beneficiary birth certificate required for I-129F / K1?

[Blues Fairy 0]

Eventually the beneficiary will be asked to submit one for the interview.

Asked to submit BC, even if the passport is submitted as the main ID? Is that really so?

Welcome to dealing with the US Government

Is that a yes?

This sucks! I let my BC perish around the time I got my passport (some 16 yrs ago), since nothing suggested I would need two IDs at any point in my life!

[TracyTN 237]

To my knowledge, the beneficiary has to present their birth certificate at interview (which may be consulate specific, though I sort of doubt it).

Most folks have had luck ordering theirs online.

[roverdriver 0]

Now see, to me this inconsistency with what they want is what is freaking out so many people, including me. While the actual USCIS site doesn't even request half the things specifically mentioned on this site, there are sporadic cases where they request it. The beneficiary's BC, no photocopied signatures, long form BC...the list goes on and on. One thing that really gets me is that they request ALL pages of a passport. Well i can see the point of the first few with your ID on them, and the last few with the stamps, but why would they need the other 21 pages that are empty? It makes no sense to me.

Just a theory but I'm guessing it's so they have an indication of whether or not your intended has spent a lot of time traveling in countries the US considers to be terrorist states.

[bora bora 1]

Both the petitioner and beneficiary need their BCs for the interview.

[mRx 16]

I am the petitioner, and i didnt need my BC at the interview.

I-129F= need petitioner BC

Embassy interview= need Beneficiary BC

BTW, I still think its crazy to send the Beneficiary BC with the initial I-129F. You have more of a chance to mess that up and get an RFE for it (i.e. sending in a BC document untranslated). Even though there is no need for that document. You will still get an RFE if theres something wrong with it.

Edited February 12, 2007 by matt85

[the.ronin 0]

We plan on sending not only a copy of her (beneficiary) birth certificate but a certified translation as well.

[mRx 16]

We plan on sending not only a copy of her (beneficiary) birth certificate but a certified translation as well.

Oh heck, why not submit translated birth certificates for the rest of the beneficiaries immediate family as well?

[featherB 1]

We plan on sending not only a copy of her (beneficiary) birth certificate but a certified translation as well.

Oh heck, why not submit translated birth certificates for the rest of the beneficiaries immediate family as well?

[joeyjoey 1]

Hi,

I am currently in the process of gathering everything together to send off my I-129F package to get the K1 VISA. I am the USC and petitioner and I have a copy of my own birth certificate for proof of citizenship, however, I see no mention that I need a copy of her (beneficiary) birth certificate at this stage. Yet, some posts in these forums seem to indicate that it may be necessary. Can someone clarify?

I did not submit Fernanda's birth certificate. No RFE was received. However as you have seen, some did receive RFE requesting the beneficary's birth certificate with translation into english. I129-F instructions do not request it be included in petition. However, if you do submit beneficiary's birth certificate, it must be translated into English.

[boardashell_2000 0]

We didn't need his birth certificate...We got our NOA2 without any RFE's

[blspicer 0]

I read on another thread that you need to make copies of the front and back of the beneficiary's birth certificate, but his does not have anything on the other side. He was born in East Sussex, UK, is this normal? Will it be okay if i just send a copy of the front?

[Zadan 1]

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Bullet point two at the bottom of that page: "Applicants and Petitioners: Applicants and petitioners must sign their respective applications and petitions. The signature must be an original signature."

A photocopy of a signed form wouldn't be an original signature.

Thankyou! That's exactly what I was looking for.

[GrenadianCrix 2]

I read on another thread that you need to make copies of the front and back of the beneficiary's birth certificate, but his does not have anything on the other side. He was born in East Sussex, UK, is this normal? Will it be okay if i just send a copy of the front?

my birth certificate is only printed on one side also, i still copied both sides (wierd I know). i just stapled them together and put a small post-it note on the front explaining it.

I just mailed my packet out...if I hear back to the negative I'll let you know.

sue

[Zadan 1]

Now see, to me this inconsistency with what they want is what is freaking out so many people, including me. While the actual USCIS site doesn't even request half the things specifically mentioned on this site, there are sporadic cases where they request it. The beneficiary's BC, no photocopied signatures, long form BC...the list goes on and on.

That's exactly what I think too. These forms are supposed to be designed for the layman to be able to easily fill out, submit and process--but they lack clarity and information. The I-129F form itself has places where the wording is ambiguous at the least and misleading at the worst. For example, the first page, section E says:

Copies. If these instructions state a copy of a document may be filed with this petition, you may submit a copy rather than an original. If you choose to send the original, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may keep that original for our records. If USCIS requires the original, we willrequest it.

It then goes on to mention documents that you can get copies of (passport, birth certificate, etc) yet nowhere does it say you can or can't send a copy of the I-129F itself. It mentions that "original statements" of intent are required, but doesn't mention that they need to have original signatures and dates. When I first read that, I thought "oh of course I'll have originals..I'll type one and she can type one, and then I'll send them copies." But that doesn't fly. I suppose you could deduce that without original signatures, there would be no way to determine if they were "original" but there shouldn't be any guess work!

...

I did a mix of both the site and what is actually requested and while i will probably get a few RFEs, i will try to remain optimistic and not freak out with worry. Don't get me wrong, VP is a great site and i'm so glad it exsists. I'm just frustrated with the halfhearted job the USCIS is doing. It's like they are doing everything they can to get in the way of legal immigration. My apologies for the rant, and i hope i haven't hijacked the thread too much.

The PDF forms and their instructions are shoddy work. I definitly think they can do better. I can't help but imagine that the people who prepared these things and created this process are a bunch of old computer illiterate geezers who farmed out the IT work to the lowest bidder and the result is the lack of quality that we see. Anyway, I digress. However, I recall the last statements at the end of the g-325a.pdf form:

We try to create forms and instructions that are accurate, can be easily understood and that impose the least possible burden on you to provide us with information. Often this is difficult because some immigration laws are very complex.

The estimated average time to gather the requested information, complete the form and include it with the appropriate application or petition for filing purposes is 15 minutes. If you have any comments regarding the accuracy of this estimate or suggestions for making this form simpler, write to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Regulatory Management Division, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20529; OMB No. 1615-0008. Do not send your form to this Washington, D.C. address.

IMHO they have failed at making it easy to understand and on imposing the least possible burden on us. Also, 15 minutes is hard for me to believe. The g-325a form doesn't have enough room in the employment section--only one line to fill in the full name and address of each employer. Additionally, I bet there is the same complaint process available for the I-129F form. All they would need to do would be to add/clarify some instructions on the I-129F, and make the employer section of the g-325a have multi-line input.. How hard can it be? Anyway, I think I'll be sending off letters to the above mentioned address to suggest improvements for the I-129F and g-325a tomorrow. Anyone want to join in?

[featherB 1]

I read on another thread that you need to make copies of the front and back of the beneficiary's birth certificate, but his does not have anything on the other side. He was born in East Sussex, UK, is this normal? Will it be okay if i just send a copy of the front?

My (original) UK birth certificate is blank on the back. As it wasn't (and still isn't) required to be sent with the I-129F petition, we didn't send it. But for it to be blank on the back is quite normal - you can just write on the back of the piece of paper 'back of certificate blank' or something if you want. My fiance's birth certificate (he's the USC) is blank on the back, though, and we just took a photocopy of the front and totally forgot that 'front and back' stuff, and just sent the front with no explanation as to the blankness of the back... and we got approved in January.

If you are adamant that you want to send the beneficiary's birth certificate, even though you really don't need to... is it the UK long-form kind - that is, the kind with both parents' names, mother's maiden name, father's occupation, etc? Because if it's not, even though the beneficiary's birth certificate is not required at all at this stage, you might just find yourself with an unnecessary RFE asking for the long-form birth certificate (you'll need this at the interview stage, by the way) - in the same way as people who send untranslated copies of the beneficiary's birth certificate are RFE'd for translations!

To be honest, I really really really don't think you need to be sending the beneficiary's birth certificate at all. The point of sending a birth certificate - the USC's - is to prove that they are a US citizen. That's why only one person's birth certificate is required at this stage. Anyway... good luck with it all - may the process be a smooth one!