Well thats everything filled out and almost ready to go. Did it ourselves and boy are we proud. Followed all the VJ guides and I must admit it was easier than we thought...maybe bit too easy which is worrying. Getting passport photos taken today then copying the whole lot and away it will go to Nicks mother who is adding in a copy (by the way does this need to be certified?) of his birth certificate and she is getting a money order to pay for it as they wont accept my UK checks and nick doesn't have any here in scotland with him to send. Then she is sending it onwards. ETA Nebraska Service Center.......3rd-5th July. Hopefully filed before charge goes up.....fingers and toes crossed.

I don't know that the birth certificate has to be certified. I just sent a copy of mine.
Good luck and may you have a speedy journey!!
Zee

Good luck

I also just sent a copy of my birth certificate, it was not certified.

Doesn't need to be certified. Just a copy is fine.

A photocopy of an official government issued birth certificate is ok. If the "original" is hospital issued instead of government issued, you'll need to obtain a certified copy. Then you can submit a photocopy of the certified copy.

What they are looking for is a copy of an official government document.

A. If you were born in the United States, a copy of your birth certificate, issued by the civil registrar, vital statistics office, or other civil authority. If a birth certificate is not available, see Section 9 on Page 3 titled, "What If a Document Is Not Available?"

Alternatively, you can submit a photocopy of all pages of the USC's passport.

You can check the RFE thread, which is pinned, for specific things to look for but as for the birth certificate, it MUST contain the names of the birth parents. We got a RFE because my original one that I sent in, although an official document, was not the "long" version and did not have the both parents listed. Many states have both "long" forms and "short" forms. Make sure you use the "long" one. Good Luck.