§404.707 Original records or copies as evidence.

(a) General. To prove your eligibility or continuing entitlement to benefits, you may be asked to show us an original document or record. These original records or documents will be returned to you after we have photocopied them. We will also accept copies of original records that are properly certified and some uncertified birth notifications. These types of records are described below in this section.

(b) Certified copies of original records. You may give us copies of original records or extracts from records if they are certified as true and exact copies by—

(1) The official custodian of the record;

(2) A Social Security Administration employee authorized to certify copies;

(3) A Veterans Administration employee if the evidence was given to that agency to obtain veteran's benefits;

(4) A U.S. Consular Officer or employee of the Department of State authorized to certify evidence received outside the United States; or

(5) An employee of a State Agency or State Welfare Office authorized to certify copies of original records in the agency's or office's files.

(c) Uncertified copies of original records. You may give us an uncertified photocopy of a birth registration notification as evidence where it is the practice of the local birth registrar to issue them in this way.