Wife's Certificate of Citizenship not received !!!

[saqfin 0]

Hello VJ members,

I don't know where to post this question just asking here. My wife apply for her passport 2 years back and send her Certificate of Citizenship through post office. She receive her passport but she did not receive her Certificate of Citizenship. How can she get the certificate ?? Where she can contact ???

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Zaki

[NickD 202]

Regardless of where you send it from, ends up at the US Department of State

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Can call them at 1-877-487-2778, called them many times and had the number sequence memorized to talk to a real person.

I hate sending any original documents over the mail and elected to go to our clerk of court that is certified by the state department, but still wanted my original birth certificate, no way would I send that, contacted the state where I was born and got a certified copy, because what happened to you happens a lot more frequently than you can imagine.

We were able to get certified copies of important documents but they don't do that anymore, claim to be busy, but when I went to their office, four people sat at their desks twiddling their thumbs.

Will be applying for a US passport soon for my wife, not sure how we are going to get around that.

You can file an N-565 with a 380 buck price tag for a replacement.

Did the state department actually want the original? God, the USCIS knows how to charge. Oh, and the state department never sent back my state certified copy of my birth certificate either, but I didn't care, I still have my original one and did order a couple of extra copies, but was only like three bucks each.

[NickD 202]

Was telling my wife about your plight, same thing happened to a friend of hers.

Wonder if the State Department is in cahoots with the USCIS to split that 380 buck fee?

[churipu 4]

To get a US passport there is no way around sending the original naturalization certificate...btw if it gets lost or something they (usually the postal service) can be held responsible and will refund the cost to get a new one from USCIS, I asked about this when I applied for my passport. In a nutshell, if they lose it, you go ahead and pay to get a new one and they refund you. To the OP...I am not quite sure why you waited 2 years before worrying about this???

[NickD 202]

To get a US passport there is no way around sending the original naturalization certificate...btw if it gets lost or something they (usually the postal service) can be held responsible and will refund the cost to get a new one from USCIS, I asked about this when I applied for my passport. In a nutshell, if they lose it, you go ahead and pay to get a new one and they refund you. To the OP...I am not quite sure why you waited 2 years before worrying about this???

I just checked into that as well as it is the next bridge for us to cross, yes, they will only accept the original naturalization certificate as well as the birth certificate, but if it is lost, how will you be able to prove who is liable?

When I was in the clerk of courts office saw she was certified by the state department, had a perfect copy of my birth certificate that she could look over, but still no, she wanted the original. SS let's you bring in copies as long as they can see the originals, and the DMV can give a plastic card very similar to the green card for seven bucks. Guy checks your credentials, has you stand in front of a camera, pushes a button, and five seconds later a plastic ID pops out, that's seven dollars please.

So why can't the USCIS and Department of State be like that?

Assume you got your naturalization back okay, churipu, hmm that is one out of 3. Yeah, waiting two years is a bit too long.

[churipu 4]

To get a US passport there is no way around sending the original naturalization certificate...btw if it gets lost or something they (usually the postal service) can be held responsible and will refund the cost to get a new one from USCIS, I asked about this when I applied for my passport. In a nutshell, if they lose it, you go ahead and pay to get a new one and they refund you. To the OP...I am not quite sure why you waited 2 years before worrying about this???

I just checked into that as well as it is the next bridge for us to cross, yes, they will only accept the original naturalization certificate as well as the birth certificate, but if it is lost, how will you be able to prove who is liable?

When I was in the clerk of courts office saw she was certified by the state department, had a perfect copy of my birth certificate that she could look over, but still no, she wanted the original. SS let's you bring in copies as long as they can see the originals, and the DMV can give a plastic card very similar to the green card for seven bucks. Guy checks your credentials, has you stand in front of a camera, pushes a button, and five seconds later a plastic ID pops out, that's seven dollars please.

So why can't the USCIS and Department of State be like that?

Assume you got your naturalization back okay, churipu, hmm that is one out of 3. Yeah, waiting two years is a bit too long.

I am not sure how you prove who is liable, but they assured me that if it gets lost someone will refund you for it. Unfortunately I do not know the details, because yes, I got my certificate back ok, I actually got the 2 envelopes the very same day, one with the US passport and one with the certificate. BTW pretty much all the people I know who went through this got their certificate back just fine so don't overworry too much before there is an actual need to do so Also the majority of people who post here about their experience generally report no problems with it. I hope the OP will work this out, but I just think it's crazy to remember about it after 2 years...

Edited June 28, 2008 by churipu

[NickD 202]

Still doesn't make sense to me if they have certified clerk of courts, why they can't look at your original and make a copy of it. When I applied for my passport, was told there was a delay because of an FBI check, responded, is the FBI that slow? Did they find out I was a veteran of a foreign war and held a top secret clearance? And if they found out all that, couldn't they also learn I was born in the USA, and my birthday was in their records as well?

Feel at times that the State Department and the USCIS is having a contest to see which one can be the worse agency to deal with, but the USCIS does let you send copies of important documents, asking you to bring in the originals for verification if necessary. So far, they never ask to see them.