OC selectee - problem with birth certificate

[Essey]

Hi everyone,

I am a DV selectee CN 2014OC29XX. Obviously with the high case number, it's going to be touch and go as to whether I get an interview, but I'm trying to prepare all the same.

On the selectee instructions, it says one of the documents needed is your original birth certificate with BOTH names and 'both' is highlighted. Problem is, only my mother is listed on my birth certificate and I've been told by Births, Deaths and Marriages that the only way to get the father added is with a DNA test, which is going to be impossible for me to get as I don't have a contact for my father or any way of tracking him down (he is overseas). I know there's instructions about what to do if you don't have a birth certificate, but there's nothing for what to do for anyone in my situation. I'm really concerned that this is going to cause my application to be disqualified or held up so does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to mitigate these circumstances? I repeat, getting the father added to my birth certificate is not an option, I've already explored it fully and it's just not going to be possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Hi everyone,

I am a DV selectee CN 2014OC29XX. Obviously with the high case number, it's going to be touch and go as to whether I get an interview, but I'm trying to prepare all the same.

On the selectee instructions, it says one of the documents needed is your original birth certificate with BOTH names and 'both' is highlighted. Problem is, only my mother is listed on my birth certificate and I've been told by Births, Deaths and Marriages that the only way to get the father added is with a DNA test, which is going to be impossible for me to get as I don't have a contact for my father or any way of tracking him down (he is overseas). I know there's instructions about what to do if you don't have a birth certificate, but there's nothing for what to do for anyone in my situation. I'm really concerned that this is going to cause my application to be disqualified or held up so does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to mitigate these circumstances? I repeat, getting the father added to my birth certificate is not an option, I've already explored it fully and it's just not going to be possible.

Thanks in advance.

It can't be the first time this has happened to an applicant; I'd suggest contacting KCC, I'm sure there's a procedure to deal with it (just like they still take applicants from countries where police certificates are unavailable, for example).

 

[Essey]

Yes, I've emailed them so hopefully get a response in a few weeks... Will post here once received. Meanwhile, if anyone has similar experiences I would be glad to hear them. Mainly I'm worried that my otherwise straightforward application would mean I am put on AP in the final month of processing and miss the deadline.

 

[Britsimon]

The instructions that describe needing BOTH parents is when the instructions describe the requirement of the long form birth cert, as opposed to the short form. What they need to establish is your parentage and the nationality of your parents. The short form doc does not list both parents. Your long form birth cert will probably say "unknown" for your father and that is all that is needed - that is your legal parentage. So - don't worry about it - as long as you provide the correct version (long form) there is no issue.

 

[Essey]

Your long form birth cert will probably say "unknown" for your father and that is all that is needed - that is your legal parentage. So - don't worry about it - as long as you provide the correct version (long form) there is no issue.

I'm not convinced this is the correct interpretation. The instructions say this:

'Each applicant will need to obtain an original birth certificate issued by the official custodian of birth records in the country of birth, showing the date and place of birth and the parentage of the applicant, based upon the original registration of birth. Submit to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate at your interview. Important Notice: All Immigrant Visa applicants must submit a long form original birth certificate. Short form birth certificates will not be accepted.

The certificate must contain the:

Person's date of birth;
Person's place of birth;
Names of both parents; and,
Annotation by the appropriate authority indicating that it is an extract from the official records.'


As in, it actually lists what the long form certificate needs to contain, and specifically bolds and italicises the word 'both' which indicates to me that it's pretty important. Also, my birth certificate doesn't even say 'unknown', it's just blank. Anyway, hopefully KCC get back to me with something I can do. It seems such a silly thing to get caught up on.

 

[Hexa]

I really don't think it's a problem, because there's nothing in the rule that bars children of single parents from getting DV.

 

[Essey]

I really don't think it's a problem, because there's nothing in the rule that bars children of single parents from getting DV.

I would have thought so too, but why would it highlight the 'both' parents bit if it wasn't important? I just don't want to just assume and then lose out.

 

[Hexa]

I would have thought so too, but why would it highlight the 'both' parents bit if it wasn't important? I just don't want to just assume and then lose out.

They just want to make sure that you disclose all of your immediate relatives, because these people have the right to go with you and get their own green cards. It's the same reason they look very closely at people who get married after they win the lottery.

 

[SusieQQQ]

I would have thought so too, but why would it highlight the 'both' parents bit if it wasn't important? I just don't want to just assume and then lose out.

It's not quite the same thing, but I am aware of a case of a single mother winning a DV who did not have the father's birth name on her child's birth certificate but still successfully obtained a derivative visa for the child. You're quite right in principle to want everything as per the instructions but the consulates and KCC can actually be quite reasonable about things . Do let us know their response when you get it please?

 

[Essey]

Thanks, that does make me feel a bit less worried about it. I will definitely post an update if/when I receive a response or finally get an interview.

 

[Britsimon]

The word both is italicised because that is the difference between the long and short form certificates and that is what (from their immigration point of view) is important. In the DV process the nationality of the parents is sometimes used to determine which country you are charged to. Then once you are an LPR you may want to sponsor your parents who are in a special category for immigration. So they don't care whether you have one parent or two but they want you to establish who those parents are from the outset.

I am quite certain this will not be an issue.

I'm not convinced this is the correct interpretation. The instructions say this:

'Each applicant will need to obtain an original birth certificate issued by the official custodian of birth records in the country of birth, showing the date and place of birth and the parentage of the applicant, based upon the original registration of birth. Submit to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate at your interview. Important Notice: All Immigrant Visa applicants must submit a long form original birth certificate. Short form birth certificates will not be accepted.

The certificate must contain the:

Person's date of birth;
Person's place of birth;
Names of both parents; and,
Annotation by the appropriate authority indicating that it is an extract from the official records.'


As in, it actually lists what the long form certificate needs to contain, and specifically bolds and italicises the word 'both' which indicates to me that it's pretty important. Also, my birth certificate doesn't even say 'unknown', it's just blank. Anyway, hopefully KCC get back to me with something I can do. It seems such a silly thing to get caught up on.

 

[Essey]

I'd be surprised if it's an issue too, but I still disagree with your interpretation. My short form birth certificate doesn't have the name of ANY parent on it so if that's what they were trying to do by highlighting 'both' then why wouldn't they just say: 'names of at least one parent' or even 'names of parents' without emphasising 'both'? And why don't they then highlight all the other stuff that is the different between the short and long form birth certificate? I hope you're right but it doesn't add up to me.

The word both is italicised because that is the difference between the long and short form certificates and that is what (from their immigration point of view) is important.

I am quite certain this will not be an issue.

 

[Britsimon]

I'd be surprised if it's an issue too, but I still disagree with your interpretation. My short form birth certificate doesn't have the name of ANY parent on it so if that's what they were trying to do by highlighting 'both' then why wouldn't they just say: 'names of at least one parent' or even 'names of parents' without emphasising 'both'? And why don't they then highlight all the other stuff that is the different between the short and long form birth certificate? I hope you're right but it doesn't add up to me.

Parentage is the only difference that they have listed between the long and short forms. Anyway I'm sure it will work out for you.

As a matter of interest the birth certificate thing is surprisingly complicated. If you just take British rules for example there is meaning in how the birth is filled out. If the parents are married at the time of the birth, both parents will be listed but only one will sign. For UK immigration purposes that then requires the parents wedding certificate to be produced. If the parents are unmarried then the fathers name may be left blank (as in your case) or if the fathers name is to be filled out then the father has to sign the certificate in addition to the mother. British rules that describe births in the commonwealth have a special procedure to establish citizenship in cases where the birth cert fathers name is blank. The rulebook available from the UK government website is 20 pages long. Now imagine every country in the world has their own rules - it is no wonder that USCIS are specific about the long form cert and highlight the both parents - I am sure there are many variations in other parts of the world (including, I am sure, some countries where both parents are not routinely listed).

 

[Essey]

Well I got a response back from KCC sooner than expected. Unfortunately it's possibly the most unhelpful, even facetiously unhelpful response I could have gotten. I have copied it below:

Thank you for your inquiry.

Please comply with the instructions provided on the website www.travel.state.gov.

I had already clearly explained the situation in my original inquiry and that I was unable to find any guidance on the matter. So I'm guessing writing back to them isn't going to do any good. So looks like it's anyone's guess. Do you think it's worth getting my mother to do an affidavit about why there's only one name on my birth certificate or anything like that, given it says to do this if you can't get one at all?

 

[Britsimon]

Well I got a response back from KCC sooner than expected. Unfortunately it's possibly the most unhelpful, even facetiously unhelpful response I could have gotten. I have copied it below:

Thank you for your inquiry.

Please comply with the instructions provided on the website www.travel.state.gov.

I had already clearly explained the situation in my original inquiry and that I was unable to find any guidance on the matter. So I'm guessing writing back to them isn't going to do any good. So looks like it's anyone's guess. Do you think it's worth getting my mother to do an affidavit about why there's only one name on my birth certificate or anything like that, given it says to do this if you can't get one at all?

Well it is nice they wrote back so soon!

The reason there is no fathers name on the birth cert is because your mother was unmarried at the time of your birth, and your father was not present when your birth was registered. That is self explanatory - so I can't imagine why you would present an affidavit. From there point of view you will only have one parent and as I already explained, that will be ok.