Original vs. Copy for NVC

[Paul&Vha 2]

Hi all, my wife and I are complete with our DS-230 and IV packages for the NVC, but I want to double check about the translation. I was extra safe with the I-130 and got a professional translation and sent a copy of our marriage and her birth certificates with the I-130 package along with original certified translations.

Now I know that I must send originals of the birth and marriage certificates to the NVC, but can I submit photocopies of the translations since I already sent originals with the I-130, or will I need to get new, original translations?

Also, I am not sure how picky the NVC is, but in Indonesia they issue two identical "marriage books", so I only got one translation as the content is identical; except for one thing. The title on the cover of the books is different as one states "Book of marriage for husband" and the other "Book of marriage for wife".

Would/should I need to get the individual covers translated too, or would the interior content which is identical in both be sufficient? Let me know guys, and sorry for the rambling post!

[Bule&Cantik 8]

Hi all, my wife and I are complete with our DS-230 and IV packages for the NVC, but I want to double check about the translation. I was extra safe with the I-130 and got a professional translation and sent a copy of our marriage and her birth certificates with the I-130 package along with original certified translations.

Now I know that I must send originals of the birth and marriage certificates to the NVC, but can I submit photocopies of the translations since I already sent originals with the I-130, or will I need to get new, original translations?

Also, I am not sure how picky the NVC is, but in Indonesia they issue two identical "marriage books", so I only got one translation as the content is identical; except for one thing. The title on the cover of the books is different as one states "Book of marriage for husband" and the other "Book of marriage for wife".

Would/should I need to get the individual covers translated too, or would the interior content which is identical in both be sufficient? Let me know guys, and sorry for the rambling post!

Do not know the answer to the Buku Nikah translation question.....we did not want to send our Buku Nikah, so we got a form from KUA,"Piagam". It is from KUA (the issuing agency, has stamps, seals, etc..) we submitted to NVC with an attested translation.

This satisfied NVC without us having to risk losing our Buku Nikah. According to Indonesia you can not ever get a replacement Buku Nikah. It is a one time issuance.

My wife will take her Buku Nikah to interview.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Bule&Cantik

[Paul&Vha 2]

Do not know the answer to the Buku Nikah translation question.....we did not want to send our Buku Nikah, so we got a form from KUA,"Piagam". It is from KUA (the issuing agency, has stamps, seals, etc..) we submitted to NVC with an attested translation.

This satisfied NVC without us having to risk losing our Buku Nikah. According to Indonesia you can not ever get a replacement Buku Nikah. It is a one time issuance.

My wife will take her Buku Nikah to interview.

Bule, thanks this is great advice. We were worried about losing the Buku Nikah also. We will definitely check that out. And what did you do about the birth certificate? I hear that is hard to replace here too if lost, but we also don't know how/where to get a certified copy of it. What did you do about the birth certificate?

[Bule&Cantik 8]

Bule, thanks this is great advice. We were worried about losing the Buku Nikah also. We will definitely check that out. And what did you do about the birth certificate? I hear that is hard to replace here too if lost, but we also don't know how/where to get a certified copy of it. What did you do about the birth certificate?

My wife had an original birth certificate so we sent it. It may be difficult to replace but difficult is better than impossible.

[Tohoku 6]

Bule, thanks this is great advice. We were worried about losing the Buku Nikah also. We will definitely check that out. And what did you do about the birth certificate? I hear that is hard to replace here too if lost, but we also don't know how/where to get a certified copy of it. What did you do about the birth certificate?

Greetings!

I agree with Bule&Cantik, you can get a special Certificate from KUA and it is replaceable, unlike Buku Nikah.

As for Birth Certificate, my parents lost mine when I was in kindergarten, but the Catatan Sipil can produce you an Excerpt that is acceptable as an official replacement for your Birth Certificate. We used my Birth certificate excerpt (along with translation and all) during our I-130 application and no problem there, so I assume it is acceptable in the US as well.

My husband and I are filling the DS 230 as well at the moment and boy, we're so happy that we are not alone and have people to 'discuss' this whole process with!

And if you guys don't mind, we have few questions about the DS 230 as well:

What did your wife fill in the education section, do we need to include high school? Or from college onward is enough?

And about police record. Did your wife get one from Mabes Polri? Or just follow the Department of State guideline which said we don't need one from Indonesia? I posted about this previously, and Ryah H said I didn't need one from Indonesia but I just want to double check. You know how these things generate the paranoia from us, lol.

Sorry I answered your questions with more questions from me,

And thanks in advance!

[Bule&Cantik 8]

Greetings!

I agree with Bule&Cantik, you can get a special Certificate from KUA and it is replaceable, unlike Buku Nikah.

As for Birth Certificate, my parents lost mine when I was in kindergarten, but the Catatan Sipil can produce you an Excerpt that is acceptable as an official replacement for your Birth Certificate. We used my Birth certificate excerpt (along with translation and all) during our I-130 application and no problem there, so I assume it is acceptable in the US as well.

My husband and I are filling the DS 230 as well at the moment and boy, we're so happy that we are not alone and have people to 'discuss' this whole process with!

And if you guys don't mind, we have few questions about the DS 230 as well:

What did your wife fill in the education section, do we need to include high school? Or from college onward is enough?

And about police record. Did your wife get one from Mabes Polri? Or just follow the Department of State guideline which said we don't need one from Indonesia? I posted about this previously, and Ryah H said I didn't need one from Indonesia but I just want to double check. You know how these things generate the paranoia from us, lol.

Sorry I answered your questions with more questions from me,

And thanks in advance!

School is school. We listed all we could. In my opinion omitting a school is not fully answering question of education.

We also obtained and sent a police report. I know it is not required per dept of state reciprocity, but in my opinion submitting police report is just trying to provide best possible info.

And I pray my wife get her visa soon, the paranoia and second-guessing every decision is tiresome.

I also am very glad we are all going through this together. It makes it easier.

[Paul&Vha 2]

Greetings!

I agree with Bule&Cantik, you can get a special Certificate from KUA and it is replaceable, unlike Buku Nikah.

As for Birth Certificate, my parents lost mine when I was in kindergarten, but the Catatan Sipil can produce you an Excerpt that is acceptable as an official replacement for your Birth Certificate. We used my Birth certificate excerpt (along with translation and all) during our I-130 application and no problem there, so I assume it is acceptable in the US as well.

My husband and I are filling the DS 230 as well at the moment and boy, we're so happy that we are not alone and have people to 'discuss' this whole process with!

And if you guys don't mind, we have few questions about the DS 230 as well:

What did your wife fill in the education section, do we need to include high school? Or from college onward is enough?

And about police record. Did your wife get one from Mabes Polri? Or just follow the Department of State guideline which said we don't need one from Indonesia? I posted about this previously, and Ryah H said I didn't need one from Indonesia but I just want to double check. You know how these things generate the paranoia from us, lol.

Sorry I answered your questions with more questions from me,

And thanks in advance!

For school: We listed all of her school since elementary. Maybe not necessary but we figured it couldn't hurt. It's always best to give more information than not enough

For Police Clearance Certificate: Yes, from Mabes Polri. It cost rp 100,000. I am not sure about getting one outside of Indonesia, but it is pretty easy to get here, and just translate it.

Yes, I know the feeling of paranoia as well, trust me!

For school: We listed all of her school since elementary. Maybe not necessary but we figured it couldn't hurt. It's always best to give more information than not enough

For Police Clearance Certificate: Yes, from Mabes Polri. It cost rp 100,000. I am not sure about getting one outside of Indonesia, but it is pretty easy to get here, and just translate it. And like Bule said, it's not technically required yet but it is better to send it now, in my opinion.

Yes, I know the feeling of paranoia as well, trust me!

[Maryamm 1]

we will send our ds 230 soon, and we decided to send the certified ones, but now hubby changed his mind, he said he might wanna send the original of marriage book since it will be sent back to indo/USEM using DHL (he trust it) arrghh...if NVC lost it, we still have 1 (the wife marriage book) but i know i wouldn't feel ok with it. u know, loosing one of the most important docs in your life and knowing it's irreplaceable is not fun at all!

police cert @ Tohoku: i didn't get one, my hubby emailed the embassy and they replied police cert from indo isn't required, think that it's all up to us, to get or not to get. i live far away from jakarta, it's kinda difficult...not that difficult though, but still i don't like the idea going there just to get a piece of paper (although i understand it's important, but i read their website it's not available...so confusing) i just wished i could get one from the Police station nearby me. but i heard from some of friends, the CO didn't ask for it in their interviews, so this made me n my hubby r certain to not obtain one for me.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Maryamm

[Paul&Vha 2]

we will send our ds 230 soon, and we decided to send the certified ones, but now hubby changed his mind, he said he might wanna send the original of marriage book since it will be sent back to indo/USEM using DHL (he trust it) arrghh...if NVC lost it, we still have 1 (the wife marriage book) but i know i wouldn't feel ok with it. u know, loosing one of the most important docs in your life and knowing it's irreplaceable is not fun at all!

police cert @ Tohoku: i didn't get one, my hubby emailed the embassy and they replied police cert from indo isn't required, think that it's all up to us, to get or not to get. i live far away from jakarta, it's kinda difficult...not that difficult though, but still i don't like the idea going there just to get a piece of paper (although i understand it's important, but i read their website it's not available...so confusing) i just wished i could get one from the Police station nearby me. but i heard from some of friends, the CO didn't ask for it in their interviews, so this made me n my hubby r certain to not obtain one for me.

Yes I know how you feel about the married books. We are pretty sure that DHL wouldn't lose them but we just don't want to run the risk, lol. We are going to try what Bule suggested and get a stamped certificate from KUA. The police report I think is up to you whether or not to get but I don't know. My wife's dad is handling that for us as he knows more than we do.

[Tohoku 6]

we will send our ds 230 soon, and we decided to send the certified ones, but now hubby changed his mind, he said he might wanna send the original of marriage book since it will be sent back to indo/USEM using DHL (he trust it) arrghh...if NVC lost it, we still have 1 (the wife marriage book) but i know i wouldn't feel ok with it. u know, loosing one of the most important docs in your life and knowing it's irreplaceable is not fun at all!

police cert @ Tohoku: i didn't get one, my hubby emailed the embassy and they replied police cert from indo isn't required, think that it's all up to us, to get or not to get. i live far away from jakarta, it's kinda difficult...not that difficult though, but still i don't like the idea going there just to get a piece of paper (although i understand it's important, but i read their website it's not available...so confusing) i just wished i could get one from the Police station nearby me. but i heard from some of friends, the CO didn't ask for it in their interviews, so this made me n my hubby r certain to not obtain one for me.

Thank you all for the inputs!

@Bule&Cantik and Paul&Vha, I will do as you guys suggest about school, list 'em all!

@Maryam: I called the NVC, and they checked and said it is unavailable (what does that even mean? unavailable?) I asked her if that meant I didn't need to submit any, she just said, unavailable, lol. I live in Japan, so I guess for now we are not going to submit any from Indonesia, and fingers crossed this will be OK. Worst case scenario, we get the RFE then maybe I will go to Jakarta to get it (please please please don't let this be the scenario)...

Paul, sorry for re-routing your thread a bit hehe..

And best of luck to you all! May we go through this tiring process successfully and who knows, someday probably we can meet in person and we all can laugh about this process!

[Paul&Vha 2]

Thank you all for the inputs!

@Bule&Cantik and Paul&Vha, I will do as you guys suggest about school, list 'em all!

@Maryam: I called the NVC, and they checked and said it is unavailable (what does that even mean? unavailable?) I asked her if that meant I didn't need to submit any, she just said, unavailable, lol. I live in Japan, so I guess for now we are not going to submit any from Indonesia, and fingers crossed this will be OK. Worst case scenario, we get the RFE then maybe I will go to Jakarta to get it (please please please don't let this be the scenario)...

Paul, sorry for re-routing your thread a bit hehe..

And best of luck to you all! May we go through this tiring process successfully and who knows, someday probably we can meet in person and we all can laugh about this process!

No problem you can adopt this thread if you want. Yes, this process is very tiring. I just learned that if I had listed my address here in Indonesia that I may have had my I-130 automatically expedited in 2-3 weeks rather than 5 months that we waited with the US address. Where was this info when we were filing? Oh well I guess it gave us time to establish credibility in our fast marriage

PS any time you are in Jakarta let us know and we can meet you

Edited June 12, 2012 by Paul&Vha