Alternative 'birth certificate'

[northusa44 4]

We are at the stage of submitting documents to the NVC in the lead-up to consular processing (China) for my parents-in-laws' green card application. We have all documents except for the required notary birth certificates (the instructions say NO EXCEPTIONS allowed), which may very well be impossible at the moment due to the combination of PRC requirements for issuance of a notary birth certificate and covid-related issues (basically, they are from a generation that was not given birth certificates at birth; the only way to get the birth certificates would be for them to go back to their distant native places of birth, but this sort of travel does not look possible at present due to covid lockdowns and notary closures in China) 

 

Their case has already been delayed significantly due to covid. We are thus thinking of submitting their hukou (household registration) in the birth certificate file upload location on the NVC website along with a note explaining the difficulty in obtaining the notarized birth certificate. We have had decent luck in the past with visa officers being relatively sensible (if you know anything about China, you know that the hukou adequately proves birth and family relationships) and compassionate, and so we are willing to risk the possibility of a request for more evidence asking for the birth certificate itself. But what we obviously don't want to risk is the whole application being denied/cancelled. So I just want to see if anyone can shed light onto whether this sort of submission poses a substantial risk of a cancellation of the application? I don't see why it would, but just want to check. Again, we would submit a letter detailing the impossibility of traveling, the importance/usefulness of the hukou, and clearly stating that we are asking to be allowed to substitute the hukou for the birth certificate; we would also submit the hukou and translation. Many thanks for any and all replies!

[Crazy Cat 39,193]

***I moved this thread to the China regional forum*****

[northusa44 4]

Just wanted to give this a bump in case anyone has any thoughts. Currently thinking of submitting the documents w/hukou + explanation in place of notary birth certificate this week (it looks as if offices in place of birth remain closed due to covid).

[RandyW 149]

The notarial birth certificate is generated from the hukou. This should not be a problem.

 

The records from the place of birth are not needed.

 

The notarial birth certificate is simply the notarial official's certification of what is in the hukou.

Edited April 30, 2022 by RandyW