Birth Certificate rejected at interview

[wixman 0]

Hi All,

I had my interview this morning at the embassy for a fiance visa application and it turns out my birth certificate is not the right type and they only accept the long birth certificates. As this is the only one I've ever had I assumed it was ok, but apparently not. I've ordered a new one which should arrive (via royal mail guaranteed) on wednesday morning and the embassy courier service will collect it on thursday morning.

The lady during the interview said it should take 3-5 days after they receive it till I get my visa (if its approved of course) which should mean next monday-wednesday. I'm flying out on the friday and we're marrying the following weeking so hopefully everything should be ok.

Has anyone else had this problem and how long did it take to receive their visa afterwards?

Thanks

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Hopefully you didn't buy your ticket yet.. (do nothing till the visa is in hand)

Good luck!

[Welshcookie 17]

I was missing a document too, I got my visa well within the time they quoted, the courier people sent me a text the day before.

Good luck, hopefully it will be fine

[rebeccajo 14]

Has anyone else had this problem and how long did it take to receive their visa afterwards?

I'm sure you'll be fine. It's a very standard document.

I've only highlighted your question for the edification of others going forward. London has never accepted anything other than the long-form certificate. I think it's pretty common knowledge but I've added to your post for clarification in case others are 'confused'.

Hope you understand that I'm not 'picking' on you or your post.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Hi All,

I had my interview this morning at the embassy for a fiance visa application and it turns out my birth certificate is not the right type and they only accept the long birth certificates. As this is the only one I've ever had I assumed it was ok, but apparently not. I've ordered a new one which should arrive (via royal mail guaranteed) on wednesday morning and the embassy courier service will collect it on thursday morning.

The lady during the interview said it should take 3-5 days after they receive it till I get my visa (if its approved of course) which should mean next monday-wednesday. I'm flying out on the friday and we're marrying the following weeking so hopefully everything should be ok.

Has anyone else had this problem and how long did it take to receive their visa afterwards?

Thanks

I'll just add (for anyone who stumbles across this later and needs to know) that there are other documents that they allow. In our case, they took my wife's adoption record.

Also after her interview it took the embassy nearly a month to issue the visa. Never sure why that was.

Edited August 3, 2009 by lancer1655

[rebeccajo 14]

Hi All,

I had my interview this morning at the embassy for a fiance visa application and it turns out my birth certificate is not the right type and they only accept the long birth certificates. As this is the only one I've ever had I assumed it was ok, but apparently not. I've ordered a new one which should arrive (via royal mail guaranteed) on wednesday morning and the embassy courier service will collect it on thursday morning.

The lady during the interview said it should take 3-5 days after they receive it till I get my visa (if its approved of course) which should mean next monday-wednesday. I'm flying out on the friday and we're marrying the following weeking so hopefully everything should be ok.

Has anyone else had this problem and how long did it take to receive their visa afterwards?

Thanks

I'll just add (for anyone who stumbles across this later and needs to know) that there are other documents that they allow. In our case, they took my wife's adoption record.

Also after her interview it took the embassy nearly a month to issue the visa. Never sure why that was.

Sure they'll accept different documents under 'different' types of circumstances (ie your wife's circumstance of adoption).

For 99% of folks, the long form is the required document.

It's no different than in the US, really. Most of us in the US have some sort of birth certificate at home. And most of those documents are 'no good' for getting into the public school system; getting a US passport; etc. US citizens need an birth certificate from the county in which they were born for most official business - it's frequently referred to as a 'certificate of live birth'.

The only point of the exercise is that readers understand an 'official' document will be required.

Edited August 3, 2009 by rebeccajo

[Sherri and Matt 1]

How do you know if you have long form or not? What is the difference?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

London wants the names of the parents on the birth certificate. I believe that has come to be called the "long form" vs. the "short form" which doesn't have as much information.

This page that London tells K1s to read tells exactly what needs to be on the birth certificate or what to do if you don't have one. Click on those listed document links or scroll down to know what to bring to the interview. They explain the documents.

And there is a link in small print in the right column telling where to get documents.

Certified copies of British documents are obtainable from either the Certificate Services Section, General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, PR8 2JD; phone number: 0845 603 7788 (8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9am to 4pm). Calls are charged at the cost of a local call. And there is a link to that website.

Like RJ, I'm not picking on the OP. This is for general information others might need to know. There's been an awful lot of people needing to provide additonal documents after their interview lately, so be sure and read every word on that page if you are a K1 and click every link to learn all you can.

Edited August 3, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[wixman 0]

Received my long birth certificate today from GRO. The embassy courier is to collect it tomorrow morning between 8 and 10am.

So far so good...

[wixman 0]

Received my long birth certificate today from GRO. The embassy courier is to collect it tomorrow morning between 8 and 10am.

So far so good...

They collected my passport and birth certificate this morning... just gotta wait now

[essjay 0]

Received my long birth certificate today from GRO. The embassy courier is to collect it tomorrow morning between 8 and 10am.

So far so good...

They collected my passport and birth certificate this morning... just gotta wait now

Good luck with the waiting. From other people who have had similar situations, they are normally reasonably quick, as it is just one outstanding document.

[JeremyR 8]

How do you know if you have long form or not? What is the difference?

Aside from the parent's full details as mentioned, the easy way to tell which version you're looking at is that the 'short-form' birth certificate is normally square and is quite small (bit bigger than A5). Long-form certificates are decidedly more rectangular and larger (closer to A4).

Certified copies of the long-form certificate from the GRO are a printed image of the original certificate, shrunk down a bit onto an A4 page with a seal, watermark, etc...

[wixman 0]

been calling the courier service daily... 3-5 working days is from today to thursday so hopefully i'll get it over the next few days... if not friday morning wouldnt be too bad... my flight is friday at 4pm!

[JeremyR 8]

So, did you make the flight?!

[wixman 0]

didn't make my flight... the embassy have now had my passport for 2 weeks and my original interview was 2 1/2 weeks ago. I'm supposed to be getting married in 2 days in florida and my family/friends and all my fiances guests are already there. thousands and thousands spent on flights/catering/accomodation etc... and now pretty much at rock bottom. i'm still holding out hope that i'll get it back within the next day 1/2 so i can fly out last minute but it's looking less and less likely now. I've been calling the courier service every 2-3 hours to see if they've received my documents back and i've also spent about £30 on the phone to the embassy call centre in scotland but apparently the only thing I can do is email the embassy which i've already done twice.

absolutely losing my mind now.