Is naturalization certificate necessary?

[chacobo]

On i-130 item 37 to 39c, it asks for the number of the cert. My wife gained citizenship through her parents and obtained a Naturalization cert, and after that, a passport. Problem is she couldn't find the cert now. Is it necessary to apply for a replacement (which costs $555)?

[newacct]

On i-130 item 37 to 39c, it asks for the number of the cert. My wife gained citizenship through her parents and obtained a Naturalization cert, and after that, a passport. Problem is she couldn't find the cert now. Is it necessary to apply for a replacement (which costs $555)?

If she got citizenship through her parents, she should have gotten a Certificate of Citizenship, not Certificate of Naturalization. It was not generally not necessary for her to have gotten a Certificate of Citizenship -- she could have just gotten a passport directly -- so I don't think it would be a problem to not have the certificate. She has to answer Yes, she got one, but she can probably put something like "(unknown -- lost)" for the certificate number.

[chacobo]

If she got citizenship through her parents, she should have gotten a Certificate of Citizenship, not Certificate of Naturalization. It was not generally not necessary for her to have gotten a Certificate of Citizenship -- she could have just gotten a passport directly -- so I don't think it would be a problem to not have the certificate. She has to answer Yes, she got one, but she can probably put something like "(unknown -- lost)" for the certificate number.

Thank you so much, that is great help!