Late April/May NVC Filers

[lbjr 0]

I'm not sure if anyone may know the answer to this...but I have an unobtainable birth certificate, so I requested one from the United Nations High Commissioner, so the UN sent me a letter stating where I was born, name, etc etc. I spoke to one of the representatives from the UN over the phone and she stated that the letter of seal that they sent me will act like a birth certificate and all governments should accept it.

I was reading somewhere about unobtainable birth certificates, and NVC requires secondary evidence, such as affidavit from applicant's mother, or a decree if adopted. My case is that my birth country never kept records beyond 20 years, that was why the UN issued me the letter of seal.

Since I requested the letter from the UN, and they're not some government authority, will I still need secondary evidence? (I was thinking about having my mother write up an affidavit)

[Burebista 3]

My wife in Romania had a very old birth certificate. Three weeks ago she submitted a request for a new one that will be compliant with what the USA requires. I'm hoping she will receive it soon, or it will hold us up at the AOS stage.

On another note, we created a joint email account. She hates any administration stuff, so we will give this new email address as her contact info, and I will be the one who actually corresponds with NVC on her behalf.

[Saylin 1,605]

We just paid our IV fee this morning, yay! Only thing now is to wait until it shows as "paid", then we can e-mail off our IV package

When it shows as paid, I assume that's when the DS-260 becomes available to fill out?

Yes, once the IV appears as PAID, then the DS-260 will become available to fill out.

I'm not sure if anyone may know the answer to this...but I have an unobtainable birth certificate, so I requested one from the United Nations High Commissioner, so the UN sent me a letter stating where I was born, name, etc etc. I spoke to one of the representatives from the UN over the phone and she stated that the letter of seal that they sent me will act like a birth certificate and all governments should accept it.

I was reading somewhere about unobtainable birth certificates, and NVC requires secondary evidence, such as affidavit from applicant's mother, or a decree if adopted. My case is that my birth country never kept records beyond 20 years, that was why the UN issued me the letter of seal.

Since I requested the letter from the UN, and they're not some government authority, will I still need secondary evidence? (I was thinking about having my mother write up an affidavit)

Just in case, if you can, get an affidavit from your mother. That way you can avoid an RFE and save you a week or two.

My wife in Romania had a very old birth certificate. Three weeks ago she submitted a request for a new one that will be compliant with what the USA requires. I'm hoping she will receive it soon, or it will hold us up at the AOS stage.

On another note, we created a joint email account. She hates any administration stuff, so we will give this new email address as her contact info, and I will be the one who actually corresponds with NVC on her behalf.

You mean the IV stage?

And good idea on the joint email account

[Burebista 3]

Ah yes, the IV stage. All these stages at this early in the journey have me baffled at times. Next on my agenda: tomorrow I will call NVC, speak with an operator, and give them our email addresses.

[Burebista 3]

Is this true?

1: If the beneficiary’s interview will be in their native country, all documents from that country may not need to be translated. All documents from outside their native country should be translated in English with an accompanying certification from the translator, and the original language documents.

[Saylin 1,605]

Is this true?

1: If the beneficiary's interview will be in their native country, all documents from that country may not need to be translated. All documents from outside their native country should be translated in English with an accompanying certification from the translator, and the original language documents.

I've seen the same thing on NVC's site about translations. Despite this though, I've still seen people get RFEs sometimes for not submitting translations, even though the documents are in the official language of the country they're residing in and where they'll be interviewed.

[Lidia & JB 4]

Is this true?

1: If the beneficiary's interview will be in their native country, all documents from that country may not need to be translated. All documents from outside their native country should be translated in English with an accompanying certification from the translator, and the original language documents.

more or less true, actually the documents must be either in English or the language where the benefiary lives. My exemple : I'm Portuguese living in Paris France, I had to translate my portuguese criminal record into French, but as for my birth certificate, which I had to order from the Portuguese consulate, it is in a multi-lingual format. My daughter was born here in Paris, I don't have to translate any of her docs.

Edited May 8, 2011 by Taylormadecouple

[I & JJ <3 9]

I believe the tax trascripts can be original or copies. But we just sent the originals as we didn't need them. And if we ever needed transcripts again, we can just order them from the IRS for free. So save some paper and send the originals

You're right. I forgot those are free. Thanks for answering my question!

[I & JJ <3 9]

Is this true?

1: If the beneficiary’s interview will be in their native country, all documents from that country may not need to be translated. All documents from outside their native country should be translated in English with an accompanying certification from the translator, and the original language documents.

That's something I've been wondering about as well. I recently read an interview account for the Dom. Rep. where the petitioner had turned in translations for all of her docs and the agent threw them in the trash. However, on the U.S. embassy @ DR's website it states that all civil docs have to be translated to English even if they are in Spanish (the native language of DR). So I guess this means I will be translating our marriage certificate and my husband's birth and police certificates.

Have you checked the embassy website for your SO's country?

[kimsue 3]

Is this true?

1: If the beneficiary's interview will be in their native country, all documents from that country may not need to be translated. All documents from outside their native country should be translated in English with an accompanying certification from the translator, and the original language documents.

This is true. My husband's interview will be in Paris and his birth certificate, police certificate, and our marriage certificate are all in French. I didn't send translations, and this is pretty much the only thing I did not get an RFE on. On my cover letter I made sure to indicate which documents they were - for example I would list "Certified Birth Certificate" then follow with ("Acte de Naissance"). I also added a statement in my cover letter quoting the Department of State's policy that is on the "Documents the Applicant Must Submit to the NVC" page (found here):

"All documents not written in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations and submitted to the NVC."

If you decide not to translate, I would write a statement, probably bolded, on your cover letter saying basically "these documents are in X language, the official language of country X" and therefore do not need to be translated.

[Burebista 3]

That's something I've been wondering about as well. I recently read an interview account for the Dom. Rep. where the petitioner had turned in translations for all of her docs and the agent threw them in the trash. However, on the U.S. embassy @ DR's website it states that all civil docs have to be translated to English even if they are in Spanish (the native language of DR). So I guess this means I will be translating our marriage certificate and my husband's birth and police certificates.

Have you checked the embassy website for your SO's country?

I have spoken with my wife, and we both agree that for the small cost of a translation, it's worth avoiding an RFE.

[kimsue 3]

I have spoken with my wife, and we both agree that for the small cost of a translation, it's worth avoiding an RFE.

Yes, that's a good choice. If it's not a big deal to get a translation there is definitely no harm done! I didn't get an RFE for this, but NVC workers are not consistent in giving them out, and being right is no guarantee of avoiding RFEs.

[Jim Brown 5]

So I tried to access the Nvc payment portal today, over the weekend it was accessible for me and showed no invoiced bills, as I haven't had either yet. Today its giving me an error saying my case is not eligible for further processing. I called Nvc and they said that is because the bill hasn't been invoiced yet, but I was able to access it before when the bill wasn't invoiced either. Anyone else have this issue?

[Saylin 1,605]

So I tried to access the Nvc payment portal today, over the weekend it was accessible for me and showed no invoiced bills, as I haven't had either yet. Today its giving me an error saying my case is not eligible for further processing. I called Nvc and they said that is because the bill hasn't been invoiced yet, but I was able to access it before when the bill wasn't invoiced either. Anyone else have this issue?

I've seen this happen to a LOT of people over the last few months. You'll be able to log back in once the bills are invoiced.

[lbjr 0]

So I tried to access the Nvc payment portal today, over the weekend it was accessible for me and showed no invoiced bills, as I haven't had either yet. Today its giving me an error saying my case is not eligible for further processing. I called Nvc and they said that is because the bill hasn't been invoiced yet, but I was able to access it before when the bill wasn't invoiced either. Anyone else have this issue?

It happened to me too. Right after I received my case #, etc etc...I was able to log in and see that the AOS fee was not invoiced, but after a few days, it wasn't accessible. Once the AOS fee becomes available to pay, the site will allow you to log back in. Just give it a few days