birth certificate dilemma

[K1tobe 0]

Hi All,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while and it's a great wealth of information from helpful, friendly people.

I'm looking at going down the K1 route at some point (not in the immediate future) - I'd be the beneficiary.

I know that one of the documents required is a birth certificate, however I was born in Korea where they don't issue the traditional birth certificates as they do in North America. They have family registeries which lists the parents, births of children, death, marriage, divorce all on one record.

To make a long story short, the birth year on the family registry is incorrect; the month and date are correct and year is one year later than the actual. I don't have this registry document and I can only guess it got lost over the years. (my father died over 20 years ago and my mother died this past year)

I did manage to get the birth year on my citizenship document corrected so it's also correct on my passport. (I'm Canadian)

I do have a hospital health record which has my correct birth date and the names of my parents and a baptismal certificate with the same correct information.

My question is:

Will an affidavit to confirm my correct birth year with the supporting documents be acceptable? Would I need a relative to make this affidavit? I've read a few cases on this forum where this was acceptable.

I'm planning to visit Korea next year and I'd like to get a copy of this family registry but in order for me to make a change on the birth year would be a big hassle - court order, etc. (I don't speak Korean very well so this would be a problem, not to mention the expense)

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks!

[Robert&Karen 264]

Both dates will be used in your background checks just to be sure. Count it as an alias. I do not know what Canadian documents would appropriate, but in the US we would amend the original birth certificate and have 2 pages for it instead of one. We would not issue a corrected original.

[K1tobe 0]

Both dates will be used in your background checks just to be sure. Count it as an alias. I do not know what Canadian documents would appropriate, but in the US we would amend the original birth certificate and have 2 pages for it instead of one. We would not issue a corrected original.

Thanks for the reply. Any other responses?

I might email the US consulate office in Vancouver(where I live) and see if I can get a response.

Thanks again!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

When it comes to foreign documents, the US State Department's Reciprocity Tables are the bible. If the Reciprocity Table for a country says a document is available in that country then the US government is going to insist you produce it.

Here is the Reciprocity Table for South Korea. Scroll down to the section on birth, marriage, and divorce certificates. That will give you some indication of what is available and how to get it:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_5455.html?cid=9223

[K1tobe 0]

When it comes to foreign documents, the US State Department's Reciprocity Tables are the bible. If the Reciprocity Table for a country says a document is available in that country then the US government is going to insist you produce it.

Here is the Reciprocity Table for South Korea. Scroll down to the section on birth, marriage, and divorce certificates. That will give you some indication of what is available and how to get it:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_5455.html?cid=9223

@JimVaPhuong

Thanks for your reply and link. I know that my family registry does exist in Korea and I'm planning to get the document when I visit there. My concern is that my DOB year is incorrect on this document (all else is correct).

I'm guessing my Canadian citizenship and other records (which have the correct DOB year) will be secondary to the actual birth registry? That's why I'm hoping that I can attach an affidavit to my Korean family registry may help, because I can see US Immigration questioning why my DOB year is off by one year.

Thanks again!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

@JimVaPhuong

Thanks for your reply and link. I know that my family registry does exist in Korea and I'm planning to get the document when I visit there. My concern is that my DOB year is incorrect on this document (all else is correct).

I'm guessing my Canadian citizenship and other records (which have the correct DOB year) will be secondary to the actual birth registry? That's why I'm hoping that I can attach an affidavit to my Korean family registry may help, because I can see US Immigration questioning why my DOB year is off by one year.

Thanks again!

See about getting your family register corrected while you're there. US immigration authorities will make an issue of it if the dates on your documents don't match.