Applying for US PASSPORT I RECEIVE A COPY OF MY CERTIFICATE AND NOT THE ORIGINAL

[Carolina Dalton 62]

I WAS looking my certificate of naturalizacion and Mine was black and white, but my moms who she became us citizen 3 years prior me her certificate has gold color, a color photo, and it is kinda green background MINE IS BLACK AND WHITE SO, WHEN APPLYING FOR US PASSPORT I need to send my oringinal certificate and they send me a copy? or what? BECAUSE I REALLY DONT REMEBER IF MY CERTIFICATE WAS IN BLACK AND WHITE OR GREEN BACKGROUND AND GOLD STAMP LIKE MY MOM, BUT I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING ON THE WEB AND I HAVE SEEN  THEY LOOK LIKE MY MOMS AND MINE LOOKS LIKE LITERALLY A COPY, MAYBE THEY MISTAKING SEND ME A COPY AND THEY HAVE MY ORIGINAL OR THEY ACTUALLY GIVE ME AT FIRST BLACK AND WHITE CERTIFICATE?

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, Carolina Dalton said:

BECAUSE I REALLY DONT REMEBER IF MY CERTIFICATE WAS IN BLACK AND WHITE OR GREEN BACKGROUND AND GOLD STAMP LIKE MY MOM,

Is it possible you are looking at a photocopy of it you made a while back, since you don't remember if your original one was in color or not?  And maybe just don't remember where your original is?  Stop and think of all the places you would have possibly put an important document like that...breathe   Try to think back to your Oath Date (if it wasn't long ago) and what you did with the certificate when you got home.

 

As far as I know, and have seen myself from others, the original is in color.  How long ago did you get your Naturalization Certificate (the year, I mean)?

Edited October 7, 2017 by Going through

[Carolina Dalton 62]

12 minutes ago, Going through said:

Is it possible you are looking at a photocopy of it you made a while back, since you don't remember if your original one was in color or not?

 

As far as I know, and have seen myself from others, the original is in color.  How long ago did you get your Naturalization Certificate (the year, I mean)?

The thing is that I fly to Colombia and leave my certificate at home in us, and that's the only one I got and the only one I receive, I leave my certificate  in  us in case I lost my us passport and I need to get a new one so I WILL have my certificate in us, WELL I am doing k1 visa and need a photocopy of my certificate, and I told my mom to send me a scanned  page of my certificate of Naturalization and it was white and black, but this is not on a piece of paper it was similar paper  to her just everything black and white, my mom compared her to mine and her was in color and mine in black,  THAT IS THE  only ONE THAT I receive in the mail, I receive it  in  December of 2016  my mom receive hers in 2014 I thought they might change things but I look on Instagram presents certificates and they look in color, color photo, green background mine is absolutely black and white. I DID NOT KNOW THAT I HAVE BAD LUCK AND THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME. 

 

They send me first my passport, and later on, I receive my certificate of naturalization even in a transparent envelope,  that even says something like a certificate of naturalization something like that but it was white and black.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Carolina Dalton

[Carolina Dalton 62]

I NEVER MAKE COPIES and my mom she never make copies cause she doesn't know how to do it lol and I keep my certificate in a secure place with an envelope, I even told her to take a photo, and it looks very good, like the copy is a very good quality, the paper too,  very similar but is black and white 

[Going through 5,671]

2 minutes ago, Carolina Dalton said:

WELL I am doing k1 visa and need a photocopy of my certificate, and I told my mom to send me a scanned  page of my certificate of Naturalization and it was white and black, but this is not on a piece of paper it was similar paper  to her just everything black and white, my mom compared her to mine and her was in color and mine in black,  THAT IS THE  only ONE THAT I receive in the mail,

If your mother scanned it to you, is it possible she had the settings on her computer for black & white only, thus the scan would be in black and white?

 

3 minutes ago, Carolina Dalton said:

They send me first my passport, and later on, I receive my certificate of naturalization even in a transparent  envelope, but it was white and black.

I'm a bit confused---earlier you said you couldn't remember if the original one you received when becoming a citizen was color or black and white.  So when you received your certificate immediately after your Oath Ceremony, was it in color or in black and white only?

 

Luckily with the K1, you can submit the photocopy of your naturalization certificate, so it won't be an issue that it's in black and white...so that's a good thing, at least, if the one you have now truly is a photocopy only and not the original.

 

6 minutes ago, Carolina Dalton said:

I receive it  in  December of 2016  my mom receive hers in 2014 I thought they might change things but I look on Instagram presents certificates and they look in color, color photo, green background mine is absolutely black and white.

I suppose it's possible that different field offices do things differently when conducting the Oath Ceremonies and putting out the certificates.  I'm curious----the instagram photos you have been looking at---is it possible to narrow down the search to show only those certificates that were presented out of the same location/time period only so you can truly compare what others in your same area would have gotten?  (I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of Instagram)

[Carolina Dalton 62]

Yeah but it is obviously a copy,  because the stamps and everything should be in color, I don't remember because I didn't pay attention to it for being honest I get it  and the next day I was doing my passport and need to leave my certificate with them but I do remember my photo was in color, and I said I look kinda yellow lol so yeah probably they make a mistake...., But it is obviously a copy, probably they ..though it was the original who knows?, I mean  they are just workers(humans), everyone makes mistakes, So that's what I am thinking could happen to me, probably they make good quality copies so they can keep it. But what it bothers me is that why I'm so unlucky, why me?  BUT NOW I HAVE TO PROBABLY PAY $ 500 BUCKS for someone else mistake.  this is the copy that they send me very good quality and this is how it looks at the time of scanning the photo 

img1309 (1) escaneada.pdf

[marcusa 31]

as far as i recall, almost all the document from the USCIS are in light green background,. the black/white just looks so unofficial and unprofessional.

as black/white document is very easy to modify for illegal purpose. 

 

plus, the paper quality is way different between the original certifcate(thick and strong solid) and regular A4-size copy (light and easy to break ).

 

there is only ONE possibility that USCIS staff made a mistake when they printed out your official certificate but they didnt notice that their color printer just happened to have no color ink anymore ,so it turned out to be black/white. but the paper is the same quality.  If that's the case, you should call the USCIS or for the best chance, make an infopass and talk to the officer in person and show them this unusual  but authentic certificate., you can argue for their correction and send you a new one if needed.

 

However, i still dont understand, as everyone will be asked to sign on the certificate on the oath ceremony day. Did you notice anything abnormal when you saw your document and were about to sign ? i mean the color ? 

 

[Carolina Dalton 62]

7 hours ago, marcusa said:

as far as i recall, almost all the document from the USCIS are in light green background,. the black/white just looks so unofficial and unprofessional.

as black/white document is very easy to modify for illegal purpose. 

 

plus, the paper quality is way different between the original certifcate(thick and strong solid) and regular A4-size copy (light and easy to break ).

 

there is only ONE possibility that USCIS staff made a mistake when they printed out your official certificate but they didnt notice that their color printer just happened to have no color ink anymore ,so it turned out to be black/white. but the paper is the same quality.  If that's the case, you should call the USCIS or for the best chance, make an infopass and talk to the officer in person and show them this unusual  but authentic certificate., you can argue for their correction and send you a new one if needed.

 

However, i still dont understand, as everyone will be asked to sign on the certificate on the oath ceremony day. Did you notice anything abnormal when you saw your document and were about to sign ? i mean the color ? 

 

I'm pretty sure my photo was  a color photo, I never had one certificate so I don't know what it's supposed to look lol, But I'm pretty sure I will notice if at the time of the oath ceremony they will give me a different one because we were sitting pretty close, and everyone close to me was saying uhh good photo and I too to other people, so I know it has to be mistakenly changed at the national passport at the time of them sending me my certificate. I DON'T THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH THE OATH CEREMONY,  I know it has to be with the national passport, probably they keep a record of certificates of naturalization and they send me the copy Now I notice, comparing my mom's certificate, lol.  and yes IT DOES LOOK LIKE A VERY GOOD COPY I MEAN YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING VERY CLEAR, THE PAPER IT IS VERY DIFFERENT LIKE SOME TYPE OF CARDBOARD

Edited October 7, 2017 by Carolina Dalton

[Going through 5,671]

The good news is that you don't need the original certificate to prove your citizenship since you have your US passport now, which you can use going forward.

The other good news is that at least you have a copy of it so that if you ever need the certificate registration number for USCIS applications, you have that number on the copy to rely on.

 

The bad news, is that if you believe the passport people never sent you the original, and you want another original/certified copy, you're going to have to pay for it since there's no way of you proving that the Passport Agency never sent back the actual original as you say.

 

If you had noticed the difference after receiving your certificate back in early 2017, you may have had a chance of launching an investigation with the passport people on their apparent error right away ... this long gone now, there's very little you can do other than apply for a replacement certificate and pay for it.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Going through

[marcusa 31]

then you have to go applying for a duplicate certificate out of your pocket. this is the easiest way if the money is not a big issue.

 

i always wondered why the passport agency ask for original certificate and keep them for a while,and send it back in a  cheap 49-cents first-class USPS mail.  It possibly get lost,damaged or wrinkled so easily. also, they might send you the wrong certificate or even a black/white photocopy in this case.The passport agency or the passport factory are NOT responsible for any lost ,error and  damages of your original certificates. Then receiver will pay for their faults. 

 

[marcusa 31]

or why the government just provides us with two certificates, one used for passport application and dont ask for sending it back to avoid the lost and damages. The other one is for your record. but the government doesn;t think in the same way.All they care about is saving the cost. They increase the application fee frequently but the service quality is the same. If you want a 2nd copy of your certificate, sorry , you have to pay hundrends $.more. for the extra.

[Holt 73]

You have your passport. It seems a light to you right now. 

If you have extra money, you can apply for a duplicate certificate. Otherwise, there is no need.

I know you will be really pissed because you need to pay a bunch of money for a paper which you did not lose it by yourself.

Sorry to hear this but for now, there is nothing much you could do. 

[dioxide45 25]

On 10/7/2017 at 1:11 PM, marcusa said:

then you have to go applying for a duplicate certificate out of your pocket. this is the easiest way if the money is not a big issue.

 

i always wondered why the passport agency ask for original certificate and keep them for a while,and send it back in a  cheap 49-cents first-class USPS mail.  It possibly get lost,damaged or wrinkled so easily. also, they might send you the wrong certificate or even a black/white photocopy in this case.The passport agency or the passport factory are NOT responsible for any lost ,error and  damages of your original certificates. Then receiver will pay for their faults. 

 

A reason why it is good to apply in person at a Passport Agency if you are close enough and you can. The officer that takes your application validates your documents and gives them back on the spot. The passport follows later once processed.

[Carolina Dalton 62]

17 hours ago, dioxide45 said:

A reason why it is good to apply in person at a Passport Agency if you are close enough and you can. The officer that takes your application validates your documents and gives them back on the spot. The passport follows later once processed.

Yes but I wasn't close I will have to dry 3 1/2 hours and I don't  drive lol hahaha,

[Carolina Dalton 62]

17 hours ago, dioxide45 said:

A reason why it is good to apply in person at a Passport Agency if you are close enough and you can. The officer that takes your application validates your documents and gives them back on the spot. The passport follows later once processed.

Yes but I wasn't close I will have to dry 3 1/2 hours and I don't  drive lol hahaha,