Only copies of birth certificate available, will this be ok to submit to NVC with DS 230?

[Lexlee08 18]

Hi Vj members,

I have been having problems for months in obtaining my uncle's birth certificate(the petitioner). I am my mom's agent and I have all the documentations ready to be submitted except his birth certificate. Unfortunately, my uncle only has copies of his birth certificate from the Local Civil registry office, also we got a certification from NSO(National Statistics Office) that he does not have any records with them. We contacted the Local Civil registry Office to get a certified true copy of his birth certificate but they said that most of their records were destroyed due to the devastating typhoon last year and unfortunately one of them is his birth certificate. I have read from the Manila US embassy that we can submit the negative certification from NSO with the locally issued birth certificate. My problem is that my uncle only has copies, he also lost his original birth certificate due to multiple moves(plus he's also 77 yrs old so maybe senility is adding to it!). This problem has been such a headache for me! Can I send just the copies with explanation or will they(NVC) really insist on getting the original which is close to impossible or a miracle.

I am at my wits end, hopefully I can get some guidance from you guys, thanks and have a great day to everyone.

[pancit_town 0]

If the U.S. Embassy in Manila has informed you that you can send the negative result from the NSO, then you could send that, plus the copy that you guys have. If it's not sufficient, the NVC would advise you if additional documents are needed. Dont lose valuable time and send them right away so you can get a reply.

[Lexlee08 18]

Hi Pancit_town,

Thanks for the quick reply, I guess I will just submit what we have and will just wait for any further correspondence from NVC if necessary. Again, thanks and enjoy the rest of your day.

[pancit_town 0]

No problem, tell everybody if that works out.