C.F.R. » Title 8 » CHAPTER V—EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE › SUBCHAPTER B—IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS › PART 1287—FIELD OFFICERS; POWERS AND DUTIES

8 C.F.R. § 1287.6

Proof of official records

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(a) Domestic. In any proceeding under this chapter, an official record or entry therein, when admissible for any purpose, shall be evidenced by an official publication thereof, or by a copy attested by the official having legal custody of the record or by an authorized deputy.

(b) Foreign: Countries not Signatories to Convention. (1) In any proceeding under this chapter, an official record or entry therein, when admissible for any purpose, shall be evidenced by an official publication thereof, or by a copy attested by an officer so authorized. This attested copy in turn may but need not be certified by any authorized foreign officer both as to the genuineness of the signature of the attesting officer and as to his/her official position. The signature and official position of this certifying foreign officer may then likewise be certified by any other foreign officer so authorized, thereby creating a chain of certificates.

(2) The attested copy, with the additional foreign certificates if any, must be certified by an officer in the Foreign Service of the United States, stationed in the foreign country where the record is kept. This officer must certify the genuineness of the signature and the official position either of (i) the attesting officer; or (ii) any foreign officer whose certification of genuineness of signature and official position relates directly to the attestation or is in a chain of certificates of genuineness of signature and official position relating to the attestation.

(c) Foreign: Countries Signatory to Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legislation for Foreign Public Document. (1) In any proceeding under this chapter, a public document or entry therein, when admissible for any purpose, may be evidenced by an official publication, or by a copy properly certified under the Convention. To be properly certified, the copy must be accompanied by a certificate in the form dictated by the Convention. This certificate must be signed by a foreign officer so authorized by the signatory country, and it must certify (i) the authenticity of the signature of the person signing the document; (ii) the capacity in which that person acted, and (iii) where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which the document bears.

(2) No certification is needed from an officer in the Foreign Service of public documents.

(3) In accordance with the Convention, the following are deemed to be public documents:

(i) Documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts of tribunals of the state, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a clerk of a court or a process server;

(ii) Administrative documents;

(iii) Notarial acts; and

(iv) Official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date, and official and notarial authentication of signatures.

(4) In accordance with the Convention, the following are deemed not to be public documents, and thus are subject to the more stringent requirements of § 1287.6(b) above:

(i) Documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents; and

(ii) Administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.

(d) Canada. In any proceedings under this chapter, an official record or entry therein, issued by a Canadian governmental entity within the geographical boundaries of Canada, when admissible for any purpose, shall be evidenced by a certified copy of the original record attested by the official having legal custody of the record or by an authorized deputy.

[50 FR 37834, Sept. 18, 1985, as amended at 54 FR 39337, Sept. 26, 1989; 54 FR 48851, Nov. 28, 1989]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 120 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2004–2024 · leading case: Fei Yan Zhu v. Attorney Gen. United States, 744 F.3d 268 (3rd Cir. 2014).
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Fei Yan Zhu v. Attorney Gen. United States, 744 F.3d 268 (3rd Cir. 2014). · cites it 5× “Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 , 5 official foreign records must be “evidenced by an official publication” or “certified by an officer in the Foreign Service of the United States, stationed in the foreign country where the *273 record is kept.”
Lin v. Attorney Gen. United States, 700 F.3d 683 (3rd Cir. 2012). · cites it 4× “8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 . Specifically, 8 C.F.R.”
Igiebor v. Barr, 981 F.3d 1123 (10th Cir. 2020). · cites it 2× “The IJ excluded for lack of authentication, pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 , a record from the Nigerian police force and a medical record.”
Ji Cheng Ni v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., 715 F.3d 620 (7th Cir. 2013). · cites it 2× “adverse credibility finding during his earlier, unsuccessful asylum proceedings; and (3) the State Department’s 2007 Country Profile identified widespread fabrication and fraud in documents from Fujian Province. We address them in turn.”
Ramaj v. Gonzales, 466 F.3d 520 (6th Cir. 2006). “See 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 (b). Albania was not a party to the Convention at the time of the hearing.”
Xiao Jun Liang v. Holder, 626 F.3d 983 (7th Cir. 2010). · cites it 2× “The notice was unsigned and had not been authenticated pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 , and the Board noted that the May 2007 Department of State Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions, of which it took administrative notice, described widespread fabrication and fraud in…”
Hang Chen v. Holder, 675 F.3d 100 (1st Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “Reviewing the evidence that Chen submitted to support his changed country conditions argument, the BIA held that none of the documents from China had been authenticated pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 (2011); 4 some of the submitted documents were incomplete; most were not new or…”
D-r, 25 I. & N. Dec. 445 (BIA 2011). “10 In the Ninth Circuit, official records and public documents from foreign governments may be authenticated either through the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 (2010) or through any recognized procedure, including the Federal Rules of Evidence.”
Gi Kuan Tsai v. Holder, 505 F. App'x 4 (1st Cir. 2013). · cites it 4× “Tsai asserts that “to the extent that he is facing the prospect of harm and persecution in China, it is equally impractical for him to personally have the Chinese government authenticate his wife’s hospital medical record” pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 . However, in considering…”
Xiu Ling Chen v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., 751 F.3d 876 (8th Cir. 2014). · cites it 2× “Finally, Chen contends the BIA evaluated her exhibits too strictly by finding that the documents from China were not authenticated pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 , which pertains to using other countries’ official records in immigration proceedings.”
Xiu Ying Wu v. U.S. Attorney Gen., 712 F.3d 486 (11th Cir. 2013). “Embassy officials were unaware of any “abortion certificates” and that the only document resembling such a certificate was in fact given after a voluntary abortion; and (5) the fact that the purported abortion certificate was not authenticated, as required by 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 .…”
Jean Noel Fongwo v. Alberto Gonzales, 1 Attorney Gen. of the United States, 430 F.3d 944 (8th Cir. 2005). “The IJ gave little weight to a second birth certificate bearing the name “Fong-wo,” because it was not authenticated in accordance with 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6 , and found that petitioner failed to present “objective, credible, and corroborating documentation” to show that he was…”
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— 8 C.F.R. § 1287.6(b) — 1 case
Lin Lin Lin v. Attorney Gen. of the United States, 514 F. App'x 174 (3rd Cir. 2013).
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