Birth Certificate

[Sacha 0]

Hi Everyone,

I've just joined this site and I find it is a great place for people with similar circumstances to meet and chat.

I have a query and I would be very grateful for your assistance.

I would like to move to the US by July of this year and hopefully will be married by end of August.

I am a British citizen by naturalization and my boyfriend is a US citizen. The problem that I can already see is going to be my birth certificate.

Basically my family were all refugees who came to England in 1984, since then we were granted naturalization to become British citizens. In the havoc of trying to escape from Vietnam (in my grandfather's homemade fishing boat) my parents inconveniently forgot the most essential item that may affect my life today, my birth certificate. How inconsiderate of them

My mother is currently in Vietnam trying to track down my birth certificate but to no avail.

Can you tell me how essential it is to have my birth certificate for K1 application? Do you think there will be special exemptions for cases where the beneficiary cannot locate their birth certificate? I do have my naturalization certificate with my name, dob, my naturalization number. I have my passport, driving license, degree certifcate, my P46 all proving that I am legitimate. Do you think these are sufficient?

Many thanks

Sacha

[road2kros 0]

I do have my naturalization certificate with my name, dob, my naturalization number. I have my passport, driving license, degree certifcate, my P46 all proving that I am legitimate. Do you think these are sufficient?

Hello, Wellcome to VJ. If you cannot avail a copy of your birthcertificate in Vietnam, A baptismal certificate can suffice it. Documents you mentioned above can do. Goodluck.

[Sacha 0]

I do have my naturalization certificate with my name, dob, my naturalization number. I have my passport, driving license, degree certifcate, my P46 all proving that I am legitimate. Do you think these are sufficient?

Hello, Wellcome to VJ. If you cannot avail a copy of your birthcertificate in Vietnam, A baptismal certificate can suffice it. Documents you mentioned above can do. Goodluck.

The only 2 certificates that I don't have are my birth certificate and my baptismal certificate as they are both in Vietnam.....somewhere.

[Canuck Carrie 1]

I'm not sure about getting a birth certificate in Vietnam so I'll let others answer that.

You say you want to move in July, have you filed your petition yet? This process isn't a speedy one

[aussiewench 9]

If your birth is unobtainable eg birth never officially recorded, birth records destroyed, or the appropriate authority will not issue one.....You can obtain a certified statement from the appropriate government authority stating the reason it is not available.

You must also submit secondary evidence eg

* baptismal certificate that contains the date and place of birth and both parents names providing the baptism took place shortly after birth.

* An adoption decree for an adopted child

* An Affidavit from a close relative, preferably the applicants mother, stating the date and place of birth, both parents names, and the mothers maiden name.

Link to USCIS website re Vietnam Birth Certificates etc

[songsparrow 0]

Isn't a birth certificate only something you need to prove you are a citizen of a certain country? But if you are now a legal UK citizen, then I would think that whatever legal papers stating you are a UK citizen is all you need to have for the USA-UK connection for the visa process.

[zyggy 9]

Isn't a birth certificate only something you need to prove you are a citizen of a certain country? But if you are now a legal UK citizen, then I would think that whatever legal papers stating you are a UK citizen is all you need to have for the USA-UK connection for the visa process.

Sorry but a birth certificate is required no matter what your citizenship is or how many passports that you carry... it's used to prove your parentage as well as to establish the chargeability of the alien.

As noted on the State Dept website, exceptions are made for those who fled Vietnam. If you cannot get a BC, then the secondary forms of evidence should be satisfactory. Just get as much as you can to be able to fill in the blanks that the birth certificate would satisfy.

Edited January 31, 2006 by zyggy

[Sacha 0]

Isn't a birth certificate only something you need to prove you are a citizen of a certain country? But if you are now a legal UK citizen, then I would think that whatever legal papers stating you are a UK citizen is all you need to have for the USA-UK connection for the visa process.

Sorry but a birth certificate is required no matter what your citizenship is or how many passports that you carry... it's used to prove your parentage as well as to establish the chargeability of the alien.

As noted on the State Dept website, exceptions are made for those who fled Vietnam. If you cannot get a BC, then the secondary forms of evidence should be satisfactory. Just get as much as you can to be able to fill in the blanks that the birth certificate would satisfy.

Thanks everyone for your response.

Zyggy, what kind of secondary evidence can I produce? Not my baptismal certificate because that is also somewhere in Vietnam....

[zyggy 9]

Isn't a birth certificate only something you need to prove you are a citizen of a certain country? But if you are now a legal UK citizen, then I would think that whatever legal papers stating you are a UK citizen is all you need to have for the USA-UK connection for the visa process.

Sorry but a birth certificate is required no matter what your citizenship is or how many passports that you carry... it's used to prove your parentage as well as to establish the chargeability of the alien.

As noted on the State Dept website, exceptions are made for those who fled Vietnam. If you cannot get a BC, then the secondary forms of evidence should be satisfactory. Just get as much as you can to be able to fill in the blanks that the birth certificate would satisfy.

Thanks everyone for your response.

Zyggy, what kind of secondary evidence can I produce? Not my baptismal certificate because that is also somewhere in Vietnam....

Affidavits or sworn statements from your parents, copies of your British naturization paperwork, school records, hospital records, census records, etc. Brings as much as you can to substantiate the information that would normally appear in a birth record.

What is acceptable is outlined in 8 CFR 103.2 b 2

(2) Submitting secondary evidence and affidavits.

(i) General. The non-existence or other unavailability of required evidence creates a presumption of ineligibility. If a required document, such as a birth or marriage certificate, does not exist or cannot be obtained, an applicant or petitioner must demonstrate this and submit secondary evidence, such as church or school records, pertinent to the facts at issue. If secondary evidence also does not exist or cannot be obtained, the applicant or petitioner must demonstrate the unavailability of both the required document and relevant secondary evidence, and submit two or more affidavits, sworn to or affirmed by persons who are not parties to the petition who have direct personal knowledge of the event and circumstances. Secondary evidence must overcome the unavailability of primary evidence, and affidavits must overcome the unavailability of both primary and secondary evidence.

(ii) Demonstrating that a record is not available. Where a record does not exist, the applicant or petitioner must submit an original written statement on government letterhead establishing this from the relevant government or other authority. The statement must indicate the reason the record does not exist, and indicate whether similar records for the time and place are available. However, a certification from an appropriate foreign government that a document does not exist is not required where the Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manual indicates this type of document generally does not exist. An applicant or petitioner who has not been able to acquire the necessary document or statement from the relevant foreign authority may submit evidence that repeated good faith attempts were made to obtain the required document or statement. However, where the Service finds that such documents or statements are generally available, it may require that the applicant or petitioner submit the required document or statement.

I would try to get your asylum paperwork as well ....

Edited January 31, 2006 by zyggy

[kwacka 0]

I dont have a birth certificate with my parents names on it.....but its a legitimate birth certificate that i have had since 1982 so do you think this will be sufficient for my visa interview? :help: