NVC refuses french birth certificate

[frido 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I am currently doing an EB3 visa process and I am at the NVC step.

 

I sent them all the documents, I am a French national born in a foreign country (Romania) so I sent them my french birth certificate, since France officially provides this document for its citizens. 

But the NVC says that they want a birth certificate from Romania....I am not a romanian citizen, I was just born there so I can't ask Romania about any kind of document.

 

They even say on the NVC website https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/France.html

 

 

Quote

 

Birth Certificates

Available

Fees:   There are no fees

Document Name: Copie Integrale de l’Acte de Naissance 

Issuing Authority:

• For persons born in France: “Copie Integrale de l’Acte de Naissance” are obtainable from la Mairie (Office of the Mayor) at the place of birth.
• For French nationals born in a foreign country: they are available from the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Service de l'Etat Civil, 20 Allee Brancas, 44 - Nantes.
• For French nationals born in a French colony: they may be obtained from the Direction des Archives de France, Section Outre-Mer, 5 Bd. Barthou, BP 1056, 44035 Cedex Nantes

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format:  round black/blue/red inked stamp seal and/or dry seal

Issuing Authority Personnel Title:   Mairie or Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres

Registration Criteria:  online at https://www.service-public.fr/

Procedure for Obtaining: applicants must follow the online instructions

Certified Copies Available: No,  a French birth certificate is either a copy from the civil register  Or a computerized document but always with a dry and/or ink seal and signature

 

 

 

So they clearly should accept my birth certificate, I don't even know why they are looking at Romania since I am a french citizen.

 

Any help would be appreciated on how to tackle this.

 

Thanks

Edited October 12, 2020 by frido
typo

[designguy 1,179]

What specifically did the document rejection say?

[frido 0]

1 minute ago, designguy said:

What specifically did the document rejection say?

Quote

We cannot accept the birth certificate document you sent us. You must send a photocopy of the correct
document, issued by the appropriate authority in your country of birth, so we can continue to process
your case.

But I sent the correct document as described on the NVC website for french citizens born in a foreign country. Requested from the french website, full extract and provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nantes

[designguy 1,179]

13 minutes ago, frido said:

But I sent the correct document as described on the NVC website for french citizens born in a foreign country. Requested from the french website, full extract and provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nantes

On the VJ page for the Paris consulate (https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=France&cty=Paris) it states:

Quote

*If you were born in a country besides France and are a French citizen, you need to have both your birth country's birth certificate AND a recent French issued birth certificate too.

 

 

 

Its not that surprising the the US immigration system would want to see the original

 

 

[JFH 12,190]

You must have something from Romania. Birth in one country does not necessarily guarantee citizenship there. You can give birth in the UK, for example, but the baby will not be British unless the parents are “in settled status” or are British citizens. For many countries, merely being born there is not enough for citizenship. But you would still have a birth certificate as a legal record of a live birth. 
 

[frido 0]

6 minutes ago, designguy said:

On the VJ page for the Paris consulate (https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=France&cty=Paris) it states:

 

 

 

Its not that surprising the the US immigration system would want to see the original

 

 

Thing is nothing is mentioned on the NVC website about the "original country of birth" certificate and in that case why would they have the "French national born in Foreign country" if they don't accept this category ? (btw, I am not going through the French embassy in Paris, I currently live in Switzerland).

 

7 minutes ago, JFH said:

You must have something from Romania. Birth in one country does not necessarily guarantee citizenship there. You can give birth in the UK, for example, but the baby will not be British unless the parents are “in settled status” or are British citizens. For many countries, merely being born there is not enough for citizenship. But you would still have a birth certificate as a legal record of a live birth. 
 

Yes but I am a french citizen and not a romanian citizen. I have never lived in Romania and I don't hold any dual citizenship. My parents were french working in Romania at that time then came back to France when I was born.

[JFH 12,190]

Just now, frido said:

 

 

Yes but I am a french citizen and not a romanian citizen. I have never lived in Romania and I don't hold any dual citizenship. My parents were french working in Romania at that time then came back to France when I was born.

I understand that. But there will still be a legal record of your birth in Romania even if you are not Romanian. It’s a legal record of an event - that a person was born. It has nothing to do with citizenship. 

[designguy 1,179]

6 minutes ago, frido said:

"French national born in Foreign country" if they don't accept this category

Its not that they dont accept this category but the consulate site states: 

"Some applicants with French Nationality may be requested to submit French birth certificates even if they were born outside of France."

 

which means you not only need your original but ALSO the french one

[designguy 1,179]

The best course of action would be to immediately begin what ever process is necessary to try and get the Romanian BC.

[frido 0]

40 minutes ago, designguy said:

Its not that they dont accept this category but the consulate site states: 

"Some applicants with French Nationality may be requested to submit French birth certificates even if they were born outside of France."

 

which means you not only need your original but ALSO the french one

Could you please link the resource where you found that quote from? Thanks a lot

[designguy 1,179]

3 hours ago, frido said:

Could you please link the resource where you found that quote from? Thanks a lot

https://fr.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/immigrant-visa-required-documents/