CRBA Moscow

[av8or1 246]

Hi-

Due to the craziness that is TSC, at least WRT the I-129F, Elena and I will be forced to have our son born in Moscow. That will happen in either late April or early May. Therefore I am resuming my research into the CRBA stuff. I called the US Embassy in Moscow while I was there during the holidays and received answers to some questions I had, but the guy I spoke with was very terse and brief; heck he even sounded Russian! So I am curious to know if anyone here has any experience with the CRBA process in Moscow specifically? If so, could you share your experience and lessons learned? I am most interested in these things:

1) Which forms are required (yes, I have read the website, but am curious to know if there was anything else that you needed but that wasn't explicitly stated)

2) Are official translations are necessary (according to the guy I talked to in December, no translations are necessary whatsoever, is that correct?)

3) How soon after birth did you attend your interview?

4) How long did it take for you to get your child's US Passport?

5) Did they require one of those DNA tests? (I was told that we would be told if we needed this during the interview, but that if we are all present and we are the birth parents (no surrogacy) then usually a DNA test isn't required)

6) Your child's Russian birth certificate ... is there such a thing as an "official birth certificate"? If so, is it issued at the hospital immediately after birth? Is this what you used during your CRBA interview?

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Thanks!

Edited March 10, 2015 by av8or1

[baron555 934]

Try going to the US Embassy in Moscow's website:

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/birth.html

[av8or1 246]

Try going to the US Embassy in Moscow's website:

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/birth.html

Thanks baron555. I had already been through the website when I made that post. Really I was just searching to see if anyone here had any direct experience that they could share, that's all. Personal experience is often the best guide I think, but maybe it's just me.

Anyway, I plan to post in this thread with my experience, as it will be happening quite soon, in either late April or early May. And hopefully that will help someone else in the future.

[av8or1 246]

And I can already answer #6, BTW:

6) Your child's Russian birth certificate ... is there such a thing as an "official birth certificate"? If so, is it issued at the hospital immediately after birth? Is this what you used during your CRBA interview?

Yes, there is such a thing as an official government-issued birth certificate and yes, it does differ from anything you might receive from the hospital, and yes the embassy won't accept the hospital stuff, only the "official" one from the government. Finally, you will need an official, certified translation of your (non-Russian) passport.

To obtain the "official" government-issued birth certificate, you visit the building that contains the Federal Migration Service. In this building there is another office where you complete the birth registration form. In my case, because we are stuck in TSC *HELL* and cannot get married yet, I will also need to complete a document in which I claim that I am the father and that I am assuming responsibility for our child. Apparently there is yet another form that we must complete if we want him to have an English-style name, which we do. But I'll have to report back on that later. Anyway, you submit the completed registration form and the "official" government-issued birth certificate is generated.

I know this stuff (or at least I think I do) because Elena has been doing her research and has visited this place in person twice. Both times she was given the same story, so we're inclined to believe it. Again, I'll make a nice summary of our experience later on for others to benefit from in the future.

Thanks!