Certified copies

[saradanielle 2]

hi,

There are just 2 ways ... to get a certified copy of the original certificate from the Issuing authority or to get it notarised as a certified true copy from the country of origin.

These days notarised copies are Getting RFE from NVC.

Its better to send certified copies of the original issued fromt he Issuing Authority to avoid any traumatic days

Jigi

I have come to the conclusion that you are absolutely correct! I am getting the certified copies together to send now...

[saradanielle 2]

I will find out if it is SEDEX she is using, if it is then they have faster than 3-5 days, me and her are often surprised at how it only takes 1-2 days to get to me but forever to get to her. And NVC wont need any translations thank god or else I would be spending 200R on police certificates alone, and to only translate "No Record" or whatever they put on those things.

Are you sure they don't need translations? If you go to the travel.state.gov site, and pick Rio de Janeiro to see a list of required documents, it says:

Translations

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the:

Translation is accurate, and

Translator is competent to translate.

Anything you take to the Consulate does not need translation, but documents going to NVC do.

See here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

[000 0]

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

Edited April 24, 2008 by Jason&Dani

[trailmix 77]

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

True - but if the person is not doing DCF, then the country in which the application for a visa is being made is the U.S., therefore it would need a translation if not already in English.

[000 0]

huh? I dont understand.

[saradanielle 2]

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

True - but if the person is not doing DCF, then the country in which the application for a visa is being made is the U.S., therefore it would need a translation if not already in English.

You are both saying the same thing and you are both correct.

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

Off topic but did you know that Lula wants to make the official language of Brazil called "Brazilian" instead of Portuguese? Still for the moment, it is still Portuguese, that's true!

[000 0]

I give the h#11 up on this process, its impossible to get accurate information with out paying thousands of dollars to a lawyer, cant even call nvc to get them to answer questions.

[lucyrich 20]

Why not simply get multiple ORIGINALS if not too expensive? Cannot be more expensive than getting something notarized...

I have just read on the VJ site that certified copies of documents must be certified by the issuing authority and not by a notary.

Has anyone had any recent experience with this and what NVC will accept? Will they send an RFE on notary-authenticated copies of documents?

Thanks!

Because you can't get originals of vital statistics documents. The originals are kept in a vault by some government agency. If they gave you your original birth certificate or marriage certificate, then they lose their only record of your birth or marriage.

Exact procedures vary from one jurisdiction to another, but there's generally some government office that is in charge of maintaining records of births, marriages, divorces, etc. If you get a copy of a document directly from that office, and if it contains a raised seal, signature, or other authenticating item that certifies it's a true copy of what was officially recorded, then what you have in your hands is called a certified copy. It was certified by the government agency that keeps the original in their vault.

THAT is what the immigration authorities want to see at your interview.

Some people call that an "original", since it's the closest you'll ever get to an original, but the actual original source stays in the government vault. That's why the guides and checklists refer to it as a "certified copy".

If you take some document to a notary or other trusted authority and ask him to make a copy, the best he could do is certify that the copy he made was a genuine unaltered copy of what you gave him. But since he's not in a position to vouch for the authenticity of the document you gave him, that kind of certification is pretty much useless for immigration purposes.

Oh, and BTW, unless they specifically ask for something otherwise, it's OK to send ordinary photocopies when things need to be mailed to the USCIS, NVC, or Consulate. For most purposes, they'll accept an ordinary photocopy. Then at the interview, they'll want to see the actual certified copy so they can verify the raised seal. They'll typically keep another photocopy of it at that time. You only hand them the certified copy for a second and then they hand it right back to you and keep a photocopy.

[lucyrich 20]

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

True - but if the person is not doing DCF, then the country in which the application for a visa is being made is the U.S., therefore it would need a translation if not already in English.

No, a visa application can only be made at a consulate abroad. You may be confusing a petition with an application. A petition may be filed in the US with the USCIS. But an application is made to a consulate.

An alien gets a visa by applying for one at a consulate. There's no way to apply for a visa from within the US, since a person who is already in the US has no need for a visa.

[Mononoke28 135]

If you take some document to a notary or other trusted authority and ask him to make a copy, the best he could do is certify that the copy he made was a genuine unaltered copy of what you gave him. But since he's not in a position to vouch for the authenticity of the document you gave him, that kind of certification is pretty much useless for immigration purposes.

It depends on the kind of authority the notary has in each country. In Colombia for example, and maybe I misunderstood but I thought they said in Brazil as well, the people who issue these records are the notaries. For example for my marriage certificate we went to the notary, asked for a certified copy, the lady took our original marriage certificate, photocopied it, it came out all blurry, but then she put a stamp on it that said "this is a certified copy of the original" with her signature. Even though she was just a notary she still had the authority to make that nasty photocopy a certified copy. That's what I sent the NVC and they completed my case without an RFE.

Maybe it's different in Brazil and I misunderstood.

Diana

[trailmix 77]

All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations. <------ Portuguese is the official language of the country no matter what people from portugal say, it is portuguese RSRSRSRSRS

True - but if the person is not doing DCF, then the country in which the application for a visa is being made is the U.S., therefore it would need a translation if not already in English.

No, a visa application can only be made at a consulate abroad. You may be confusing a petition with an application. A petition may be filed in the US with the USCIS. But an application is made to a consulate.

An alien gets a visa by applying for one at a consulate. There's no way to apply for a visa from within the US, since a person who is already in the US has no need for a visa.

Good point!

[EdgarVirginia 0]

I have just read on the VJ site that certified copies of documents must be certified by the issuing authority and not by a notary.

Has anyone had any recent experience with this and what NVC will accept? Will they send an RFE on notary-authenticated copies of documents?

Thanks!

In Brazil when we go to a public notary, they make a photocopy and put a stamp on it to certify it as an original, and it is acceptable for any domestic purposes, but it is not acceptable for NVC purposes. They want originals only from the issuing athority or as we call in Brazil a second copy of the original that is provided by the issuing authority. Usually originals or second copies of originals have a prominent seal of the issuing authority that can't be seen on a certified photocopy from a notary, that's why even when it's certified by the notary as an original it is not acceptable for NVC. This is a very controversial subject here among the members because the system may be different in every country. But in general NVC does not accept certified copies from public notaries, only from the issuing authorities that have officialy issued the document.

[saradanielle 2]

I have just read on the VJ site that certified copies of documents must be certified by the issuing authority and not by a notary.

Has anyone had any recent experience with this and what NVC will accept? Will they send an RFE on notary-authenticated copies of documents?

Thanks!

In Brazil when we go to a public notary, they make a photocopy and put a stamp on it to certify it as an original, and it is acceptable for any domestic purposes, but it is not acceptable for NVC purposes. They want originals only from the issuing athority or as we call in Brazil a second copy of the original that is provided by the issuing authority. Usually originals or second copies of originals have a prominent seal of the issuing authority that can't be seen on a certified photocopy from a notary, that's why even when it's certified by the notary as an original it is not acceptable for NVC. This is a very controversial subject here among the members because the system may be different in every country. But in general NVC does not accept certified copies from public notaries, only from the issuing authorities that have officialy issued the document.

That is exactly what I was thinking, after all, that the NVC wants what is in Brazil called a "segunda via" or second copy. Thanks for clarifying that.

Why not simply get multiple ORIGINALS if not too expensive? Cannot be more expensive than getting something notarized...

I have just read on the VJ site that certified copies of documents must be certified by the issuing authority and not by a notary.

Has anyone had any recent experience with this and what NVC will accept? Will they send an RFE on notary-authenticated copies of documents?

Thanks!

Because you can't get originals of vital statistics documents. The originals are kept in a vault by some government agency. If they gave you your original birth certificate or marriage certificate, then they lose their only record of your birth or marriage.

Exact procedures vary from one jurisdiction to another, but there's generally some government office that is in charge of maintaining records of births, marriages, divorces, etc. If you get a copy of a document directly from that office, and if it contains a raised seal, signature, or other authenticating item that certifies it's a true copy of what was officially recorded, then what you have in your hands is called a certified copy. It was certified by the government agency that keeps the original in their vault.

THAT is what the immigration authorities want to see at your interview.

Some people call that an "original", since it's the closest you'll ever get to an original, but the actual original source stays in the government vault. That's why the guides and checklists refer to it as a "certified copy".

If you take some document to a notary or other trusted authority and ask him to make a copy, the best he could do is certify that the copy he made was a genuine unaltered copy of what you gave him. But since he's not in a position to vouch for the authenticity of the document you gave him, that kind of certification is pretty much useless for immigration purposes.

Oh, and BTW, unless they specifically ask for something otherwise, it's OK to send ordinary photocopies when things need to be mailed to the USCIS, NVC, or Consulate. For most purposes, they'll accept an ordinary photocopy. Then at the interview, they'll want to see the actual certified copy so they can verify the raised seal. They'll typically keep another photocopy of it at that time. You only hand them the certified copy for a second and then they hand it right back to you and keep a photocopy.

That was very thorough and comprehensive. Thanks for that information! However, I have been hearing that people are getting RFEs for sending ordinary photocopies to NVC on vital documents... so I am going the route of sending originals and certified copies, now...

Edited April 25, 2008 by saradanielle