ohrazasaurusrex

UPDATE for future lurkers worrying about this. I ended up having no issues with laminated BC. They just look at it against what they see on their screen and you're good. Regardless, come with back up docs. But don't be hopeless if laminated is all you have. Godspeed.

@Family @Lemonslice @pushbrk Update - my uncle in India was able to get a new certified copy from the municiple authority, but the issue is, they had made a spelling mistake of my first name in their records, and so this new copy has that spelling mistake. To correct this spelling mistake....they need my original Birth Certificate, which is with me in Canada and other documents like notary and hospital letter, and an application form etc. I'm not sure how I'm gonna provide all that sitting here. My Laminated original is error free though.......what do you guys think I should do? Should I still get him to send me this erroneous copy and try? Or is it all pointless?

Got it. Do I stand a chance at all with my original BC (laminated), or is it certainly bound to be refused? I am trying to contact some family in India to retrieve my BC from the municipality in the next few days. I called the Indian authorities here in Toronto and they are saying they are no longer issuing Non-Availability Certificate/Certificate of Date of Birth.

@Family I have explored this. Your first link is state specific, and I believe this varies state by state. For the second link, it is not a Birth Certificate but a Certificate of Date of Birth. Also, this services is for current Indian nationals only, which I am no longer.

Thank you, I certainly do not intend to do anything wrongful. I will bring with me both the laminated original as well as the true certified copy of it and hope for the best. It's virtually impossible getting another one or a non-availability certificate from Indian authorities.

@pushbrk would it help if i notarize an old photocopy of when it was unlaminated? It's basically an old photocopy, flimsy 1990s A4 paper...

@Chancy @pushbrk relying on your depth of knowledge and experience on these forums.

Hi friends. I have my interview coming up in Montreal in 2 weeks. I'm a naturalized Canadian citizen born in India. The problem is, my original Indian birth certificate from Municiple corporation is laminated as my parents thought it was very fragile. So I made a notarized copy of it with a Public Notary here in Ontario, Canada (stating true certified with a Gold seal and stamp etc). I plan to take this and also the laminated original one. Will one of these be accepted? I even tried to explore getting certificate of unavailability but it seems I can't do that from here if I'm not a current Indian national. Please help guys.

In DS 260, under Previous Work section, it says "provide the following information on all of your employers from the last ten years, starting with most recent employer" ....does that also include my current employer? If so, what should be end date for that? Because it's still my current job, and there is no option to write "Present" Please help with this confusion.

Thank you both for your valuable feedback. Another question on this, does it make much difference going through air or land border?

Thank you. Wouldn't this be construed as misrepresentation/hiding the real intent though? And wouldn't it be a problem for my subsequent visits, where they may discover I suddenly have a spouse in the US now? Just doing my due diligence before travelling.

Hey guys. I imagine this question has come up multiple times before. I am a Canadian citizen and my fiance is a USC. We intend to get a court marriage done in the US, but I fully intend to return to Canada after marrying and spending a few days, since I have family, work and bills to pay in Canada. I do however intend to go through CR1 Consular processing eventually from Canada. Hence, the K1 visa did not sound suitable. Question is two fold. Firstly, is the above legal? Secondly, how should I approach the border officer regarding the purpose of the visit? I'm just a little worried they will deny me entry if I state "I have a court marriage with my fiance and I want to spend a few days with her and come back" ....I am carrying with me a bunch of docs proving my ties to canada and my intent to return. Is "visiting my fiance" too vague of an answer? Anyways, I want to do it right. But there is a whole bunch of conflicting/confusing info on this topic online. Please advise.