Birth Certificate

[rncarterjm 0]

I need to bring my wife's birth certificate to my interview to show that she is a citizen by birth. However, she only has a photocopy of her birth certificate. will this work or do i need an original copy?

[Tinh ve noi dau 0]

I need to bring my wife's birth certificate to my interview to show that she is a citizen by birth. However, she only has a photocopy of her birth certificate. will this work or do i need an original copy?

A copy of your wife's birth certificate and her passport to prove that is her that is good enough

[NickD 203]

A copy of your wife's birth certificate and her passport to prove that is her that is good enough

Tend to disagree with that, a copy is good enough for the application that is mailed in, wife's IO wanted to see the original of my birth certificate. Had to contact the state of Illinois to get that, found the address on the web. Can find a lot of good things on the web.

Got me to thinking when I actually had to show my birth certificate, when first entering school, first drivers' license, then when drafted, then years later when I met my sweetheart from a foreign country for the USCIS. Didn't your wife need an original for the AOS stage? Sure wanted to see mine, maybe yours didn't care. Guess no set rules on this.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

I would definately take an original just to be safe. You can order them here: www.vitalchek.com (wife is the citizen right?) I just ordered a couple for myself and you can get them in a couple of days

[NickD 203]

I would definately take an original just to be safe. You can order them here: www.vitalchek.com (wife is the citizen right?) I just ordered a couple for myself and you can get them in a couple of days

Cost me eight bucks for the first copy, five bucks for each additional one, so I got four copies, USCIS has three of them, saved one, in case I get married again, LOL. No way.

[Dakine10 5,452]

I need to bring my wife's birth certificate to my interview to show that she is a citizen by birth. However, she only has a photocopy of her birth certificate. will this work or do i need an original copy?

I agree with the consensus here. You need the original.

Get a replacement for the original if at all possible. In most states you can order a certified copy or copies online and have them in 1-2 weeks. These are as good as the original for legal purposes.

I would only take just a copy if I couldn't get the replacement in time, but even then you might expect that they ask you to send it later.

[*JG* 2]

Or, like here, you can send citizen down to courthouse of city of birth, if convenient. It takes me all of 15 minutes and I think it's $10 to get a certified copy of my birth certificate in St. Louis city hall.

I definately think you need to get a certified copy to take.

Edited January 6, 2010 by *JG*

[antda 13]

Hi Rncarterjm,

For my citizenship interivew...

I said to my husband..."Umm..Can I borrow your original worn-out birth certificate for the interview?"

He said...."yes"....Even though I already sent a copy of that when I sent in my N-400 application forms and evidence....

I said to my baby son..."Umm..Can I borrow your original new birth certificate for the interview?"

He babbled..."aaa...wahh...ouh.." (whatever that means in baby-talk)....lol....

Even though I already sent a copy of that when I sent in my N-400 application forms and evidence....

But when it came time for my interview..the IO didn't want to see any of it! And said..."No"

Even though I specifically asked, "Do you want to see any of my original documents?" in the folder I had with me that day...

I guess I lucked out there...lol..probably because I "overwhelmed" them with 95+ pages of evidence that I sent in before...lol...

Seriously though..I think in your case, you, you should get an original copy of your wife's US Birth Certificate, in case the immigration officer does ask for such. It shouldn't be that hard to get, be it that she is in the USA, and that doesn't costs too much for such. Probably within $30 or so (that's how much it costs where I am, not sure if it is more or less where you are), you should be able to get an original certified copy, at the clerk's office of the town/city where she was born.

At least Original US Birth Certificates are easy to get and don't cost too much, so you shouldn't have any problems there! "Better safe than sorry" here, to bring the original to the interview in case they do ask for such, and keep this copy for other purposes too even if they don't need such for the interview (for example, if your wife needs to renew her US passport or for other legal purposes).

As for US Naturalization Certificates...That's another story...way too hard to get an original...$400 for a replacement and more dealings with the USCIS if you ever want another original of those. So if you get such, "Guard it with your life" (and make one copy for personal use too in case you lose it..)!

It's not the same as a US Birth Certificate, even though it is seen and treated like one..go figure...lol.

Lol..On another personal note, I don't know what I would do if I lost all my "birth/naturalization" documents...Original US Nautralization Certificate, Original Canadian Naturalization Certificate, Original Birth Certificate from some other country overseas which is non English-speaking...Yikes!

What a nightmare!...Gosh knows how much it would cost (a fortune) and how much time (forever) it would take for me to replace all those documents!

Not as simple for me as a getting US Birth Certificate....lol..

At times like this..I envy by husband and son for being born in the USA instead...lol...

Hope this helps (or at least makes you laugh). Good luck with getting your wife's US Birth Certificate. And good luck with your iinterview and rest of your immigration journey too!

Ant

I need to bring my wife's birth certificate to my interview to show that she is a citizen by birth. However, she only has a photocopy of her birth certificate. will this work or do i need an original copy?

Edited January 7, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA