Obtain a birth certificate from NSO when there is no record of birth?

[Kristin87 0]

We submitted I-130/I-485 last week... i sent them the photocopy of my birth certificate, but the copy that I do have is in really, really bad condition, (and it shows in the photocopy).. it was actually ripped a little bit so it was taped up, it's defaced (has random little marks on it), the writing is in cursive for some reason, so it was hard enough to read as it was.... If you carefully read it though, you can make out the letters. The birth certificate is sealed, and is a true copy but it's just in bad condition. I'm afraid USCIS might reject me just for that though or will request for me to send another copy...

My problem is though, I tried to order a copy from the e-census website, (National Statistic's office) back in January, and a few weeks later, they emailed me as well as mailed me a hard copy of the results stating that they were unable to find a record of my birth in their system and will have to manually search their archives... after months of waiting, I still hadn't heard back from them. I even tried to contact the local Philippine Embassy here in Chicago and they told me they don't help with stuff like that... but I eventually contacted NSO again, and this is what they wrote to me:

> Thank you for your e-mail.

>

> The National Statistics Office (NSO) has already sent the request-letter

> for

> the copy of your birth record, last February 11, 2010, to Ms. Maria Josefa

> Encarnacion, the City Civil Registrar of the City Civil Registry Office

> (CCRO) of Manila. However, to date, the CCRO of Manila, has not given any

> feedback to the NSO.

>

> Another option, if you have a relative here in Manila whom you can

> designate

> to be your authorized representative, he/she may pursue the process of

> endorsement on your behalf. Should you prefer this option, please do inform

> us

> and we will e-mail you the procedure and instructions.

>

> You may also get in touch with CCRO-Manila, at (02) 405-0081, for your

> follow-up.

>

>

> Thank you.

>

> Yours truly,

>

> e-Census Operations

THEN THE NEXT EMAIL WAS:

You may request the assistance of your relative or representative in the

Philippines to request the City Civil Registry Office (CCRO) of Manila, to

endorse your birth record to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Once the CCRO-Manila has endorsed your birth record to the NSO, kindly request

your representative to obtain a copy of the endorsement stub with endorsement

number from CCRO-Manila. This will help track the record at the archives of

the NSO.

Once the birth certificate is available at NSO, the NSO will re-process the

birth certificate request under Batch Request No. *************** and

Request Reference No. ***************, and will have the document result

delivered to you through the registered mail service of the Philippine Postal

Corporation (PhilPost).

You may also get in touch with CCRO-Manila, at (02) 405-0081, for your

follow-up and inquiries.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

e-Census Operations

________________________

I haven't been back to the Philippines since I was like 5 years old, and have no contact with any relatives there so that isn't an option for me. I even tried to call CCRO-Manila to see if they could endorse it over the phone but I don't speak tagalog and she didn't speak english very well so the conversation didn't go too well and we didn't get anywhere.

Has anyone ever gone through the same problem?? I just emailed ecensus again yesterday asking if I could email them the copy of my birth certificate that I have (by scanning it) but I haven't heard back from them... Does anyone know what I can do, if there's an email address where I can contact the Civil Registrar's office in Manila? ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE SO MUCH HELP! thank you!!!