Before settlement is made on an adjusted service certificate, the person applying therefor will be identified as the person entitled to the settlement for which an application is made. If made in the United States or possessions, certification will be accepted if made by a United States postmaster or assistant postmaster over an impression of the post office cancellation stamp; a commissioned officer of the regular establishment of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps; a member of the United States Senate or the House of Representatives; an officer, over his official title, of a post, chapter, or other comparable unit of an organization recognized under Veterans Regulation No. 10 (38 U.S.C. ch. 12A), or an officer over his official title, of the State or national body of such organization, or any person who is legally authorized to administer oaths in a State, Territory, possession, District of Columbia, or in a Federal judicial district, of the United States. If identification is made in a foreign country, it will be certified by an American consul, a recognized representative of an American Embassy or Legation, or by a person authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the place where identification is made; provided, there be attached to the certificate of such latter officer a proper certification by an accredited official of the State Department of the United States that such officer was authorized to administer oaths in the place where certification was made. A manager of a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital is authorized to identify patients, members, or employees of the hospital over which he has charge. An employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who has been specifically designated in writing to do so may identify applicants during official hours and on the premises of the Department of Veterans Affairs using for this purpose, if necessary, the official records of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Field station finance employees may not be designated for this purpose.

(a) Fingerprint impressions shall be required on the application and shall be imprinted thereon in the presence of the persons identifying the veteran. In the case of veterans who are mentally incapacitated and application is being executed by a representative of the veteran, the veterans' fingerprints will be obtained if possible. If this cannot be done, as also in the case of an individual whose fingers are all missing, a statement of explanation will be required.

(b) [Reserved]

[13 FR 7127, Nov. 27, 1948, as amended at 19 FR 5087, Aug. 12, 1954]