Cuban Documents

[Freemonoid 12]

Hi everyone,

 

My fiancée and I are in the process of gathering everything we need to file the K-1 petition but we have a problem. If anyone has advice it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Our problem has to do with her birth certificate and first divorce certificate. 

 

My fiancée was born in Cuba and moved to Eurpoe nearly 20 years ago. She doesn't have a copy of her birth certificate and neither does her family. From the way she describes the record keeping in Cuba, we need a miracle to get it.

 

She has also been through more than one divorce. She can get the documents for her recent divorce but she would have to request a copy of her first divorce certificate from Cuba and, again, she's not optimistic about her chances of getting it.

 

Does anyone know if it's possible to get approved if we can't get the original birth certificate or first divorce certificate? I was thinking that maybe the most recent divorce paperwork was the most important, but I don't want to assume that and end up getting an RFE.

 

So, I searched and saw a site called CubaCityHall.com that can search for records but I don't know if it's legit or not.

 

If anyone knows anything I would appreciate your advice. Thank you. 

[Boiler 47,431]

Did she not have this documentation for her move to Europe?

[AkesAngel 585]

Where in Europe is she now? If she's there legally it shouldn't be an issue to get a birth certificate if she has a valid passport? There the consulate of Cuba should be able to help I think. For the divorce certificate they may be able to help as well ... and if not they maybe can admit a document for not being able to certify that ... just a guess but I can check with my step father as he's from Cuba as well.

Edited January 25, 2017 by AkesAngel
wrong autocorrect

[Fr8dog 384]

There are instructions of what to do when no certificate is available. Just read the instructions on the forms. (can't remember what they are but I know I saw them)

 

[Freemonoid 12]

Thanks everyone. She's currently living in Spain and she did need these documents when she moved there. (Thanks Boiler, I didn't actually think about the fact that she would have needed the documents when she moved to Spain until you mentioned it).

 

I talked to her about it and she does actually still have those old documents somewhere. She told me that she didn't have them because the ones she has aren't valid anymore.

 

Apparently, when she requested those documents from Cuba she had to physically make a trip to Cuba's capital to request them. She spent a few hundred pesos and it took a few months to receive the papers. And then the papers were only valid for 6 months. She went through that process almost 20 years ago so to her the papers are no good. To me, however, it shouldn't matter if there's an expiration date. If Cuba verified her birth and divorce once before then those facts are still true regardless of an expiration date.

 

I don't think the people at USCIS would care if her Cuban documents are expired would they? My plan is to call a lawyer to ask. Thanks.

 

 

 

[C-ma'am 684]

I wouldn't bother with a lawyer. They only thing you need think about in these cases is the worse case scenario.

 

Use the documents she has. Worse case scenario she will have to invest into going back to Cuba and getting a new set of documents.