Original Birth Certificate Lost

[BeachMusic 8]

Hi Everybody,

This is my first post here. I got engaged last week and have just started looking at K-1 Visa procedures. My primary concern is that while I do have photocopies of my Birth Certificate, I think my original was left with my first school in India. Will only photocopies work? It is also in Hindi and in a different name. I had my name changed when I was around 6 years old, and I have documentation for that (Newspaper ads, forms etc). I even have passports in my old name and the new one as a kid. What should I do about the original Birth certificate, the translation and the name change?

[arashsidhu 1]

Birth Certificates

Available. Prior to l970, the reporting of births was voluntary. Birth certificates of Europeans, Anglo-Indians, Armenian Christians, Jews and Parsis born prior to l970 may be obtained from the State Registrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. No standard or uniform certificate is issued by the authorities. In addition, acceptable certificates may often be obtained from the municipal and rural registration records, which are maintained under the state laws. Europeans, Anglo-Indians, and Indian Christians are usually able to obtain church baptismal certificates.

Under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of l969, births are required to be registered in almost all of the States and Union Territories of India. Birth certificates are available to any applicant born on or after April l, l970, upon payment of a nominal fee to the appropriate authority.

In cases where birth certificates from the authorities are unavailable or contain insufficient information regarding the birth or the parents, a sworn affidavit executed by either the parents, if living, or other close relatives older than the applicant, may be submitted. It should set forth the relationship between the deponent and the applicant, how well the deponent knows the applicant, date and place of the applicant's birth, the names of both parents, and any other related facts. Such an affidavit, when a birth certificate is unavailable, should be accompanied by a document from a competent governmental authority confirming that the certificate does not exist, or no longer exists.

[Jigs 0]

I don't think you need your birth certificate if you are filing for your spouse to come to US. If you are US Citizen and filing for your spouse then you need documents to establish your relationship with spouse. If you have US Passport copy and Naturalization copy that shows you are US citizen and will need marriage documents to prove relationship with spouse. If it is not urgent for your spouse to come to US, I suggest filling for normal I-130 instead of the Fiance K-1 or K-3) visa.