DS230 - Did you send in ORIGINAL marriage/birth cerificates?

[legospaceman 0]

Today I called the NVC and the lady said it was ok if I didn't send in a police certificate as the station in Pakistan won't make us one til we have a letter from the embassy, and that my wife should take the police certificate to her interview.

BUT she said something which has me worried: that I need to send in the ORIGINAL birth and marriage certificates with my DS230 I+II. Really? The originals? That doesn't seem right. What has been your experience?

It says "original documents or certified copies of the documents listed in this section from an appropriate authority (the issuing entity)."

So if I have official translations of the documents, can I just send those?

Edited April 20, 2009 by legospaceman

[storybox 0]

Today I called the NVC and the lady said it was ok if I didn't send in a police certificate as the station in Pakistan won't make us one til we have a letter from the embassy, and that my wife should take the police certificate to her interview.

BUT she said something which has me worried: that I need to send in the ORIGINAL birth and marriage certificates with my DS230 I+II. Really? The originals? That doesn't seem right. What has been your experience?

Yes, originals are required and will be returned to you at the interview.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

Edited April 20, 2009 by LN & SJB

[champi 13]

Yes, I did send all original documents. NVC website mandates that. You can send certified copies as well (NOTE: In some countries, certified copies are not same as notarized copies). Read this link for more info: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

[sattva 0]

original documents or certified copies

it is in the ds230 instructions here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

Today I called the NVC and the lady said it was ok if I didn't send in a police certificate as the station in Pakistan won't make us one til we have a letter from the embassy, and that my wife should take the police certificate to her interview.

BUT she said something which has me worried: that I need to send in the ORIGINAL birth and marriage certificates with my DS230 I+II. Really? The originals? That doesn't seem right. What has been your experience?

[legospaceman 0]

Wow overwhelming response for originals! Thanks for the quick replies.

One quick question: do you think translations from the appropriate issuing authorities count? Because otherwise I have to get my wife's ORIGINAL birth certificate mailed all the way from Pakistan and I'd be very worried about it getting lost!

[sattva 0]

you should read through the DS230 instructions to make sure you are not missing anything else. did you not get a link to it before you sent the form to NVC?

you need certified translations of any non-English documents in addition to the original/certified copy

all of that information is in the link we posted

Wow overwhelming response for originals! Thanks for the quick replies.

One quick question: do you think translations from the appropriate issuing authorities count? Because otherwise I have to get my wife's ORIGINAL birth certificate mailed all the way from Pakistan and I'd be very worried about it getting lost!

[trailmix 77]

This question must be in the top 10 questions here on VJ - in fact it was asked yesterday as well in the NVC thread.

You will probably find it helpful to read this thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=192273

[legospaceman 0]

you should read through the DS230 instructions to make sure you are not missing anything else. did you not get a link to it before you sent the form to NVC?

you need certified translations of any non-English documents in addition to the original/certified copy

all of that information is in the link we posted

Wow overwhelming response for originals! Thanks for the quick replies.

One quick question: do you think translations from the appropriate issuing authorities count? Because otherwise I have to get my wife's ORIGINAL birth certificate mailed all the way from Pakistan and I'd be very worried about it getting lost!

That's true, I've read all those pages, my point is that the specific wording seems to allow a English language version that's officially released from the same appropriate authority to work simultaneously as a translation and an original.

I'm going to go home and see what the translation looks like and says. If it seems original enough I might take my chances with the NVC.

[waiting4approval 2]

you HAVE to send originals- if not they will just issue RFE and ask for it.. why delay the process when you know thats what they require???

Besides that, we get docs from Pakistan all the time.. DHL is very reliable and thats how my family has send me docs in the past and thats what we plan to do once my husband has his paper work ready to be sent.

Also, I dunno who told your wife about a letter from embassy to obtain the police certificate since my husband just got PCCs from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi (because he has lived at all these place for school or work) and all four cities didn't ask for any embassy papers.. it's also called Character Certificate in Pakistan and is issued free of cost but it's a long process so if you don't have any contacts it would take at least 2-3 months to obtain the police certificates!

oh by the way, if you go to the embassy website for Islamabad, they do mention that nikkah nama is always in URDU so you need to send the nikkah nama in Urdu with English Translation notarized by the foreign affairs.

Edited April 20, 2009 by waiting4approval

[trailmix 77]

I have started a VJ Wiki page that will hopefully help answer some of these questions:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...ons_and_Answers

[legospaceman 0]

OK folks, I spoke to another person at NVC who seemed very knowledgeable.

What he told me is that the police certificate is not required for people from Pakistan and that my wife should take it with her to the interview. So that's settled.

As for the birth certificate, even though I have an official copy (not photocopy) of the birth certificate issued from the same place that issues the Urdu-language ones, he thought it was border-line and that 'that might not fly.' So, yeah, gonna get my wife to send the original.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Also is it just me or are the NVC operators some of the most patient and helpful call-center people you've ever talked to? I've never talked to any company's employees who were so consistently nice.

[elkfarmer 4]

Yes , it is a requirement to send in originals. An original is discribed as a photocopy of a document on file, and will have an official stamp from the issuing authority. I had real good color copies, and got an RFE for originals. You are also required to send photo copies. You may or may not get them back at the interview. Many get them back. But just as many do not. That causes problems for many, as they can not get other copies from their country, but NVC simply does not care. They would like to turn down everyone.

[patriot05 0]

OK folks, I spoke to another person at NVC who seemed very knowledgeable.

What he told me is that the police certificate is not required for people from Pakistan and that my wife should take it with her to the interview. So that's settled.

As for the birth certificate, even though I have an official copy (not photocopy) of the birth certificate issued from the same place that issues the Urdu-language ones, he thought it was border-line and that 'that might not fly.' So, yeah, gonna get my wife to send the original.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Also is it just me or are the NVC operators some of the most patient and helpful call-center people you've ever talked to? I've never talked to any company's employees who were so consistently nice.

good luck legosoaceman. i am also in the process of assembling the DS230 for my wife and was wondering if you or anyone else could help me with the following questions:

1. My wife's original birth certificate is in Urdu. So do we need to get an attested English translation of that? If yes, do we send both the Urdu and the English version?

2. When we got married we filled both an English and Urdu version of the ORIGINAL Nikahnama (marriage certificate). Both these versions have the stamp of Union Council. Again, which one do I send?

3. Last but not least, could my wife mail this package from Pakistan or should I have her first mail it to me in the US and then I can forward it to the NVC.

Thanks for your help guys.

[jboy119 0]

Today I called the NVC and the lady said it was ok if I didn't send in a police certificate as the station in Pakistan won't make us one til we have a letter from the embassy, and that my wife should take the police certificate to her interview.

BUT she said something which has me worried: that I need to send in the ORIGINAL birth and marriage certificates with my DS230 I+II. Really? The originals? That doesn't seem right. What has been your experience?

It says "original documents or certified copies of the documents listed in this section from an appropriate authority (the issuing entity)."

So if I have official translations of the documents, can I just send those?

I send originals of everything except the police certificate

[kevinbui86 0]

Today I called the NVC and the lady said it was ok if I didn't send in a police certificate as the station in Pakistan won't make us one til we have a letter from the embassy, and that my wife should take the police certificate to her interview.

BUT she said something which has me worried: that I need to send in the ORIGINAL birth and marriage certificates with my DS230 I+II. Really? The originals? That doesn't seem right. What has been your experience?

It says "original documents or certified copies of the documents listed in this section from an appropriate authority (the issuing entity)."

So if I have official translations of the documents, can I just send those?

I send originals of everything except the police certificate

police certificate has to be original bro