Boo on Forma LIteral

[Catracho 0]

That's right, I said it. I got a checklist for missing documents from the NVC on April 2nd. I recently found out a lot about Honduran birth certificates. One caveat is that they want all certificates (marriage and birth) in forma literal, or long form. For anyone that is applying to Honduras, you need the long form of everything, even for marriage. She actually just recently had our son, and i just got back from Honduras. I went to register him at the embassy, and we had to return a second time to give them a long form one! That in and of itself was a nightmare. My wife had never even seen or heard of this before. That's how dumb this is. They pretty much have the same information, except the other one costs 10 times as much, albeit it's $5 in our money (100 limps) as opposed to the one that only costs around 50 cents. But overall, I'm happy because of how close I am to actually catching the unicorn. All in all, I shouldn't really complain if this is the worst thing that has happened so far. I have heard much worse things that have happened to people. This only delayed us about a week or two. Good luck to everyone else.

[KayaEel 5]

hey Catracho, I am glad to hear that things are moving forward for you. I have seen other discussions on VJ about the Honduran certificates needing to be "forma literal", and I want to make sure that we have the right forms. Since you have seen both types, could you please share what some of the differences are? Attached is a sample Honduran form, but I am concerned. My husband lives on Roatan, an island, and this makes it that much more difficult to get documents and it takes that much longer. Although our marriage and his birth certificate is on 'official paper' and includes all of the required info. and legal stamps, they are handwritten. So, any more insights from you would be helpful to me, and others. Thank you.

Honduran Birth Cert Sample - Long Form (Forma Literal).pdf

[Catracho 0]

Yes, the attached form is the right format of birth certificate that you need. We went to the embassy with the common hand-written one that is fill-in-the-blank, and that is NOT what they wanted. As I said before, the one they wanted was one that my wife never even saw or heard of before. Your husband needs to go to any RNP "Registro Nacional de las Personas" where you would normally get the fill-in-the-blank type and show them an example of what you want. The forma literal will be typed and written in sentences as opposed to simply being fill in the blank. They will most likely type it and print it from a computer. It really doesn't have too much extra information, it's just an extra hoop you have to jump through I guess. We paid 100 lempiras, and we requested and received two copies. You should also try and request two copies so you have another one just in case... Good luck. Just so you are aware, they may act like they don't know what format that is. Just insist for them to type it up, and that's where the 100 lempiras comes in, if you get my drift. Normal cost for a Partida De Nacimiento (fill-in-the-blank) is 10 lempiras.

[KayaEel 5]

Thank you. This is very helpful. Although I have to admit, your reply made me laugh a little. Have you ever been to the island of Roatan? The government offices there do not have computers or printers, and they often do not even have electricity. There are just stacks and stacks of paper everywhere. So, I am going to send in what we have (the handwritten version) to the NVC with the DS-230, while working with our attorney in Honduras to get a typed version in case of RFE and to have at the interview. Maybe we can get a typed version while we are in Teguc for the medical exam?

[Catracho 0]

Thank you. This is very helpful. Although I have to admit, your reply made me laugh a little. Have you ever been to the island of Roatan? The government offices there do not have computers or printers, and they often do not even have electricity. There are just stacks and stacks of paper everywhere. So, I am going to send in what we have (the handwritten version) to the NVC with the DS-230, while working with our attorney in Honduras to get a typed version in case of RFE and to have at the interview. Maybe we can get a typed version while we are in Teguc for the medical exam?

Well actually when I said they had to print it off, someone else, i think like a paralegal who works in a different building, actually took the information and typed it up. Yeah, my wife lives in the mountains and to get to the nearest RNP, she has to take a busito, bus, or rápido, all of which take about at least 45 minutes to arrive. And the building is exactly the same as you said, stacks and stacks of books with two woman sitting at two different desks writing all day long. Trust me, its not that hard. You won't have to go through a lawyer. Someone in some nearby business probably "contracts" with the RNP in cases such as this so they can make a little extra too. They will be the ones who have the computer and or typewriter to do it. But I can assure you with near 100% certainty you will get a checklist with the missing documents, just as we did. Make sure you get the birth AND marriage whenever you guys do this, as each document has to be in this form if it is from Honduras. But don't pay a lawyer to get it for you. And btw, Teguc will not have it because each department/municipality maintains their own records. No one is scanning hundreds of books each year to give to a central location in Teguc. Lets just say if there was a fire in an RNP somewhere, it probably wouldn't be a very good thing. Good luck. If you need any more info, I'll help you out as much as I can.

[KayaEel 5]

OK, you've convinced me. I will wait to file the DS-230 and request the long forms when I visit the island again next week. We'll see how far I get with my request, but I am just so tired of waiting. I know that you understand. Thank you so much for your insights.

[Catracho 0]

One more thing: I'm not sure if you've ever seen this link before, but this is basically the packet they send out to applicants who reside and are applying in Honduras. SO if I lived in Honduras, this is what my wife would receive. It shows all the documents and explains everything you need. Since we live in the US, we have to give these to the NVC, who will then forward them on to the embassy. This is what the NVC is referring to when people send in their forms, but just wanted to give you one more piece of info.

http://honduras.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/packet_irf.pdf

[KayaEel 5]

Yes, I have seen this. Thank you very much, Catracho. Buena suerte!

[Kitten24 5]

Hey guys, I have a question for you: did you guys translate your own documents? I'm fully capable of doing this but I'm not sure if they'll accept that. I had my BC translated and certified by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and paied L.400 for the whole process but it wasn't the forma literal, so now I have to do that and translate it but don't want to fork out the L.800 it will take for my BC and MC. Help?

[bernfc10 0]

Congrats! I have a question about the birth certificate. I understand the long form has to be in forma literal (letters), is this an standard form meaning it has the same information for everybody or you could actually customize it? Because I asked for a literal form and even that it was the digital form, it wasn't literal and it also have some marginal notes. Would that be acceptable? I have my original birth certificate and was wondering if that could be sent?

[bernfc10 0]

I am glad you were able to get your visa. Estoy pasando una situacion similar, fui a mi pueblo en Santa Rosa de Aguan y ellos me dieron una partida de nacimiento hecha a mano. El fue al RNP en San Pedro Sula y le dieron una partida con notas marginals y no sabemos si es esta la partida que se necesita para la NVC. Voy a decirle a mi tio que vaya al registro y le pida que escriban en la computadora y haber que pasa. Gracias!

[bernfc10 0]

Hola felicidades! Gracias por el consejo, mi tio fue a su pueble a sacar un partida y le dieron una escrita a mano porque no tienen computadoras. Entoces se fue al registro y le dieron una con pequena azul con anotaciones marginals. Crees que es posible que ellos la escriban a maquina y si no, que mas podemos hacer?