Getting an ID without a birth certificate

A man visited the Ombudsman Office to gain assistance in renewing his State of Ohio identification.

When he went to renew it, he was told he had to have a birth certificate. The man had been a ward of a New York State as a child and youth. He explained that he contacted New York State previously to try to get his birth certificate and was told that no birth certificate existed for him. New York State issued a letter on certified letterhead stating he had no birth certificate but provided his birth date and inoculation records. The last time that he received an ID he had used this document to successfully get his ID.

The Ombudsman contacted the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and presented the man’s situation. The worker instructed that the man should return to the BMV with his documents proving his date of birth and the official statement that no birth certificate exists for the man. The worker explained that when the man comes in and presents the documents, the worker will call a supervisor at the State of Ohio to get further instructions. Exceptions to the rules governing the documents required to obtain a State ID are made on the basis of each individual case, and the person must be present for this to occur. The Ombudsman provided the man’s name, and obtained the name of the worker, so that the man could ask for the worker who had already been informed of the man’s situation.

Unfortunately, when the man appeared at the BMV, the worker he was told to ask for was not working that day. A co-worker assisted him and requested information he could not provide. The man left the BMV without the state ID.

He called the Ombudsman to report the experience. The Ombudsman called the BMV again and explained the man’s predicament to another worker. The second worker provided a name so that the man could return to the BMV. He was able to get his state ID. The man knows the procedure to follow to obtain an official delayed birth certificate.

The Ombudsman Column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens' Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government services, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to the Beerman Building, 11 W. Monument Avenue, Suite 606, Dayton 45402, or telephone (937) 223-4613, or by electronic mail at ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org or like us on Facebook at "Dayton Ombudsman Office."

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