Birth Certificate for Green Card Processing in the U.S.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services requires a birth certificate for Green Card or Form I-485 applications. This rule applies to both family and marriage-based applications for lawful permanent residency. You’ll require a foreign language translation if your original birth certificate isn’t in American English. 

But what happens if you don’t even have it? Submitting your original documents without a birth certificate will lead to delay or denial. So, to get a chance of acceptance, you must consider alternatives such as several forms of secondary evidence.

Is a Birth Certificate for Green Card Translation Mandatory?

While you need a Green Card for your birth certificate translation, it isn’t compulsory. You can substitute it with secondary evidence, such as an affidavit. You can also provide other forms of evidence proving your nationality. 

Moreover, various countries have different birth record systems. So, not all issue birth certificates. If you check the U.S. Department of State’s website, you’ll see a list containing the official birth certificate issuing authorities for different nations. 

You can procure a copy of your birth certificate from this website if it’s available. However, not all counties issue this certificate. So, you may see a message informing you that your certificate is not available or nonexistent. In this case, you shouldn’t bother, as the USCIS will not demand a submission from you. 

But if your country issues birth certificates and you’ve misplaced yours, you can substitute it with other documents. However, the process is more stressful than submitting your birth certificate. Therefore, you should get it if you can. 

Getting Your Birth Certificate 

Before opting for alternative documents, try to get your birth certificate. So, if you’re working on getting your birth certificate, note that USCIS doesn’t accept those from consulates or embassies. 

Therefore, you must find a way to get the document directly from the official issuing authority in your country. If the U.S. is your country of birth, this will be relatively easy for you. 

All you need to do is find your way to the Vital Records office in your birth state. If you don’t have the address, you can get it from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

If you were born abroad, visit the U.S. Department of State’s reciprocity schedule to confirm the appropriate issuing government agency. When you access the website, enter the first letter in your country’s name. 

A list of all countries will appear. Indicate your country, and open the birth certificate tab for information regarding availability, fee, seal, format, procurement procedure, etc.

It may be in a foreign language, so prepare to contact a professional translator to provide an English translation. Note that it’s best to translate the full-form certificate rather than the extract, as the former might lack some information.

Below are the contents of the long-form version:

1. Full name
2. Birth date 
3. Place of birth
4. Names of both parents 
5. The official seal of your national birth certificate issuing agency.
6. Registration date.
7. Date of issuance.

Also, a competent translator must certify the translation of your foreign birth certificate. Document certification is essential as it proves authenticity and correctness. You can contact a certified translator or get someone else to certify it after a professional translator has translated it.

Secondary Evidence for Green Card Application 

You can use secondary evidence if you don’t have your foreign birth certificate. Any secondary evidence must prove your origin and nationality. This document will serve as a means of identity. 

The USCIS demands different secondary evidence documents. The documents you will provide depend on your country of origin and situation. 

For example, if your birth certificate record is unavailable, you must submit certified letters of nonexistence. The letter must be from a civil authority on your government’s official letterhead stating why the document is unavailable. 

The letter must also inform the USCIS whether there are other similar documents proving your birth, origin, and nationality. However, this procedure isn’t necessary if the reciprocity schedule states that the document doesn’t exist.

Another alternative is to provide other civil records with the same or similar information on your birth certificate. For example, a birth certificate from a hospital or certification from the doctor who handled your delivery will do. 

You can also provide census, church, or school records. Baptismal certificates are good examples. The USCIS will accept any of these documents in place of your birth certificate. So, ensure you have one or more of the documents above available to submit. Proper preparation of your documents will save you from rejection or denial. 

Note that you’ll provide your sponsor’s birth certificate with a petition for an alien relative, Form I-130. If your sponsor’s birth certificate is unavailable, they should consider procuring secondary evidence.

Using a Birth Certificate Affidavit for Green Card

Your affidavit is one of the valid supporting evidence you can use to pursue your Green Card application in America. But before settling for a birth certificate affidavit for Green Card application, you must be out of options.

That means all acceptable secondary evidence is also out of your reach. If this is the case, you can now rely on an affidavit. However, you are not the one to provide this written sworn statement. It must come from someone who isn’t a party to the petition but has first-hand knowledge of the situation.

It could be your mum, dad, uncle or aunt. The relative responsible for writing the affidavit doesn’t compulsorily have to live in the U.S. Since the immigration officer will analyze the affidavit to weigh its credibility, it must contain personal details from the affiant. 

Without these details, the USCIS cannot verify the affidavit; hence, there would be no proof of the information. So, below are six details the affidavit from your relative must contain:

1. The affiant’s full name and residential address.
2. The contact details of the affiant and the existing relationship between you and them.
3. The affiant’s place and date of birth.
4. A government-issued identification card belonging to the affiant.
5. A concise explanation from the affiant explains how they gained knowledge of the facts.
6. A vivid description of all necessary facts. 

Depending on the USCIS requirements, the affiant may have to notarize the affidavit before you submit it. Therefore, contacting a notary before the affiant swears an oath is necessary. The notary can sign and stamp it with official seals.

Processing Green Card Application With Foreign Certificates

Any birth certificate, secondary evidence, or supporting document for filing a Green Card application not in English is foreign. According to the requirements of the USCIS, applicants must translate all foreign language documents before submission. However, this doesn’t mean that applicants should translate their documents themselves. 

The right thing to do is get a professional translator to provide an accurate rendition. Then, when submitting, you should file both the original copy of your certificate and its translation. With both versions present, the immigration officer will compare them to check for correctness and authenticity. 

If you have non-English documents, your following action should be to find a competent translator. You’ll need a certified translator for your birth certificate, but if you’re using an affidavit, you will need a notary.

Instead of searching and analyzing the profiles of several translators, you can hire an efficient translation agency like ours. Whatever qualifications you need in a translator, we’ll provide someone who matches your requirements. 

We have translators even for the most challenging language pairs. Therefore, getting a translator to render your birth certificate for Green Card application poses no difficulty. Order now to facilitate international communication and enhance your chances of becoming a permanent resident of the U.S.