Colombian Birth Certificate

[ghunt2121 1]

Can someone familiar with the document in Colombia help me here? The consul did not accept the birth certificates that we took to the K1 interview and said that we had to instead deliver originals.

I'm confused as to what constitutes an "Original Birth Certificate" in Colombia in the eyes of the US Embassy.

First of all, no government agency, in any country, is ever going to let the one-and-only original of such a document out of their hands, right?

So, by definition, we cannot get "the original", but instead, some sort of "certified" copy.

Apparently (this is what I would like to verify or have corrected for me) in Colombia, the birth certificate (called "registro civil de nacimiento") is obtained from a "Notaria", one particular type of government agency in Colombia. Then, one must go to a different agency (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) who presumably certifies that the "registro civil de nacimiento" is valid and in so doing issues an "apostilla" (in Colombia spelled "apostille" to vouch for that fact (see attached).

My fiancée had gotten the apostille for each of the 2 registro civiles, but failed to take them to the interview. Even if she had, I'm not sure that it all looks right because the "Certified Date" on the apostille is "jueves, 31 de mayo, 2007" (yet the child's birthday is May 3, 1996). I do not understand how these two shreads of paper, issued by two different agencies of the Colombian government, can be proven to correspond to one-another and therefore serve as proof-of-a-valid-birth-certificate.

The consul kept the document (registro civil de nacimiento) that we took that day (June 8) to the interview and told us to make another appointment to deliver the "proper" birth certificates. So I guess what my fiancée must do is start over... 1) get the registro civiles de nacimiento from the Notaria (actually, that we already did the same day) and then 2) go to the "Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores" and get them re-certified; i.e. request new apostilles.

Does any of this even remotely make sense. I hope so... the follow-up appointment date is July 11.

Edited June 15, 2011 by ghunt2121

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I don't think you need any document with an apostille for the Bogota interview.. I needed some of my documents (birth certificate, statement of singlehood, divorce certificate) apostilled to be accepted by the Colombian government to get married in Colombia - the sole purpose of the apostille is to have for documents from one country accepted by another another... Colombians insist on apostilles for any documents from outside the country... but the interview is with the American side. I've never heard of them requiring them.

Did you get the birth certificate for the previous interview from the notaria?

Please keep the thread updated - If I am wrong I need to make some changes before the interview

Edited June 15, 2011 by OnMyWayID

[ghunt2121 1]

Ok - well, perhaps the attached (see attached image) will help a little -- it is the portion of the form that the consul gave us indicating what we were lacking.

It says "Nacimiento-copia del folio-ambos lados de..." and then says, for each of the two children "Primero de <child's name>..."

I'm not sure what is being requested here... copia del folio?? ambos lados de... both sides of what? The registro civil? of the folio?

Help!!

Thanks

PS - maybe I'm way off track with the idea of the Apostille... but clearly we were lacking something.

The main question is: "What are we supposed to have?"

Edited June 15, 2011 by ghunt2121

[ryna 132]

Ok - well, perhaps the attached (see attached image) will help a little -- it is the portion of the form that the consul gave us indicating what we were lacking.

It says "Nacimiento-copia del folio-ambos lados de..." and then says, for each of the two children "Primero de <child's name>..."

I'm not sure what is being requested here... copia del folio?? ambos lados de... both sides of what? The registro civil? of the folio?

Help!!

Thanks

PS - maybe I'm way off track with the idea of the Apostille... but clearly we were lacking something.

The main question is: "What are we supposed to have?"

Maybe you had the short form which is usually a printout of some sort showing Name, DOB, etc...

You need the long form which is a direct copy from the registrar's records (the folio.)

It lists:

Name, DOB, Time of birth, Place of birth, Parent's names, Parent's ages, Parent's occupations and, in my wife's case, her grandparents as well. She had to get it from the place (registrar in the municipality) where her birth was originally recorded by her parents.

Edited June 15, 2011 by ryna

[ryna 132]

One other piece of advice...

When you do get the correct form BC, get several (like 3 or 4 copies.) The embassy kept my wife's only copy and we didn't realize we wouldn't get it back at POE so we had to have her family ship us new copies for our AOS. I don't know what we would have done if they weren't still there to do that for us.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

It says "Nacimiento-copia del folio-ambos lados de..." and then says, for each of the two children "Primero de <child's name>..."

I'm not sure what is being requested here... copia del folio?? ambos lados de... both sides of what? The registro civil? of the folio?

It is asking for a copy of the birth certificate.. both sides.

[Mononoke28 135]

Ok, if the document your fiancée took to the interview is the first one you attached, then that is incorrect because that is not a birth certificate, that is the apostille of the birth certificate which in essence serves as an international notarization.

What she needs to do is go to the notary/ies where the birth certificates where registered. Ask for a certified copy/notarized copy (copia autenticada) front and back of each one and that's it, that's all she needs. There is no need for apostilles and no need to go somewhere else to get it notarized.

She won't get the original documents which are not available, but she will get notarized copies wich is exactly what the US Embassy is asking in the 221G form she received.

Diana

[felo391971 4]

MY wife just told me that they only do this in the front.

[ryna 132]

MY wife just told me that they only do this in the front.

My wife's only had info on the front as well. Of course, we gave them the original (stamped/sealed/signed) official "copy" at the interview which obviously contained the blank back side as well.

FWIW, My U.S. birth certificate only has info on the front but when they wanted a copy, front and back, for the I-129F, I sent them the front and a copy of the blank back where only the fold lines and impression of the official seal were faintly visible..

[Mononoke28 135]

The back will have any additional information. Before I got married my birth certificate was blank in the back but after I got married it had the marginal notes with my marriage info. Same for my husband's. Many notaries, not all, will stamp the back with something along the lines of "sin notas marginales" (without any marginal notes) to indicate that the person has never been married.

Diana

[luke&nana 0]

I have a question regarding this issue... the instructions say to bring "orignal o copia autenticada del registro civil de nacimiento. Se requiere copia del folio" Are those two differente documents? I mean is one document the birth certificate and the other la copia del folio? I want to know from someone who has already have the interview for the K1 visa in Bogota... Thanks!

[kmarion1968 5]

hi guys, new here but been reading alot and have a couple things to add, as stated above, yes the reason your wifes birth certs werent accepted is because that first pic is of the apostille, not the actual document itself as mentioned above by another member, however, in regards to the notario only giving copies of one side, this from my experience is false, my wife has been gathering her docs for herself and my stepson for several weeks now and the certified copies she got have that we are married on the back of her birth cert, as it should say because we were married in colombia, it also states that she has a child and when he was born. all this type of information the embassy will want to see. if you present them with only a blank slate they will question you, especialy if you are married already and it was done in colombia. additionally dont forget that any document submitted to the US embassy must be translated in english, and this copy must be notorized and apostilled. why? because the embassy is in fact considered the USA , its the same deal as when you get married in colombia and you need your docs apostilled to be used in colombia. this info is coming directly from a lawyer in colombia. can you get away without getting them apostilled? dont know maybe, but better safe than sorry, having the docs apostilled wont hurt the case is anything it will make it more iron clad.

[kmarion1968 5]

ok . need to make a correction to the comment i made earlier. NOW im confused. spoke to a family freind and they are in the legal field in colombia, they said only a certified notorized copy of doscuments such as marrage certifiates , birth certificates are needed. no apostille. NOW im getting it from both sides, anyone wanna help me clarify what and what is not needed. just when i thought i understood LOL!

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

ok . need to make a correction to the comment i made earlier. NOW im confused. spoke to a family freind and they are in the legal field in colombia, they said only a certified notorized copy of doscuments such as marrage certifiates , birth certificates are needed. no apostille. NOW im getting it from both sides, anyone wanna help me clarify what and what is not needed. just when i thought i understood LOL!

No apostille is needed for and documents in the visa process.

The rundown for each of the major steps:

Getting Married in Colombia: Apostille needed for various USC documents (Birth cert, certificate of soltero, Divorce documents, etc) English documents must be translated into Spanish.

USCIS: No Apostille for any documents are needed, Spanish documents should be translated into English.

NVC: No Apostille for any documents are needed, Spanish and English documents do not need to be translated.

Bogota interview: No Apostille for any documents are needed, Spanish and English documents do not need to be translated.

[Mononoke28 135]

I see that some people are getting confused with the birth certificate since there is conflicting information posted by the embassy.

First, the reason why an original copy of ANY certificate is not available in Colombia is because the notaría (notary), where births and marriages are registered, keeps the original document and puts it in a binder which is called a "folio" (book). If you go to any notaría in Colombia, you will see that they have tons and tons of these folios all with all kinds of certificates. When you go to request a copy of your birth certificate, the notary's employee will go to your folio, find the certificate, make a copy of it, notarize it and give it to you. They can't just rip off the original from the binder.

The marginal notes are the side notes they write on each certificate. So if you were never married, the birth certificate will either be blank indicating that there haven't been any changes in the status of the person mentioned in the certificate, or it will say "never been married" as the marginal notes. If the person has been married, it will have marginal notes with all the info regarding the marriage. When my husband and I were married in Colombia, our birth certificates were blank because we had never been married. After we got married my husband had to get another copy of his birth certificate and alas, it was given to him with marginal notes with all our marriage info.

As far as apostilles are concerned, they are not needed at the embassy. Unlike Colombia, the US does not require apostilles for any document, not here in the US nor in any US embassy. Also, if the documents are in either English or Spanish, which is the official language in Colombia, translations are not needed.

A DAS certificate (migratory movement letter) is not needed for the petitioner. Yes, a US citizen can get one and if you feel more comfortable getting it, then there is nothing wrong with that. However, like I said, it's not needed unless the CO see discrepancies in the info given to him/her during the interview and asks for it as more evidence of the petitioner's trips to Colombia.

Diana