help! what does rfe want from us?

[Laura_Z 1]

hi all! this is what lawyer asked from my fiance last night when she received rfe "legible final certified copy of divorce decree (as stated in the request), and a better legible copy of your birth certificate along with a certified translation (the one I have from you is not well legible). I know that your Birth Certificate is in English too, but what can we do if they still ask for certified translation. " so my fiance has aand SENT his certified translation of his filipino birth certificate,but he does NOT have a copy of his filipino original birth certificate. he doesn't know what to do, because they r asking for a certified translation but his is already in english and certified...he wants to send the one he has because he already has his naturalisation certificate....any ideeas? thanks!

[maya62 7]

You might consider asking your lawyer to clarify if there's something you don't understand.

If they are asking for a translation of a non-english portion of a document, then get it translated by a certified translator ASAP and send it on.

Best wishes,

Maya

[chris4gretchen 1]

hi all! this is what lawyer asked from my fiance last night when she received rfe "legible final certified copy of divorce decree (as stated in the request), and a better legible copy of your birth certificate along with a certified translation (the one I have from you is not well legible). I know that your Birth Certificate is in English too, but what can we do if they still ask for certified translation. " so my fiance has aand SENT his certified translation of his filipino birth certificate,but he does NOT have a copy of his filipino original birth certificate. he doesn't know what to do, because they r asking for a certified translation but his is already in english and certified...he wants to send the one he has because he already has his naturalisation certificate....any ideeas? thanks!

it looks like he needs to send exactly what they are asking for. My fiancee is also from the philippines. I photocopied her birth certificate and it wasnt that legible either. He might have to go to the NSO and get original copies and submit those.

you guys need to send LEGIBLE ( or original copy) of his birth certificate and a certified divorce decree.

If its like the birth cert it wont photo copy well either, the design and paper they use dont photocopy well, the originals arnt that good. You can get certified copies though that are like an original and send those in. He doesnt need his original, He can get official certified copies. My fiancee did this for our petition.

Chris

[TinTin and Samby 11]

The only "Birth Certificate" that really means anything from the Philippines is the "NSO ACCREDITED LIVE BIRTH CERTIFICATE". It is issued by the National Statistics Office of the Government of the Philippines. THE NSO only issues this certificate on what is called "SECPA Paper" It is basically an alternating stripped paper with watermarks designed to reduce fraud. It also makes the document difficut to photocopy legibly.

The best solution is to have your fiance go to the NSO office in his province and submit an application and receive a new "NSO ACCREDITED LIVE BIRTH CERTIFICATE". Then send that in with the RFE. This version of the Birth Certificate is completely in English, so there is absolutely no need to get a translation of it. Also, there is no need to submit any other filipino version of a birth certificate (eg. Local birth certficate, etc).

I would wonder if if the comment made in the RFE (or by your lawyer) about needing the translation is either 1) because the one submitted previously to the USCIS was not an NSO Birth Certificate, but rather some local variation (which depending on province and city, I have seen in different languages - or mixtures of local dialects and english), 2) the copy previously submitted to the USCIS was so poor and illegible that the USCIS could not determine if it was in English or not, or 3) The request for a certified translation is for some other document and not the Birth Certificate.

I am assuming from your post that the Divorce decree is for you and not your fiance (since divorce doesnt exist in the philippines except under very specific exceptions like the marriage of a filipino and a non filipino where the non filipino initiated the divorce). Therefore, It should be easy enough for you to make a new copy of your certified final divorce decree, ensure it is legible and submit that with the RFE.

It might also be worth an "attempt" to call the USCIS to see if they are willing/able to clarify the RFE.

Good luck.

Edited October 25, 2007 by TinTin and Samby

[Dakine 26]

hi all! this is what lawyer asked from my fiance last night when she received rfe "legible final certified copy of divorce decree (as stated in the request), and a better legible copy of your birth certificate along with a certified translation (the one I have from you is not well legible). I know that your Birth Certificate is in English too, but what can we do if they still ask for certified translation. " so my fiance has aand SENT his certified translation of his filipino birth certificate,but he does NOT have a copy of his filipino original birth certificate. he doesn't know what to do, because they r asking for a certified translation but his is already in english and certified...he wants to send the one he has because he already has his naturalisation certificate....any ideeas? thanks!

My wife had the same problem. Her NSO BC was basically unreadable.

She went to the local office and the ones they gave her were the same. She called the main office in Quezon City and ordered some and they came out like manok has been fighting on them.

I ordered a couple online and they came out fine.

People have also gone to the NSO main office and paid a little extra and obtained clear ones also.

It's VERY important as there are LOTS of fake BCs, CENOMARS and other documents being done in the Philippines.

https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/frmIndex.asp

Edited October 25, 2007 by Haole

[Laura_Z 1]

thank you so much everyone for your very clear and specific answers...they are very helpful endeed. but no, i am NOT the US citizen, he is, and i diodn't understand why they needed thuis from him since he already has his naturalisation certificate and all.. thank you again and god bless!

[Dianna_and_Adam 0]

Help!!!

What do you mean- you need his birth certificate?

As far as I understood- the only thing needed for the I-129F is the petitioner's(the US citizen's ) birth certificate!!!- no one ever mentioned sending my Birth certificate?!?

Now I am seriously worried- I thought that one will be needed only at the stage of the embassy in my country?!?....

Tell me I misunderstood it!!!

I am worried enough as it is about the processing of this petition..(giving so many people hell over nonsense- such as signatures that are in black inc and don't look "real" enough)..