Birth Certificate for Husband?

[Conan 0]

My wife has her Green Card and is here on a K1-Visa

I was looking through documentation to send in whwn applying for citizenship.

It says:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth),

Can the Birth Certificate just be a photo copy or does it have to be an official copy? Will I get it back if it is an Official copy? Thanks

Edited July 14, 2013 by Conan

[carolyn1161 0]

The N400 Document checklist say this:

Send copies of the following documents, unless we ask for an original.

So it's the 'spouses' birth certificate not the applicants.

So that would be YOUR birth certificate showing YOU were born in the United States not your wife's :-)

[BigDaddy28 228]

Send a copy, the original will not get back to you.

[HeatDeath 430]

With USCIS, you only ever send photocopies. If they feel a deep and pressing need to see the original, they will send you an interview notice and tell you to bring the original there.

Through the entire process, from I-129f through citizenship and passport, only two offices have wanted an original document from me:

• The US Consulate in Vancouver state in their Packet 3 that they will keep your long form birth certificate unless you bring in a photocopy to your interview.
• The passport folks need to borrow your original Certificate of Naturalization to issue you your first US passport and passport card.

Every single other form, process, petition, or application has only needed photocopies of documents.

[NickD 202]

The only originals we ever sent in was the affidavits for the I-75, throughout the entire process, only photocopies were sent it. Instructions also state to bring in your original documents for the interview, and whatever you walk in, you also walk out with.

The only other original document we sent in was our Wisconsin marriage certificate, That's because it said right on the top of this certificate, It Against State Law To Copy This Certificate, Up to a $10,000.00 Fine! Now how would that look like to the USCIS if we broke one of our state's laws?

They are yellow and each one has the state seal on it, but fortunately only five bucks each. Ha, when my wife's IO saw that, she also wanted to see, my wife's exact duplicate that my wife had with her. USCIS already has three of those certificates, 15 bucks worth. No wonder why my wife commented her file was 3 1/2" thick.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Copy - she can bring the original to the interview.

[Autumnal 25]

Copies are always desirable and sufficient.