Two birth certificates?!

[trbasat 2]

Hey everyone! My fiancée and I are in the final stepts of finishing our K1 package and so far everything is going well (thanks to this website!! ).

However one thing that throws me off is that she told me yesterday that she has TWO birth certificates? She was born in the US and both her parents were born and raised in the USA so she has no direct immigration background.

She said one is longer but only has stuff on the front and the other has stuff on the front AND back. And apparently one says "Department of Health" on top. Does anybody know which one to use? Or can we just send in copies of both and it wouldn't cause USCIS to get confused?

Edited October 28, 2013 by trbasat

[bigdog 376]

If she has a US birth certificate, she is a US citizen no matter where she was raised, apply for a US passport and you are done.

[trbasat 2]

Well yeah I am aware of that! And what do you mean with applying for a US passport? We haven't even filed for anything yet. Just to clear things up she is the USC and I'm the beneficiary (I am German, therefore no USC)

So just send in copies of both birth certificates of her inside my k1-package?

[Zeeshanish 9]

Nopes just the US Birth Certificate is required nothing else.

[trbasat 2]

Well the problem is she has TWO(!) birth certificates. They both state the same place and date and as I mentioned in the initial post one is really large and just has a front page and nothing on the back. The other one has a front and back. We just don't know which one we should sent...

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

US birth certificates are issued by local authorities so they all look different. You can't ask which one is right based on a description of "stuff on front or back" or not.

You both will need to determine which one is the official one. She should contact the authorities in her place of birth and ask them about the BCs they issue.

It's possible one is a novelty, or that one is long-form or short-form (which is unusual in the US, but I suppose possible). The issuing authority will be able to answer that, on the phone.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[trbasat 2]

Okay thank you! Would just sending in copies of both work as well? I'm just asking because we are pretty much done and she has a lot of stuff to do this week so if we could save time that'd be great.
If you guys think it could be a problem though we're gonna have to figure it out the hard way I guess.