original birth certificate

[kanderson101 131]

Hello,

My fiance received his packet 3, and it states that he needs to bring his original birth certificate and a copy to the interview in Brussels. However, when he contacted his town hall, they stated that they are not allowed to give out original birth certificates, only copies. I don't know if this will be an issue, but it's a national law apparently so I can't see a way around it. Anyone else have this issue?? 

 

Thanks in advance!!

[JFH 12,190]

No one gets the original birth certificate. That stays locked away in the records office as it is the only record of the birth. What they mean is a certified copy, not a photocopy. 

[ImagineMe 35]

Glad I happened to see this post because I was about to have my fiance have her original birth certificate sent along with her translated notarial certificate.

[kanderson101 131]

Thanks for the clarification!! That's interesting, I didn't realize that was common. In the states we seem to be in charge of our own original birth certificates, although that seems a little odd now that I think about it. 

 

Follow-up question: is it necessary to have the certified copy translated?

 

Edited May 29, 2018 by kanderson101

[Lemonslice 4,841]

What's acceptable varies by country, see here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html

[thepanda 87]

I also only have a certified copy (with stamp and signature). My birth certificate came in German with translation under each word/sentence in French and English. Since you guys in Belgium have several official languages I assume that you will also receive a similar copy?

[Marieke H 2,507]

3 minutes ago, kanderson101 said:

Follow-up question: is it necessary to have the certified copy translated?

In Europe, many countries can provide an "international" certified copy of the birth certificate. He'll have to check with his town hall and see if they provide that (I would think that it's available in Brussels).

My birth certificate was in 12 languages, including English. However, while it was accepted for my K1, I got an RFE for a translation of my birth certificate during AOS. So I just typed the English part of my birth certificate in a separate document, and included a statement saying that I am fluent in Dutch and English and that the translation was accurate. You might want to do that, just in case you get an officer who is intimidated when they see several languages in a document...

[thepanda 87]

1 minute ago, MariekeH said:

In Europe, many countries can provide an "international" certified copy of the birth certificate. He'll have to check with his town hall and see if they provide that (I would think that it's available in Brussels).

My birth certificate was in 12 languages, including English. However, while it was accepted for my K1, I got an RFE for a translation of my birth certificate during AOS. So I just typed the English part of my birth certificate in a separate document, and included a statement saying that I am fluent in Dutch and English and that the translation was accurate. You might want to do that, just in case you get an officer who is intimidated when they see several languages in a document...

Oh no. I hope I won't have that issues. 12 languages are a lot though....

[kanderson101 131]

3 minutes ago, MariekeH said:

In Europe, many countries can provide an "international" certified copy of the birth certificate. He'll have to check with his town hall and see if they provide that (I would think that it's available in Brussels).

My birth certificate was in 12 languages, including English. However, while it was accepted for my K1, I got an RFE for a translation of my birth certificate during AOS. So I just typed the English part of my birth certificate in a separate document, and included a statement saying that I am fluent in Dutch and English and that the translation was accurate. You might want to do that, just in case you get an officer who is intimidated when they see several languages in a document...

Wow, 12 languages? I guess I'll have to wait and see what they give him, I'm not sure what the certificates look like yet. So for the AOS RFE, it sounds like they accepted an informal document from you just stating that the translation is correct, which is interesting. Is that something that would be helpful to submit on the front end of AOS, instead of waiting for a potential RFE? 

[Marieke H 2,507]

56 minutes ago, kanderson101 said:

Wow, 12 languages? I guess I'll have to wait and see what they give him, I'm not sure what the certificates look like yet. So for the AOS RFE, it sounds like they accepted an informal document from you just stating that the translation is correct, which is interesting. Is that something that would be helpful to submit on the front end of AOS, instead of waiting for a potential RFE? 

It won't hurt to include the "translation", but I know several people who were perfectly fine without it. I think the certificate provided by my small Dutch municipality was just a bit too intimidating, and English was the third or fourth language in the document, so I guess that confused the officer handling our case.