Line Up for the New Puerto Rican Birth Certificate

If you're worried about how to obtain your new Puerto Rican birth certificate, here's a great event for you.  On Saturday, September 11, La Prensa newspaper will hold an event at its Longwood offices that will be open to folks who need to request a new birth certificate.

Representatives of the U.S. State Department, Social Security Administration, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as well as officials from the regional ICE office in Miami (passports) will be on hand to answer questions and help you get started.

All Puerto Rico birth certificates issued before 2010 will expire September 30 (the original expiration date was set for July but was later extended). As reported, the Puerto Rico government approved a law in late 2009 requiring all persons born in Puerto Rico before 2010 to obtain a new birth certificate in an effort to combat fraud.

Under the old system, Puerto Ricans could hold multiple copies of official birth certificates because island government agencies often required originals for transactions. This created a black market for the certificates to be used by non citizens.  I posted a story dated March 7 and titled "Hurry Up and Wait for Your Puerto Rico Birth Certificate" here.

If you're an island-born Puerto Rican, what this means to you is, millions of people—including 1.4 million who were born in Puerto Rico but now live in the states—will be requesting birth certificates at the same time. Diablo!

This sounds like a great mess in the making, given the legendary inefficiencies of the island's bloated  bureaucracy.  For instance, if you have changed your name through marriage or divorce or for any other reason, you must show proof of the change. The motor vehicle office of the state of Ohio has already stated that it will no longer accept the old Puerto Rican birth certificate as proof of identity for obtaining a driver's license. These are but two examples of the legal quagmire you may find yourself in.

The new birth certificates will have the seal of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and are bilingual. They have no expiration date.

The La Prensa event is ideal for anyone needing help filing for a new birth certificate—or even if you don't. Just placing your paperwork in the right hands or being able to verify the status of your already submitted application ought to give you peace of mind.

What: Help obtaining a new Puerto Rican birth certificate
When: September 11, 2010
Time: noon to 4 p.m.
Where: La Prensa offices, 684 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd., Longwood 32750

Sign of the Hispanic Times

The Univisión network's theme.

As we approach Hispanic Heritage Month, here's a bit of news about the increasing influence of Hispanics, particularly Hispanic youths: Univisión, the dominant Spanish-language television network, reported this week that it beat English broadcasters in the coveted 18- to 49-year old audience demographic, a milestone for Spanish-language television.

According to television ratings agency Nielsen, Univisión captured 2.1 million viewers during prime-time segments, up 12 percent from the week before. However, networks such as NBC and CBS are seeing their audience continue to disintegrate, as reported by the Associated Press.

It has been widely reported that Spanish-language networks dominate in cities such as Miami and Los Angeles, due to their overwhelming Hispanic population numbers. But to be able to score that goal on a national level is another story.

That Univisión was able to do so–and may continue to do so–is testament to the power of the Latino population, the fastest-growing group in the nation due to our larger families and higher immigration numbers. And it also underscores the power and influence of Hispanic youth. It's no secret that Latinos are the nation's youngest population, with a median age of about 28—Mexicans are younger, Cubans are much older. Compare that to the general population, which has a median age of nearly 37 years, according to the census. Big difference.

This subgroup is like a bulge in the Hispanic population, which numbers 48 million. It will continue to open new pathways as it makes its way through society.  As a result, you can expect to read more news like this in the years to come.