Iranian calendar v. Western calendar--help! Different birth dates!

[momintheslope 0]

Hi,

Here's the situation: my father-in-law's spanish passport says a birthdate of jan 31st. However, he was born in Iran and has a birth certificate from Iran that when translated states his birthday is Jan 30th. The Iranian calendar is different than the Western calendar. On the Western calendar his birthday falls on either the 31st or 30th of January depending on the year. Now that there are computers, I went back to the year he was born and figured out that his birthday fell on the 30th (not the 31st as the Spanish passport says). However, when the spanish gov't gave him a passport decades ago, they didn't bother to do the research and probably couldn't and just looked up which day his birthday fell on for the year they issued the passport. So therefore, there's a conflict with the translation of his Iranian birth certificate which states his birthday is on Jan 30th but his Spanish passport states Jan 31st. I asked him whether he could petition the spanish government to change his passport but he said it would take thousands of dollars and lawyers and years to get through the bureaucracy in Spain.

Has anyone had this issue? I am considering just getting an Iranian expert to notarize an affidavit explaining the difference in the calendars.

Thoughts?

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Introducing Our Members to Off-Topic Forum~

~Inquiry international document-related, no apparent link to US Immigration~

[momintheslope 0]

Sorry, did I post in the wrong place? trying to figure this site out. Where should I post?

And what do you mean not related to US immigration? My US citizen husband is applying for his non-US citizen parents for an immigrant visa from Spain.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Sorry, did I post in the wrong place? trying to figure this site out. Where should I post?

And what do you mean not related to US immigration? My US citizen husband is applying for his non-US citizen parents for an immigrant visa from Spain.

Thank you for providing more pertinent information, including the US immigration link with your follow-up message. Now I am able to move your thread to (hopefully) a more appropriate forum where you may get some focused responses.

BTW, I have been told by my Chinese wife that they also have two birthdays. It seems that the Chinese calendar is lunar-based, and the western (Gregorian) calendar is solar-based. I believe that her solution was to pick one date and stick with it. I understand how it can lead to confusion. YMMV.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

~Moved from Off Topic to Bringing Family Members of US Citizens to America Forum~

~Inquiry about travel documentation for parents of US Citizen~

Edited March 18, 2014 by A&B