions.
To the extent that an applicant does not understand a question, s/he should seek clarification from the consular officer directly.
The consular officer has sole discretion to determine the appropriate language(s) for communication with the applicant, based on the facility of both officer and applicant and the manner and form that best facilitate communication between the consular officer and the applicant. Attendees may not demand that communications take place in a particular language solely for the benefit of the attendee. Nor may attendees object to or insist on the participation of an interpreter in the appointment interview, to the qualifications of any interpreter, or to the manner or substance of any translation.
No attendee may coach or instruct applicants as to how to answer a consular officer’s question.
Attendees may not object to a consular officer’s question on any ground (including that the attendee regards the question to be inappropriate, irrelevant, or adversarial), or instruct the applicant not to answer a consular officer’s question.
Attendees may not interfere in any manner with the consular officer’s ability to conduct all inquiries and fact-finding necessary to exercise his or her responsibilities to adjudicate the application.
During a passport or a CRBA appointment interview, attendees may not discuss or inquire about other applications.
Attendees may take written notes but may not otherwise record the appointment interviews.
Attendees may not engage in any other conduct that materially disrupts the appointment interview. For example, they may not yell at or otherwise attempt to intimidate or abuse a consular officer or staff, and they may not engage in any conduct that threatens U.S. national security or the security of the embassy or its personnel. Attendees must follow all security policies of the Department of State and the U.S. embassy or consulate where the appointment interview takes place.

Attendees may not engage in any conduct that violates this policy and/or otherwise materially disrupts the appointment interview. Failure to observe these parameters will result in a warning to the attendee and, if ignored, the attendee may be asked to leave the appointment interview and/or the premises, as appropriate. It would then be the applicant’s choice whether to continue the appointment interview without the attendee present, subject to the consular officer’s discretion to terminate the appointment interview. The safety and privacy of all applicants awaiting consular services, as well as of consular and embassy personnel, is of paramount consideration.