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You will need an Original birth certificate for filing the USA green card apart from other documents for i-485 filing or NABC (nonavailability of birth certificate).
NABC is an official letter signed by the local registrar or the municipality department mentioning that there is no record of your birth in the government records.
Similarly, Australian, Canadian, and other country immigrants will request either an original birth certificate or a Non-availability birth certificate document (NABC).
A birth certificate should have this information:
- Full Name
- Date of birth (dd/MM/yyyy format is acceptable)
- Place of birth (Village, City, or state name acceptable)
- Mother and Father’s Full Name
- The issuing agency’s official seal
- Registration date – must be within one year of your birth (365 days).
- Birth certificate Issue date – This can be any time after your birth including the current date.
This article will discuss:
Birth Certificate From Home Country
We will take the example of India to get a birth certificate. The process might be similar in most Asian countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and China.
Even if the process of the agency that issues the birth certificates in your country is different, the content is the same.
Birth Certificate from India
Every Indian state has its process but most of them follow the same process. Your local municipality is responsible for issuing the birth certificate.
These days, most of them have digitalized their records from the past and they should be able to find your birth record from the 1980s. Some of them have also created an online service to request a birth certificate.
Here is a sample birth certificate issued by the Municipality of Delhi in India.
Your birth certificate is acceptable for the USA green card with the form i-485 or I-130 family green card application as long as it has the text written in English.
No Birth Certificate Available
If you do not have a birth certificate, then you would need to provide two secondary documents:
#1 Non-Availability of Birth Record (NABC)
The best option is to get a letter from your home country authority like the municipality in India that they have no record and cannot issue a birth certificate for you.
This letter should be issued by the municipal authority from your birthplace.
This NABC can be used for USA Green Card (i485), Australia PR, Canada PR, New Zealand immigration, and UK residency or work visa.
Sample letter of no birth certificate availability
This is a sample NABC issued by the government of Tamilnadu.
Another NABC sample is for the birth records not available in Guwahati, Assam:
#2 Notarized Affidavits from Parents/Neighbors/Relatives
The affidavit should mention the details of your birth as recalled by this person.
Your mom and dad can write these affidavits for you. If they are not alive, you can ask any of your close relatives who are older than you to write these.
Two separate persons should write this and describe the place, date, and method of your birth as known to them.
These affidavits should have the details of the person who is writing them:
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Photo printing included- Full name, address, date, and place of birth
- Their relationship with you
- How do they know you
- Date and place of your birth
- Names of your father and mother
Sample Birth Certificate Affidavit
How to create a Birth Certificate Affidavit Online?
You can use AM22Tech’s Birth certificate app to create affidavits online.
Log in to apps.am22tech.com here.
Enter your details:
- My Details: Step one is to enter your details as per your passport, gender, country of birth, date, and place of birth.
- My Family: Enter your family details including your Father and Mother. Spouse information is optional if you are single or divorced.
- Affidavits 1 and 2: This should be the information about the person who is writing this affidavit for you. Enter their full name, date of birth, full current address, and relationship with you.
- Click the ‘Save‘ button to save your data.
- Click the ‘Create Affidavits & Email‘ button to create and email your affidavits to your email address.
- Affidavits cannot be viewed online for security reasons. They can only be sent to the email address that you used while registering on am22tech.com.
- Print each affidavit separately on an A4 white paper.
- Each affidavit writer should sign the affidavit.
- Enter the date of signature and then get the notary’s signature and stamp.
- Use a scanner to scan and save it for your records.
Translation
If the birth certificate is written in any native language like Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu, Chinese, Urdu, etc., then you should get it translated preferably by professional translators.
- Professional translators in the USA usually charge about $20 a page.
- Any of your friends who know both your native and English language can also translate it for you. USCIS in the USA allows non-professional translators too.
- Australian, Canadian, and other countries require translation from officially authorized translators only.
Sample Translation Cover Letter
FAQ
You cannot use a birth certificate issued by the Indian embassy for a Green card application in the USA.
Nobody can use their embassy-issued birth certificate to file their i-485 or i-130 green card applications.
There is no need to print a birth affidavit on Indian Stamp paper for Immigration. A standard A4 size paper is fine along with a local notary.
A local notary at the current residence of the affidavit writer should sign.
The same name on the passport and birth certificate is good to have.
If the name has changed after birth, then you should have all the proof of the name change.
For example, if your name has changed after marriage, you can show the name change using the passport and marriage certificate.
The birth certificate is required to have your full name.
If you have just one first name printed, you can get this fixed at your birthplace and get a new certificate with your full name.
This is highly recommended.
You cannot use the class 10th certificate in place of a birth certificate for a USA green card.
Your birth certificate registered one year after your birth may or may not be accepted by USCIS.
We suggest submitting the affidavits from neighbors or relatives for your birth too along with the birth certificate that was registered after 375 days of birth.
It is not mandatory to use a professional translator for a birth certificate.
You can avoid a professional paid translation service as long as someone who knows both your native language and English can translate your birth certificate without errors.
You can ask your friend who can do it for you. Your friend would need to write a cover letter on plain paper with all his contact details like Name, Phone Number, and contact address with the translation.
you can get a birth certificate affidavit from your mom and dad but we suggest getting it from relatives or close neighbors.
You can choose these combinations to add more weight to your affidavits:
1. Affidavit 1 from either parent.
2. Affidavit 2 from a close relative or neighbor who is older than you in age preferably by about 4-5 years. This can be your father’s or mother’s brother/sister or anyone who witnessed your birth.
You can use the birth certificate even if your name is missing from the birth certificate. You can write it by hand.
It is okay if your last name is missing from the birth certificate.
A birth certificate with a missing parent’s last name or misspellings is also acceptable.
If you want to be on the safe side, you can get the two affidavits mentioned above, and submit them.
You can get the affidavits made in the USA as long as the person who is writing the birth certificate affidavit knows you from your home country and can vouch for your birth.
