221(g) Denial after IR-1 Interview - no birth certificate / adoption papers

[RandyW 149]

40 minutes ago, BFH said:

Thanks! We've been to the Notarial Office in the past - they said there's no way for them to obtain that document. We contacted them again right after the interview and now it seems like they can help. We're crossing our fingers. Thanks again - we appreciate your help!

They don't OBTAIN any document - they GENERATE the 出生公证书, or chu sheng gong zheng shu from the information in the hukou book.

The Notarial Certificate of Birth is simply a statement of the notarial official's understanding of the circumstances of your wife's birth.

You HAVE the hukou - that is all that is needed. You can also present her ID and passport.

[RandyW 149]

Chinese records are kept in the hukou books. Each hukou has a city where it is registered. They will have a copy of the same information at that location.

 

As far as I know, the consulate is still requiring the "white books" Notarial Ceritifcate of Birth even for those who more recently (since around 1994 or so) were issued Medical certificates of Birth.

Again, the "white books" are generated on the spot by the notarial official from existing records.

 

But pretty much EVERY Chinese citizen applying for a foreign visa needs to go through the same thing. It is surprising that no one was able to help you with this - but it doesn't help when someone tries to tell THEM what information is supposed to be on a "birth certificate". Chinese records and official documents are what they are.

Edited November 22, 2022 by RandyW

[RandyW 149]

17 minutes ago, RandyW said:

Chinese records are kept in the hukou books. Each hukou has a city where it is registered. They will have a copy of the same information at that location.

 

As far as I know, the consulate is still requiring the "white books" Notarial Ceritifcate of Birth even for those who more recently (since around 1994 or so) were issued Medical certificates of Birth.

Again, the "white books" are generated on the spot by the notarial official from existing records.

 

But pretty much EVERY Chinese citizen applying for a foreign visa needs to go through the same thing. It is surprising that no one was able to help you with this - but it doesn't help when someone tries to tell THEM what information is supposed to be on a "birth certificate". Chinese records and official documents are what they are.

Your wife is a fully documented Chinese citizen, and should not have any trouble getting a "white book" 出生公证书. The certificate will reflect whatever the hukou records say about her "parents'.

 

[pushbrk 12,876]

2 hours ago, RandyW said:

Your wife is a fully documented Chinese citizen, and should not have any trouble getting a "white book" 出生公证书. The certificate will reflect whatever the hukou records say about her "parents'.

 

Exactly.  Makes me wonder how they got past USCIS without the proper document from the Notarial Office. .Also wondering why they had any problem getting the white book for birth from there the first time.

[BFH 10]

4 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Exactly.  Makes me wonder how they got past USCIS without the proper document from the Notarial Office. .Also wondering why they had any problem getting the white book for birth from there the first time.

In the past, we'd tried contacting multiple government offices (including the Notarial Office) to try to get the 出生公证书 generated - no one was willing to help, they would just refer us to another office to which we'd call and then get referred somewhere else. This went on for almost a year and we'd made no progress. Our attorney at the time said we might have some luck submitting a Letter of Explanation to see if the USCIS would accept it, and to our surprise they did. We were "documentarily qualified" and were able to get an interview date. 

 

This was a couple years ago and the area my wife is from has developed quite a bit since then. In the past (according to in-laws & family there) you might've had to use guanxi / connections, along with extra "compensation", to simply get people to do their jobs. Lots has changed since. Right after her interview refusal, my wife was able to contact the Notarial Office through their official app/mini program - they said it's no problem for them to generate a 出生公证书 for us. We've since sent off her ID card and hukou information to them and are now waiting. 

 

Thank you all again for the advice and help. 

[BFH 10]

Just wanted to post a quick update in case anyone comes across this and is having similar problems or questions re: the 221(g). 
 

we were able to obtain the birth certificate and submit it about a month after receiving the 221(g) form (denied via 221(g) mid-November - birth certificate, passport and tax returns submitted mid-December). Just this week (February 6) we saw that her visa has been printed and issued! We’re waiting for her passport to be returned to us from Guangzhou and are now making arrangements to move to the US in early April. 
 

thanks to everyone in this thread for the advice and support. It’s been a real mission but it finally feels like it’s paid off.