In order to obtain a green card, or Lawful Permanent Residency, the applicant, the sponsor, and the applicant’s children all need to provide their birth certificates to the U.S. government.
Obtaining birth certificates can range from trivial to nearly-impossible, and almost always takes a significant amount of time. Some countries require you to physically travel to the province of your birth in order to obtain the document. Therefore, GreenCardHero recommend that you start as early as possible, as it is likely to be the trickiest document to obtain for everyone involved.
Below, we will explain in great detail how to obtain the right birth certificate for everyone. Let’s begin!
Green Card Sponsor:
What if a birth certificate is unavailable or does not exist?
USCIS Form I-485 (the adjustment of status form of a green card application) requires applicants to submit a photocopy of their birth certificate. USCIS will only accept a long-form birth certificate which lists at least one parent.
For each country, the U.S. government has specific guidelines on what types of birth certificates are acceptable. The requirements vary widely, not just by country but also by the region or province.
Below we will walk through how to get a birth certificate from eight common countries, and also how to get it from the rest of the world.
Chinese born individuals need to obtain a Notarized Certificate (Gōngzhèng shū, 公证书). This is distinct and completely separate from the “Birth certificate” (Chūshēng zhèngmíng shū, 出生证明书) or medical certificate of birth (Chūshēng yīxué zhèngmíng, 出生医学证明), which is not the officially recognized document recognized by the U.S. government.
In order to obtain the Notarized Certificate, you (or someone on your behalf) must go to the Local Notary Public Office (Gōngzhèng chù, 公证处) and present documents including:
If you elect to have a representative apply for your Notarized Certificate on your behalf, you may be asked to provide a picture of yourself holding your national ID card.
Obtaining an Indian birth certificate requires that you or a family member physically apply at the correct local office. The office may be a municipal corporation (Nagar Nigam) in urban areas, the Tahsildar office in rural areas, or the Gram Panchayat office in villages. The procedures and time required to receive the certificate will vary.
Note that birth certificates offered by the Indian Embassy and Consulate Generals in the U.S. cannot be used to satisfy USCIS requirements. Specifically:
The Consulate does not attest any document issued by authorities in India. If any document issued by authorities in India (such as birth and death certificates…) are required to be presented to authorities in USA, these should be apostilled in India.
(Above quote is from the Consulate General in Chicago, but all other Consulates have similar notices. By the way, “attest” and “apostille” both means to certify as true.)
Also note that India did not issue birth certificates prior to January 1, 1970. If you were born before this date, you do not have to provide any proof-of-birth with your application.
If the birth certificate is unavailable, some acceptable Secondary Evidence include:
Starting in 2015, Mexican born individuals in the U.S. are able to obtain certified copies of their birth certificate from the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C. or any Consulate General throughout the United States. The consulate charges $13 per copy. Please consult the website of your nearest consulate general for details.
Alternatively, certificates can be obtained from the Oficinas de Registro Civil of the state where you were born. Since records of birth are considered public information in Mexico, anyone (you, a family member, or a friend) who knows the basic information of your birth can go to the office and obtain the certificate.
Dominican-born individuals obtain a certified birth certificate in person or by mail. If you are in the country, visit the Civil Registry Office of the region you were born. To have your certificate mailed to you, see the Directorate of Civil Registry Offices of the Republic (Dirección General de las Oficialías del Estado Civil de la República) website for directions.
Note: The Dominican Republic offers a long form and short form certificate. Obtain the long form, as it contains more information.
Individuals born in the Philippines may obtain their birth certificate online from PSA Serbilis. It will cost roughly USD 20. If you are in the Philippines, the certificate will be delivered within 2 weeks. For other countries, it may take 6-8 weeks. Alternatively, you can visit a local Census Serbilis center and have your document same-day.
For more instructions, check out this detailed article.
Vietnamese-born individuals need to obtain their birth certificate from the provincial Ministry of Justice. Check out this detailed article chronicling the process.
Jamaican-born individuals can request a certified copy of their certificate from the Register General’s Department website. Alternatively, copies can be obtained in person at the Local District Registrar in the province of your birth.
Salvadoran birth certificate must be obtained in-person, either by you or a representative, at the Family Registry (Registro del Estado Familiar) in your city of village of birth.
You can find the requirements for an acceptable birth certificate from your country using the Department of State Document Finder tool. Select your country from the left-hand-side list in the tool, and then scroll down to the section called “Birth, Death, Burial Certificates”.
The answer is yes. The sponsor’s birth certificate is optional at the time of filing the green card application, but is required at the green card interview later.
When filing the green card application,if the sponsor is a U.S. citizen, Form I-130 asks for the sponsor’s proof of citizenship, which can be either a passport, certificate of naturalization, or a birth certificate. So the birth certificate is optional. However, the USCIS asks that the sponsor brings his/her birth certificate to the interview. So the sponsor’s birth certificate is required at the interview.
We recommend that you obtain the sponsor’s birth certificate ahead of time. Don’t wait until the interview notice arrives before taking action, since there may not be enough time to obtain the certificate between when the interview notice arrives and the actual interview date.
The procedure of the sponsor’s birth certificate differs depending on whether he/she was born inside or outside the U.S:
Born Inside the U.S.
You should have been issued a birth certificate by a civil registrar, vital statistics office, or other civil authority at the time of birth showing you were born in the United States. If you cannot find your birth certificate, learn how to obtain a replacement at usa.gov
Born Outside the U.S.
You can obtain your birth certificate the same way the applicants do. We explain it in detail in the applicant section.
The answer is yes. The children’s birth certificates are optional at the time of filing the green card application, but are required at the green card interview later.
When filing the green card application, Form I-130 says a child’s birth certificate showing the sponsor and applicant as the parents can be used as proof of a bona fide marriage. So the child’s birth certificate is optional. However, the USCIS asks that the applicant to bring his/her children’s birth certificates to the interview, regardless of whether the children are the ones applying for a green card So the children’s birth certificates are required at the interview.
We recommend that you obtain the children’s birth certificates ahead of time. Don’t wait until the interview notice arrives before taking action, since there may not be enough time to obtain the certificates between when the interview notice arrives and the actual interview date.
Children born in the U.S.
Your child should have been issued a birth certificate by a civil registrar, vital statistics office, or other civil authority at the time of birth showing the child was born in the United States. If you cannot find the birth certificate, learn how to obtain a replacement at usa.gov
Children born abroad
You can obtain the child’s birth certificate the same way applicants do. We explain it in detail in the applicant section.
A birth certificate may be unavailable or non-existent for various reasons. For example, birth certificates may be known to be unavailable or nonexistent in your country, or a natural disaster may have destroyed the government office which held your records, or your parents did not officially register your birth for whatever reason.
If birth certificates are known to be unavailable or nonexistent in your country, you do not need to do anything to prove that your birth certificate is unavailable or nonexistent.
How can you find out? Look up your country of birth on the U.S. Department of State Document Finder. It will tell you whether birth certificates are known to be unavailable or nonexistent in your country.
If that’s not your case, you will need to submit two documents in place of a birth certificate:
First, a ‘Certificate of Unavailability,’ which states that the document is indeed unavailable or does not exist.
Second, an acceptable alternative evidence of birth (called a ‘Secondary Evidence’ of your birth records).
A Certificate of Unavailability is a document from a civil authority on official government letterhead which:
The acceptable secondary evidence is different depending on your situation. We will explain it in detail next:
If the U.S. Department of State Document Finder tool does not show that birth certificates from your country of birth are generally unavailable or nonexistent, in addition to submitting a “Certificate of Unavailability”, you must submit other acceptable evidence relating to the facts of your birth, such as church or school records, hospital or medical records, personal affidavits, or similar evidence.
The requirements differ based on the sponsor’s place of birth:
If the sponsor was born in the U.S:
In this situation, in addition to submitting a “Certificate of Unavailability”, you must also submit secondary evidence, which may include one or more of the following records listed below. Page 8-9 of the I-130 instructions states the following may serve as acceptable secondary evidence:
If records like those described above are not available, then you may submit two or more written statements from individuals who were living at the time and who have personal knowledge of the event you are trying to prove, such as the date and place of birth, marriage, or death. The individuals making the written statements do not have to be U.S. citizens. Each written statement must contain the following information regarding the individual making the written statement: his or her full name, address, date and place of birth, full information concerning the event, and complete details explaining how the individual acquired personal knowledge of the event. Finally, each individual’s written statement must include the following declaration, “I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date], [signature].”
If the sponsor was born outside the U.S:
The USCIS does not specify requirements for this case. You may consider reference the USCIS requirements for applicants.
The USCIS does not specify requirements for this case. You may consider reference the USCIS requirements for applicants if the child was born abroad, or reference the requirements for sponsors if the child was born in the U.S.
If you submit a document with information in a foreign language, you must also submit a full English translation. The translator must sign a certification that the English language translation is complete and accurate, and that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English. The certification must include the translator’s signature. USCIS recommends the certification contain the translator’s printed name and the date and the translator’s contact information.
If you apply with GreenCardHero, make sure to check out our template for the translation certification.
You do not need to pay for a professional translation service to translate the birth certification. For example, a friend who is competent to translate can satisfy the requirement.
We are a community of former applicants who successfully went through the hair-pulling, eyeball-popping green card application process ourselves. We believe every couple should have access to quality guidance and file their application with confidence, without costing an arm and a leg in the process. That’s why we created the apps, tools, and guides at GreenCardHero. If you share our vision and want to contribute to the community, drop us a line!
Categories UncategorizedGreenCardHero offers a guided software that helps you file your application with step-by-step customized instructions, at a fraction of the lawyer's cost.
Start Your Application --> Try It for Free!
We are not a law firm and are not affiliated with or endorsed by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or any other government agency. The services and information provided are not legal advice and do not substitute the same level of advice, opinion, guidance or recommendation that a licensed immigration attorney can provide, and do not form an attorney-client relationship. We can only provide self-help services at your specific direction and do not have special knowledge of immigration law and procedure.
Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.