Did Ilhan Omar change her birth year in official records?

Claim:

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) updated her official birth year from 1981 to 1982.

Rating:

Context

According to reports from The Washington Post, Omar explained that the adjustments to her birth year were made to correct inaccurate data rather than to conceal any facts. Available records indicate she was indeed 17 years old in the year 2000.

During the final stretch of her reelection campaign in October, federal investigators conducted a search at the home of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. Reports indicate the criminal inquiry centers on allegations that Omar or her father may have provided inaccurate information on immigration documents when seeking legal status in the United States decades prior.

In an October 12 statement shared on X, Omar characterized the search as “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” Publicly executing a federal investigation against a candidate so close to Election Day is considered an unusual step.

Following the news of the search, numerous social media posts surfaced asserting that Omar was not a minor in the year 2000—the period when she reportedly obtained U.S. citizenship following her father’s naturalization. These online claims pointed to official records showing her birth year was initially logged as 1981 before being revised to 1982, with some users alleging this pointed to citizenship fraud.

An examination of the available evidence confirms that her birth year was indeed updated in official documentation. However, as reported by The Washington Post, Omar maintained that the update was intended to rectify an error rather than obscure the truth. Additional evidence corroborates that she could have been 17 in 2000, including high school documentation and coverage from major news outlets in 2018.

Omar has consistently stated that she was 17 years old when she acquired citizenship in 2000, a status she received automatically under U.S. law when her father became a naturalized citizen.

Back in 2018, two years after she first entered public office, The Associated Press and The New York Times both reported that she attained U.S. citizenship at age 17 in the year 2000.

Beyond those 2018 media reports, a review of her high school yearbook places Omar as a junior in 2000 and a member of the graduating class of 2001. While this is not definitive proof, it aligns with the timeline that she was still a minor when her family pursued citizenship.

Omar attended Minneapolis Edison High School, where she was featured in the “Juniors” section of the 2000 yearbook as part of the class of 2001.

(Classmates.com / Snopes illustration)

Her family fled the Somali civil war in the early 1990s, ultimately reaching the United States in 1995 before applying for citizenship five years later.

Archived pages from official repositories, such as the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, demonstrate that her birth year was previously recorded as 1981, which would have meant she was not a minor in 2000.

Critics circulating these claims shared screenshots contrasting archived versions of the webpage with the current directory (archived), highlighting the shift from 1981 to 1982.

A clarifying note added to her updated legislative profile reads:

Her birth year is correct. It is incorrectly reported as 1981 in other sources. As of May 24, 2019, Rep. Omar’s congressional staff are working with Wikipedia and the U.S. House to correct her birth year in those sources.

In an email to Snopes, David Schmidtke, deputy director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, verified that congressional representatives reached out to the library regarding her birthdate.

“However, we do not have supporting documentation, as the information was ‘self-reported,'” he noted, adding that the library does not independently verify birthdates prior to publishing or updating them.

Inquiries sent to Omar’s office for comment regarding the discussions surrounding her birth year have not yet received a reply. Updates will be provided should a response be issued.

Sources