Petitioner's foreign birth certificate?

[Annemieke 9]

Hi everyone,

reading this forum has been extremely helpful so far.

 

We were happy to get approved for Exceptional Consular Filing in Singapore for our I-130 petition due to my husband's job offer in the US.

We just had our official filing appointment and brought a big file with every document we own, feeling overly-prepared.

All was fine but... they asked for my husband's birth certificate (he is the petitioner).

He is a Naturalized US Citizen who moved from China as a child and China didn't issue birth certificates before 1996.

 

We told the (very rude) document collector that he has a naturalization certificate (showed it but they hardly glanced a it) and no birth certificate, plus this seems like an irrelevant document in this process.

But he insisted and gave us a printed instruction on how to get some sort of notarized certificate from China and they won't process our I-130 until they get it.

As you can imagine, this is a very difficult and time-consuming process to and we are not sure if we will succeed doing that from Singapore.

 

We are in a time crunch and this may add weeks/months to our process.

We actually want to appeal to this as from all sources it seems strange that they ask for his birth certificate... He is a US citizen.

Has any other petitioner been asked about the birth certificate?

 

Would just like to hear experiences to understand.
 

 

 

 

 

 

[analitikas 3]

We were asked for my birth certificate when doing the exceptional filing. I am also a naturalized citizen. I also found it strange, but just went with it. 

[analitikas 3]

6 hours ago, analitikas said:

We were asked for my birth certificate when doing the exceptional filing. I am also a naturalized citizen. I also found it strange, but just went with it. 

However, I read somewhere that it is not needed.

 

For example here:

 

 

[Annemieke 9]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Our lawyer appealed to the request for the Chinese birth certificate but they wouldn’t budge.

 

We have now mobilised all family in US and China. A major headache and might delay us big time going from desk to desk to try and get the right papers for the birth certificate. Not fun at all.

 

[JMac7486 5]

My wife is from China, born in 1993, and needed a birth certificate forms tourist visa twobyears ago. She had her father, who still lives on the city she was born, (where her hukou is registered) go to the government office to inquire about the process. You are correct, there is no birth certificate for people born before the mid-late 90s and you can't get one. But my wife was able to get an officially stamped documented that stated all the needed information. Took less than two weeks if I remember correctly. Not a difficult process.

[pm5k 129]

Can you use the family register?  That is what the DOS site appears to reference

 

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

Birth Certificates

Available

Fees: Varies. Normally RMB 200 - 300  (Notarization Fee: RMB 80 + Translation Fee: Non-standard)

Document Name: Notarial certificate (Gong Zheng Shu)

Issuing Authority: Local Notary Public Office (Gong Zheng Chu)

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: A notarial birth certificate normally contains a watermark, seal, and red stamp. It indicates the applicant’s name, gender, date of birth, ID number, place of birth, and both parents’ names.  NOTE: Notarial birth certificates issued prior to 2012 may not list the ID number. All notarial documents must have an English translation, and be attached with a certificate stating that the English translation is in conformity with the Chinese original.

Issuing Authority Personnel Title: Notary Public (Gong Zheng Yuan)

Registration Criteria:

1. A National ID and household registration (Hu Kou Bu).  If the applicant lives abroad, a copy of his or her passport is also required. 
    
2. One of the following three documents:
    
   • Birth certificate (Chu Sheng Zheng Ming Shu) or medical certificate of birth (Chu Sheng Yi Xue Zheng Ming) issued by the hospital
   • Initial Birth Record issued by the Household Registration Department of the local Public Security Bureau
   • Proof of birth issued by the sub-district office or the Personnel Department of Work Unit
      
3. Photographs - at least two.
4. A signed affidavit or authorization certificate from the applicant if someone other than the applicant applies for the certificate on his or her behalf.  The authorized person also needs to provide his/her national ID.   
5. Documentation of both parents’ identification.  If deceased, a death certificate is required.   
6. Other documents requested by the Notary Public (Gong Zheng Yuan).

Procedure for Obtaining:

1. Complete an application and submit all relevant documents to the Notary Public Office (Gong Zheng Chu).
2. The Notary Public then examines the documents. If the application is accepted, the applicant pays all related notary fees.
3. Once the review of the submitted documentation is completed, the notarial birth certificate is issued.

Certified Copies Available: Certified copies are not available.

Alternate Documents: There are no alternate documents.

Exceptions: None

Comments: Applicants should check the website or contact their local Notary Public Office to obtain specific information regarding required fees and supporting documents. 

 

 

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