Question about PP for Minor

[sunks]

We had applied for Passport for my Wife and minor daughter in last week of Dec. Got PP for my wife but for daughter they had asked for additional info. These include : 1) Original Birth Certificate for child, 2) Original GC of child and 3) Copy of Marriage Certificate for parents. I have every thing available but has few concerns about Original Birth Certificate. These are:

1. The birth certificate is laminated. Would it create a problem. Has any one sent a laminated certificate without any issues.
2. The birth certificate carries name of parents but do not has name of child (as per Indian custom you do not have child name at the time of birth). Does it create any problem. I know for getting her GC, we submitted affidavits by parents to USCIS signed by Notary along with birth certificate. Can the same affidavits be included with Original birth certificate.

Feedback in this regard would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[wantmygcnow]

they will accept affadavits so send that along with the birth certificate. Make sure your current affadavit is notarized, if it has expired you may need a new one.

Its ok if its laminated, if it was like that when you received it.

 

[sunks]

they will accept affadavits so send that along with the birth certificate. Make sure your current affadavit is notarized, if it has expired you may need a new one.

Its ok if its laminated, if it was like that when you received it.

Thanks for reply wantmygcnow. I was thinking of sending same affidavits which I got for GC in 2003. Looking at them, I found that Notary has term expired in 2005 so I will get the new ones made.

Also the original certificate was not lamnated but I got it laminated to protect it from wear and tear as paper used was very thin. Do you see that any issue.

 

[wantmygcnow]

Thanks for reply wantmygcnow. I was thinking of sending same affidavits which I got for GC in 2003. Looking at them, I found that Notary has term expired in 2005 so I will get the new ones made.

Also the original certificate was not lamnated but I got it laminated to protect it from wear and tear as paper used was very thin. Do you see that any issue.

Current U.S birth certificates or naturalization certificates are void if they are laminated. I dont know about foreign certificates.

Maybe you can get a new Birth certificate from India..if possible? how easy is it to remove the lamination?

 

[sunks]

Current U.S birth certificates or naturalization certificates are void if they are laminated. I dont know about foreign certificates.

Maybe you can get a new Birth certificate from India..if possible? how easy is it to remove the lamination?

Thanks wantmygcnow for reply. You know getting a new piece of paper (which is 10-15 years old) from Govt office in India is a challange. I checked with UPS and Fedex stores and both indicated that trying to remove lamination means tearing apart and loosing original document so they did not advise doing that.

I will try to send laminated certificate with latest Affidavits and see what happens. Has any one else sent laminated birth certificate for PP and faced any issues? Any help/comments will help. Thanks.

 

[sunks]

Any one having experience of sending Laminated Birth Certificate for PP. Please share your experience. Thanks.

 

[Jackolantern]

See if you can get a newly issued certificate with her name on it. Talk to the Indian consulate. Yes, it will take some time, but there is no rush unless she needs to travel soon.

I am quite sure the laminated one will be rejected. Lamination makes it difficult to tell a forgery from a genuine document (for example, the lamination will mean you can't feel the raised seal), so they generally don't accept laminated documents unless they know the government office itself issued it as laminated.

 

[sunks]

See if you can get a newly issued certificate with her name on it. Talk to the Indian consulate. Yes, it will take some time, but there is no rush unless she needs to travel soon.

I am quite sure the laminated one will be rejected. Lamination makes it difficult to tell a forgery from a genuine document (for example, the lamination will mean you can't feel the raised seal), so they generally don't accept laminated documents unless they know the government office itself issued it as laminated.

Thanks Jack for your reply. The problem with getting from Indian Consulate is that you need to send Indian PP for both parents and you have to be Indian National. Since my wife has already got US PP that option may not be feasible.

Since I have to send original GC for the child also for PP and that has birth date, would that not be suffucent since GC is issued by USCIS after verifying facts. Any other thought?

 

[Jackolantern]

Thanks Jack for your reply. The problem with getting from Indian Consulate is that you need to send Indian PP for both parents and you have to be Indian National. Since my wife has already got US PP that option may not be feasible.

Talk to them to learn what options are available. They may accept the Indian passports for this purpose even though they are technically invalid (and then they'll stamp a cancellation on the passports when returning them). Just like they'll accept Indian passports when you apply for OCI.

Since I have to send original GC for the child also for PP and that has birth date, would that not be suffucent since GC is issued by USCIS after verifying facts.

Passports are issued by the Department of State, not USCIS, and those agencies don't necessarily share information as much as you think. In addition, DOS will still want to review the original documents themselves, as a passport represents US citizenship and if USCIS made a mistake in issuing the girl's GC they don't want to magnify the mistake by giving her a US passport. Also, the birth certificate is not just for showing the date of birth, it is for proving that she is your child.

 

[sunks]

Talk to them to learn what options are available. They may accept the Indian passports for this purpose even though they are technically invalid (and then they'll stamp a cancellation on the passports when returning them). Just like they'll accept Indian passports when you apply for OCI.

Passports are issued by the Department of State, not USCIS, and those agencies don't necessarily share information as much as you think. In addition, DOS will still want to review the original documents themselves, as a passport represents US citizenship and if USCIS made a mistake in issuing the girl's GC they don't want to magnify the mistake by giving her a US passport. Also, the birth certificate is not just for showing the date of birth, it is for proving that she is your child.

Thanks Jack for quick reply. At this stage it looks like every way has some big hurdles. I think I have to probably go each way (Indian Consulate, try to get new from India, Send laminated certificate to DOS etc) and see which one goes through.

 

[sunks]

Here is update. For getting PP for minor child, DOS had asked us to provide 1) Original Birth Certificate for child, 2) Original GC of child and 3) Copy of Marriage Certificate for parents. Since we were having Birth Certificate issued from India and that was laminated, it was a big worry whether DOS will accept it or not. On 01/13/10, we sent laminated Birth certificate and affidavits from parents verifying name of child, birth date etc and today we got PP and all original documents returned back. DOS did not have any problem in accepting laminated birth certificate issued by a foreign country. That was a big relief. This may be helpful to others who have got certificates laminated.

 

[NOEL123]

Any one having experience of sending Laminated Birth Certificate for PP. Please share your experience. Thanks.

Hi Sunks,

I applied a PP for my oldest daughter at the time she was born and the BC was laminated and the Post Office processed it normally.
So don't worry too much!!! and congratz for getting the Passport done.