'original' documents

[kleelof 1]

I'm putting together the documents my wife will need for her interview.

 

Throughout the documentation about what is needed, they have put 'original' in bold text, as to highlight that the documents need to be originals.

 

She has copies that were notarized by the Thai government. Are these considered 'originals'?

 

thanks

[cordoba2015 224]

For Argentina the "originals" are a page in a book at the civil registry. Official copies are made that have official stamps placed on them and are signed by a government official.

 

Even though they are just copies of the original documents, because they are stamped and signed, they become originals, for visa purposes. A photocopy of the signed and stamped copy would not be accepted.

 

I can't imagine it would be different for Thailand, because what happens if the first copy you received were lost or damaged? The government would have to have an original somewhere that cannot be released. The same applies to our case; the first copy is kept in a civil archive that cannot be removed, so all "originals" are simply certified copies.

[kleelof 1]

Thanks.

 

It would be really great if they would be a little more descriptive of what is acceptable. 

 

Another place they don't explain clearly is that if the sponsor has a joint return, you have to submit BOTH W2's even if only one of them is the sponsor.

 

It has taken us 2 years to get to the interview stage. If I make a mistake that delays things, she's just might quit the whole thing and unfriend me on Facebook.

 

[cordoba2015 224]

25 minutes ago, kleelof said:

Thanks.

 

It would be really great if they would be a little more descriptive of what is acceptable. 

 

Another place they don't explain clearly is that if the sponsor has a joint return, you have to submit BOTH W2's even if only one of them is the sponsor.

 

It has taken us 2 years to get to the interview stage. If I make a mistake that delays things, she's just might quit the whole thing and unfriend me on Facebook.

 

Can you call the embassy and ask for clarification? Or maybe shoot them an email. There has to be a way for you to confirm this before the interview.

[kleelof 1]

Yeah, that's a good idea.

 

thanks.

[cordoba2015 224]

Just now, kleelof said:

Yeah, that's a good idea.

 

thanks.

No problem. We have our interview coming up and I am overanalyzing every document to make sure we meet the requirements. The interview is a big enough deal that it merits that level of scrutiny. By the same token, it is a big enough deal that the embassy should be able to answer any questions you have so you can be successful.

[NikLR 13,234]

Originals or certified copies are the original document or a copy certified to be a copy by the original issuer. 

 

For Thailand: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/reciprocity-by-country/TH.html The documents she will need will be found within here.  They must be obtained as the NVC states to be considered valid documents. 

 

You can look up every country on that reciprocity table.  If the document was originally from another country, she needs to obtain a certified copy from that country if available. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by NikLR