Aos and our dreaded birth certificate

[dvddvd 0]

My wife came here a few months ago on a k1 fiance visa. She’s from Thailand. She was not born in a hospital and had to have her birth certificate “made”. It’s a process where you take a few “witnesses” to a “county clerk’s office”, they swear to the facts of the birth, and the office then makes the certificate. We used this certificate at the k1 visa interview.

So … yesterday … I got around to reading the English copy for the first time. It says nothing about the date of her birth. It simply mentions her name, the year she was born, her id number, and the area of Thailand where she was born. The entire document is worded as if it’s simply trying to prove where she was born

Now … I’m wondering if this document will suffice for aos. It doesn’t have a birthdate at all. I’m all ready to send everything in for aos , but I don’t want to run into problems if the birth certificate is deemed to be incomplete.

I’m especially worried that the document will be accepted in the beginning and then possibly rejected at the interview. I don’t know how long it will take to have a more complete document “made” and sent here to the states.

Is there anybody out there in my wife’s situation regarding this type of birth certificate from Thailand?

Does your birth certificate have a date of birth???

I know it’s a funny question ….. but … if you have a thai wife you're probably not too suprised by it. ;-)

Thanks for any responses

dvd

[Dakine 26]

My wife came here a few months ago on a k1 fiance visa. She’s from Thailand. She was not born in a hospital and had to have her birth certificate “madeâ€. It’s a process where you take a few “witnesses†to a “county clerk’s officeâ€, they swear to the facts of the birth, and the office then makes the certificate. We used this certificate at the k1 visa interview.

So … yesterday … I got around to reading the English copy for the first time. It says nothing about the date of her birth. It simply mentions her name, the year she was born, her id number, and the area of Thailand where she was born. The entire document is worded as if it’s simply trying to prove where she was born

Now … I’m wondering if this document will suffice for aos. It doesn’t have a birthdate at all. I’m all ready to send everything in for aos , but I don’t want to run into problems if the birth certificate is deemed to be incomplete.

I’m especially worried that the document will be accepted in the beginning and then possibly rejected at the interview. I don’t know how long it will take to have a more complete document “made†and sent here to the states.

Is there anybody out there in my wife’s situation regarding this type of birth certificate from Thailand?

Does your birth certificate have a date of birth???

I know it’s a funny question ….. but … if you have a thai wife you're probably not too suprised by it. ;-)

Thanks for any responses

dvd

Looks like she made it thru the embassy interview with it OK. They may be familiar with BCs like that at the US embassy in Thailand.

May fly at the AOS also.

In the long run it would be much better if you can get her a BC with a birthdate.

I'd go ahead and send the AOS app in as that's all you got anyway for now.

May get a RFE but at least she be in the process.

Edited October 9, 2007 by Haole

[dvddvd 0]

i got my answer. her "birth certificate", at best, is a very bad one. (it doesn't have her parent's names or her actual birth date on it like a normal birth certificate would have from thailand or anywhere else!!!)

however, the darn thing made it past the staff at the embassy in bangkok. i wish they would have caught it.

if i use the original incomplete birth certificate and i get an rfe about it., how long to i have to fix the problem??? if i don't fix the problem in the apropriate time ..... what are the consequences? lose the fee? are all requests denied (ap, ead, and aos) or only aos???? etc?

i hope someone can advise me here so that i know what i'll be risking.

thanks

dvd

[rin and john 71]

<br />i got my answer. her "birth certificate", at best, is a very bad one. (it doesn't have her parent's names or her actual birth date on it like a normal birth certificate would have from thailand or anywhere else!!!)<br /><br />however, the darn thing made it past the staff at the embassy in bangkok. i wish they would have caught it.<br /><br />if i use the original incomplete birth certificate and i get an rfe about it., how long to i have to fix the problem??? if i don't fix the problem in the apropriate time ..... what are the consequences? lose the fee? are all requests denied (ap, ead, and aos) or only aos???? etc?<br /><br />i hope someone can advise me here so that i know what i'll be risking.<br /><br />thanks<br />dvd<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br /

Does she have her Thai ID card? If both the BC and ID Card have her ID number, then maybe you can use both with a letter of explanation of the situation. Of course you would probably have to get her ID translated showing her birth date.

Best of luck!

John

[dvddvd 0]

thanks john,

that's not a bad idea. she has her thai i.d. here. it has her d.o.b. and it's in english.

there are a few options we're considering and yours is now one of them.

i'm wondering about the timing of things, about consequenses, and hoping for some more help here.

i'm wondering if the aos documentation has to be accounted for before ap will be granted? i'm thinking it might be a possibility to send her back to thailand for another birth certificate before her aos interview?? yes? no?

i'm also wondering how long one has to fulfill a rfe?

and what happens if you aren't able to?

thanks again for any thoughts.

dvd

[rin and john 71]

thanks john,

that's not a bad idea. she has her thai i.d. here. it has her d.o.b. and it's in english.

there are a few options we're considering and yours is now one of them.

i'm wondering about the timing of things, about consequenses, and hoping for some more help here.

i'm wondering if the aos documentation has to be accounted for before ap will be granted? i'm thinking it might be a possibility to send her back to thailand for another birth certificate before her aos interview?? yes? no?

i'm also wondering how long one has to fulfill a rfe?

and what happens if you aren't able to?

thanks again for any thoughts.

dvd

Rin and I are in Bangkok right now; she just got her BC today (used the ID card and house book for the embassy interview). We didn't want to go to Sisaket to the amphur, so her brother (lives in Bangkok) contacted their aunt in Sisaket. She went to the amphur and could not get the BC, but her uncle went monday and got it. Had to be someone with the same family name, apparently. So if your SO has a relative with the same last name, they should be able to get one sorted out (although given the state of the one you got, it may just be one more of the same). As always, a little bit of baht might help rectify the situation!

Not sure about the AP versus AOS question; wasn't an issue for Rin as she has K3 status and can come and go for two years.

John

[dvddvd 0]

i'm assuming her bc has her parent's names and her dob? lol. make sure you read the english translation when you get it (if you haven't already done so). i never bothered because it never occurred to me (even with all my experience in thailand) to actually read it before we left for the states using her k1.

how did you get the bc from her uncle?

one more thing, my wife had her "bc" made in bangkok, ..... not her hometown (5 hours away). maybe that's why she got some ify document. do you know if the official bc has to come from her hometown? i'm now thinking that it does. what do you think?

thanks for all of you help. we're envious of ya'll being in thailand!! have a great time

dvd

[SanfordnBonnie 0]

If you do get an RFE for it you'll have 90 days from the date they issued the RFE to respond, well you should anyways, that's what they gave us but ours was for a medical exam because the one they want for AOS is not the same as the one they want for the K3.

The receipt said our application would be denied if we failed to respond, but I'm not sure if that'd mean we just have to start over or what.

[dvddvd 0]

If you do get an RFE for it you'll have 90 days from the date they issued the RFE to respond, well you should anyways, that's what they gave us but ours was for a medical exam because the one they want for AOS is not the same as the one they want for the K3.

The receipt said our application would be denied if we failed to respond, but I'm not sure if that'd mean we just have to start over or what.

thank you sanford

i think i'll go ahead and send the aos application package off with the incomplete birth certificate in order to get the ball rolling. in the mean time, i'll have her parents go to her hometown, have a real 100% complete birth certificate made, have it translated and checked over in thailand, and then have it mailed here to the states.

maybe i'll never get an rfe about the bc, but if i do .... we'll be prepared!

thanks for everyone's help

dvd

[rin and john 71]

i'm assuming her bc has her parent's names and her dob? lol. make sure you read the english translation when you get it (if you haven't already done so). i never bothered because it never occurred to me (even with all my experience in thailand) to actually read it before we left for the states using her k1.

how did you get the bc from her uncle?

one more thing, my wife had her "bc" made in bangkok, ..... not her hometown (5 hours away). maybe that's why she got some ify document. do you know if the official bc has to come from her hometown? i'm now thinking that it does. what do you think?

thanks for all of you help. we're envious of ya'll being in thailand!! have a great time

dvd

Got the BC on Wednesday, had it translated and it had all the necessary info (parents' names, dob, etc - read it before leaving translation office!).

Interesting that your wife had one made in Bangkok, because Rin had asked at two different amphur offices (when she went to get the children's bc's) and they both told her she had to get it from the amphur's office in the district where her birth was registered.

After getting her bc, her uncle sent it via certified post to Rin's brother in bangkok. He brought it to us at our hotel. Her uncle got it on Monday; we had it Wednesday afternoon. Cost us 2,000 baht (1,000 to her brother and 1,000 to her uncle), but a whole lot less hassle than 6 hours each way on a train/bus/car to get it ourselves!

We are back in the USA now and jet laggin'. Her children are excited to be here finally (or just really happy to finally get off the airplanes!).

John

[dvddvd 0]

john,

i think my wife tried to cut corners and ended up with this weak document. i believe she didn't go to her birth town as she said, because of the hassles, instead went to a bangkok "county clerk's" office where her family currently lives, and had them draw up the "certificate".

since my last post. my wife's parents have had the honor of going through the hassels. i feel bad for them, because i'm pretty sure my wife didn't take care of her business properly. (she tells me a story of going to her hometown first and of them telling her to go to bangkok because they didn't have the certificate. the clerk in bangkok told her she had to go back to her hometown. she didn't want to take the trip again and bribed the clerk to create a certificate .... that's the story and she's sticking to it. i'm not pushing it anymore with her ... because i'm not stupid .. ha ha) it didn't help that the embassy accepted the bc either. (or the bc isn't really required) and it didn't help that i never read the thing and assumed it was good.

anyway, a few days ago ... her parents had no trouble getting her certificate in her birth town. thank you parents.

i'm still irritated over it. we were just there for weeks this past summer.

ultimately, it looks as if it's only going to put us back just a couple of weeks.

thanks for all of the advice and welcome back to the usa! congratulations on getting the children over. we'll be bringing my wife's daughter over in about 6 months.

best,

dvd