Help~~~laminated certificate of Naturalization

yunuo

Registered Users (C)
I just put myself in a very embarrassed situation .

My wife obtained her certificate of Naturalization in Sep 2008 and I filed my PR application after that . Now my I-485 has been scheduled a interview in March 2009 . It was all good until I took some friend's advise to " laminate the certificate" for preservation .

Yesterday we went to apply US passport for my wife at the civic center located downtown san jose ,california. The stuff told us that my wife's certificate of Naturalization is invalid since we laminated it . And this isn't the worst part , my I-485 interview is in about 15 days .. I 'm so worried that they don't accept the laminated one as an necessary evidence.... Time is running short .. replacing a Certificate would take up to 6 months .. what is gonna happen to my I-485 case ?? Is there anything I can do to get survived ?? Can I get the laminated certificate notarized to make it work ?? Anyone please help ~~~~ Thank you very much !
 
You have no other choice no becasue time is running out. Just takethe laminated certificate to the interview. the worse case is that they will just delay your GC because your wife's citizenship status has not changed.
 
Oh I see, she doesn't have a passport yet. I guess you'll just have to take the laminated certificate and play dumb.
 
Is there a way to apply for an expedited certificate of naturalisation and reschedule the interview?

Thanks for your advise . My wife called USCIS and was told to take 6 months unless "some emergency situation " , I 'll try to call them again to ask if this is qualified for an emergency . But I still don't think they can expedit it in 15 days .. That is going to be my first option if IO asks to replace the certificate during the interview .
 
I believe you can just playing dumb like the other post says... your wife's laminated certificate doesn't make her citizenship invalid or void her citizenship. It's just making the certificate itself invalid. Just take it to the interview and playing dumb, see what they say. I don't think they'll deny your GC base on the laminated certificate because it's still a USCIS issued certificate and all the information on it is correct. They just need to look at it and verify your information such as name, date of birth to make sure it matches what you have on the application.

or you can play safe and reschedule your interview to 6 month or later and explain to them that you laminated your certificate. If you do decided to rescheudle your interview, make an infopass and ask them if it's ok to use the already laminated certificate for the interview. If they say you can't, then reschedule the interview and apply for a replacement of the certificate asap.
 
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Go to the interview anyway. Worst case scenario they will reschedule another interview right there when they see the laminated certificate and you explain your situation.
 
Thank you , thank you all ! I 'll let you know the result as soon as the interview is done .
 
guys , I passed the interview !The interview officer wasn't even trying to find evidence about my wife's citizenship ,and he also told that she might not be able to use it to get a passport ,and he is right =S so now it's my wife who has to wait for about 6 months to get a new certificate . My PR card is mailing in about 2 weeks .
Thanks to you guys !
 
Yes, laminating invalidates it because lamination makes it harder to tell the difference between a forgery and a genuine certificate.
 
Hi Yuno,
how long did it take for your wife to get the new Naturalization Certificate? Did she attached the laminated certificate with the form N-565 and have it sent? Was there any issue when she was waiting for the response after sent out the replacement request? . Thank you and hope to get your response as soon as possible.
 
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