No-Spam

For AOS of my spouse, I need to include my birth certificate.

I'm
wondering, can I just copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have the
copy notorized? or do I need to get another one from my place of birth?

Sunflwrgrl13

Originally posted by no-spam
    > For AOS of my spouse, I
need to include my birth certificate.
    >
    > I'm wondering, can I just
copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have the copy notorized? or do
I need to get another one from my place of birth?

I'm
assuming you are the USC. It's relatively easy to get another copy of
your birth certificate from whatever office it is in your state
(assuming you were born in the US). In KY, I called the Office of Vital
Statistics and paid about $8 for mine to be mailed to me. With the I-
129f package, I'm pretty certain I sent in a copy of mine, not the
original. Not sure what the I-485 pkg would need. I'd call the mis-
information line and see if they know.

Jamie

Andy Platt

You never need to send originals to the USCIS so a photocopy is fine.
However, the photocopy must be of a certified certificate.

Andy.

Mardae

Originally posted by Andy Platt
    > You never need to send
originals to the USCIS so a photocopy is fine.
    > However, the photocopy
must be of a certified certificate.
    >
    > Andy.
    >
    >
    > I plan on making
a copy of the copy I sent in with the I-129F (I made copies of
everything I sent). They took my original cert at the K1
interview...either that or my hubby won't own up to losing it...luckily
it's only $4 and a 10min trip down town to get another certified copy!

    >
    > MarDae

Susanna

Originally posted by MarDae
Originally posted
by Andy Platt
    > You never need to send originals to the USCIS so a
photocopy is fine.
    > However, the photocopy must be of a certified
certificate.
    >
    > Andy.
    >
    >
    > I plan on making a copy of the copy I
sent in with the I-129F (I made copies of everything I sent). They
took my original cert at the K1 interview...either that or my hubby
won't own up to losing it...luckily it's only $4 and a 10min trip down
town to get another certified copy!
    >
    > MarDae

I understand
but just went to check my AOS Package thats ready to mail, and looked
at the copy and the original certified copy.

So my question is how
will they know the copy comes from a certified one? if the raised stamp
mark does not show.

Joe

no-spam <member15472@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<>...
    > For AOS of my spouse, I need to include my birth certificate.
    >
    > I'm
    > wondering, can I just copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have the
    > copy notorized? or do I need to get another one from my place of birth?

You need to have in your own physical possession a birth certificate
issued directly from the country public records department. It will
have something on it to make it hard to forge, such as an impressed
seal and/or a watermark such as found on the new $20 bills.

But you don't send that to the CIS. Instead, you send a xerox (no
notarization necessary) of it and bring the original with you to all
interviews.

Search for "USCIS no longer routinely requires submission of original
documents" at http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/scnational/.

Best wishes,
Joe


---
Caveat Reador: I am just another CIS supplicant and immigration
amateur. You're on your own. My advice may be worth even less than
what I charge for it, so verify it with other sources to your own
satisfaction before acting on it.

"You can't argue with belief." -- Unknown

Aliluv

send copies and take the original to any interviews.

Mrraveltay

Joe wrote:
    > no-spam <member15472@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<>...
    >
    >>For AOS of my spouse, I need to include my birth certificate.
    >>I'm
    >>wondering, can I just copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have the
    >>copy notorized? or do I need to get another one from my place of birth?
    >
    >
    > You need to have in your own physical possession a birth certificate
    > issued directly from the county public records department.
    > It will
    > have something on it to make it hard to forge, such as an impressed
    > seal and/or a watermark such as found on the new $20 bills.

Or, it might be just a the ink from a rubber stamp..

Matthew Udall

Originally posted by no-spam
    > For AOS of my spouse, I
need to include my birth certificate.
    >
    > I'm wondering, can I just
copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have the copy notorized? or do
I need to get another one from my place of birth?

Use a copy.
Make sure the original was one that was issued by the civil authority.
For the U.S. citizen's birth record, donÂ’t rely on the souvenir birth
record from the hospital with the little baby feet ink prints (as they
usually won't be acceptable). For the international spouse (I don't like
the term "alien"), if you come from a country that issues both long form
and short form birth records, use the long form (lists the parentÂ’s
names).

Good luck with your AOS.

Sami

Please tell me where does in the AOS Form, I-485, it says that U.S.
Citizen Spouse is to include his/her Birth Certificate. It seems to
be for the Foreign Spouse

I took this from the Page-1 of Form I-485
(Rev. 02/07/00)N):

"Birth certificate. Submit a copy of your foreign
birth certificate or other record of your birth that meets the
provisions of secondary evidence found in 8 CFR 103.2(b)(2)."



Located at: ]http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-
485.htm[/url]



Originally posted by no-spam
    > For AOS
of my spouse, I need to include my birth certificate.
    >
I'm
wondering, can I just copy my birth certificate? Do I have to have
the copy notorized? or do I need to get another one from my place of
birth?