I got a question and I am not sure if somebody else is in the same situtation.
My parents were "Boat People" back in 1979 when they left Vietnam. I was born on the way to Germany when we stopped in Indonesia. Because of that I do not have an original birth certificate.
Here in Germany I got an notarized certificate that proves my birthday.
It worked out when we applied for the german citizenship but now I am concerned that the us embassy
won't accept it as a birth certificate.
It is absolutely impossible to get an original birth certificate. What should I do?

My husband's experience wasn't exactly like yours, but he was born on a remote island with no doctors or hospital. His parents never registered his birth with the government. Somehow he was able to get a passport, travel internationally, and even attend college in the US for four years without a birth certificate. But when we applied for the K1 visa, he had to get one. His father and brother signed some type of affidavit attesting to the facts of his birth, and on that basis the government issued a letter certifying his date and place of birth and also providing the names of his parents. When it came time for the K1 visa interview, the embassy accepted the government letter as a "birth certificate".

All that to say it may well be that the US embassy will be willing to accept the notarized certificate issued by the German government. Would it be possible for your fiance(e) (the USC) to contact the embassy and inquire about it?

thanks a lot for the information.
I myself tried to contact the embassy here in germany but there is no email adress so that I can send an email. You only got the chance to listen to a machine that is not really giving you the information you need.
I myself thought it should be ok because it worked for getting the german citizenship so why should it not work for the visa. But now I am a little bit worry that I might take it too easy!

HappyOne,
I found an e-mail address online. It says it is for Emergencies only, but this sounds like one to me. Try this one and see what happens. I bet you get an answer. Good Luck. John
Frankfurt
Fax: (069) 7535-2277
Email: FrankfurtSpecialNIV@state.gov
http://www.usembassy.de/germany/visa/index.html

We found the embassy to be more responsive to the USC than the visa applicant, so I did all the communicating with the embassy. Fortunately I was able to get email addresses for the consular officer and consular assistant, and both were very responsive to emails. I also was able to call the embassy and be put through to the consular assistant, since I had her name. Perhaps you could post a new thread in the Foreign Embassy and Consulate forum to see if anyone else who has gone through the same embassy has a good email address or phone number for the consular section.

You can also see if maybe they have a birth certificate clearance showing the birth certificate was never in their records along with that you need to have affidative and school papers showing his or her birthday good luck my fiance is in the same situation so we are just waiting to see what to do next....

Sincerly a fiancee in waiting,
Christina

I've phoned the Consulate in Frankfurt using the number 49 69 75350 and have been able to speak with a person in their visa processing department each time I've phoned...

Jen

My finance is kind of in the same situation and I have been doing quite a bit of research in the Mumbai consulate web-site for India, so I thought maybe the German consulate web-site might also have this informaton. I did not find it quite like the Mumbai site but check out this link http://berlin.usembassy.gov/germany/visa/iv_processing.html

As I scrolled down I clicked on the link in "What do I do next?". This opened a pdf file where it stated what to do for an obtainable birth certificate. Maybe this will help you.

Good luck!!

Lori

It is so difficult to give advice on this forum, because the immigration rules/processes are not consistent.

I can only share my experience, however, my experience may not present the same outcome for you.

At our interview in Frankfurt, we were told we needed to provide them with the original birth certificate and they were not sympathethic to our reasonings for not having the original. A matter of fact, we were told to contact the Embassy of his country to receive a certified letter that an original birth certificate could not be obtain. Imagine how easy that would be?????

The Frankfurt Embassy information is the following:


Email address: consularfrankf@state.gov or FrankfurtSpecialNIV@state.gov

FrankfurtSpecialNIV@state.gov> Emergency only...I don't think your situation is an emergency, also, they will not answer your email if they feel your question is not an emergency.

Telephone number: 69 7535 8200 or 69 7535 2207

I wish you luck!!!!

thanks a lot.
you all are so nice!!

Hi Happy One,

did it work out in Frankfurt? What are you doing to do now?

Good luck.

Hello Milka,

I sent them an email because I did not have the chance to call them so far.
But no response yet.

Hi again,

with the notorized certificate you can not get one in Germany? I have just ordered 3 international one. You should call the "Standesamt" where you got the other one.

Hi Happy One,

nur zur Info. Wir haben übrigens auch einen deutschen Chat unter Regional Discussion/ Europe and Eurasia without Russia and Uk/ German people rührt euch. Da findest du ewig viele Fragen und Anworten die du sicherlich noch brauche wirst. Wir diskutieren das alles, was uns betrifft. Kanns ja mal vorbeischauen.

Hello Milka,

maybe it is easier if I write this part in german.

Also meine beglaubigte Urkunde, die als Ersatz fuer meine Gebursturkunde gilt wurde nicht vom Standesamt, sondern von einem Notar in Deutschland ausgestellt. Mit dieser Urkunde habe ich auch die deutsche Staatsbuergerschaft beantragt. Dies ging ohne Probleme. Daher bin ich bisher davon ausgegangen, dass dies kein Problem darstellen soll. Aber nachdem ich hier ueber so einige Probleme gelesen habe bin ich doch etwas verunsichert worden. Ich moechte naemlich vermeiden, dass aufgrund solcher "Kleinigkeiten" das ganze hinausgezogen wird (schliesslich dauert es ja schon lange genug!)

Hmm... das ist ja doof. Wie wäre es wenn du nochmal mit dem Notar sprichst. Oder du gehst mit der Urkunde vom Notar zum Standesamt und vielleicht können Sie aufgrunder der Urkunde ein internationales certificate ausfüllen.

werde mal auf dem Standesamt nachfragen

Hi,
just asked at the civil registry office if I can get an international certificate with the notarized certificate (Birth Certificate replacement). They cannot issue an international certificate for me since I was not born in Germany! (buhuhuhuhu ) On more problem now!

HappyOne

I remember reading of a case similar to yours in the old VJ site. Unfortunately I cant remember all that transcribed. Suggestion: Along with the notarized certificate that proves your birthday, can you get hold of documentation re refugee status of yourself and parents.

I do not have a birth certificate either. But the US embassy (in India) told me that a sworn (notarized) statement from two people who know of my birth will be accepted in lieu of the birth certificate (basically the person swears that they know you and your mother and know that you were born on such-and-such date.) Two of my aunts did it for me (I did have my High school and college degrees showing my date of birth on them.)
Check out the USCIS info and you will find it there (I saw it there once but haven't done a search lately.) Good Luck

Agree with motu---the info is posted on uwcis.go and travel.state.gov regarding what to do when there IS no birth certificate. This isn't a case of 'I can't be bothered to chase up a copy'---the certificate does not exist anywhere.
Happy One, do some more digging---I doubt Frankfurt is going to be able to assist you yet.

From the Dublin embassy: "If and official birth certificate is not obtainable, present the best secondary evidence, such as baptismal certificate, hospital certificate, school records, and/or a notarized affidavit from your parents."

By the way - I do not quite understand why birth certificates are required. A passport alone proves identity and is much more difficult to falsify.

Bartek

Hi Happy One,

Das kann ja wohl nicht wahr sein. Haben Sie dir wenigstens gesagt, wie du jetzt weiter machen sollst?

LG Ilka

Hallo Ilka,

ich habe in Frankfurt sowohl unter der Frankfurter Nr. als auch unter der teuren Hotline angerufen.Ebenso habe ich denen eine email geschrieben und bei mir auf dem Standesamt wegen dem international certificate nach gefragt.
Leider konnte mir NIEMAND eine Auskunft geben. Ich nehme an, die konnten auch nichts damit anfangen.
Ich weiss aber (durch receipt-status von meinem email programm) dass meine email gelesen wurde.
Aber die halten es nicht fuer noetig mir zumindest zu schreiben : "I don't know"
Eigentlich ist es unverschaemt. Ich nehme an, ich muss mich nun bis zum Interview gedulden und mich dann ueberraschen lassen :-(