Immigrant Visas

Frequently Asked Questions - Immigrant Visa Unit

My birth was never registered. What do I do now?

The following is an extract from our instruction packet for applicants (Packet 3).  The entire guidance is available in the “forms” section of the Immigrant Visa portion of our website.

Each applicant must submit an original and a clear photocopy of his/her birth certificate and any required secondary evidence (see below).  The certificate should include the applicant’s name, date & place of birth, the names of both parents, an annotation by the issuing office indicating that it is an extract from its official records, and the seal of the issuing office, i.e. the municipal authorities or the village authorities (gram panchayat or talati-cum-mantri).  The certificate must be in the original, official language of the state in which you were born.  If your birth was not recorded, please submit a “no record of birth registration” letter from the relevant municipality or village authorities along with secondary evidence (see below).  If your birth record has been destroyed or the municipality or village authorities will not issue one, submit a letter from municipality or village authorities stating so along with secondary evidence (see below).  If your name is not mentioned in the birth certificate, submit the certificate along with secondary evidence (see below).  If any details are missing in the birth certificate or if there is a discrepancy regarding your date of birth or name, submit the certificate along with secondary evidence (see below).  If your birth was registered more than three years after you were born, you must submit the certificate along with a magistrate’s order concerning the late registration.  If any documents were issued in a local language, you must submit the document as well as a notarized English translation.  

Examples of secondary evidence (which should also include your name, date and place of birth, names of both parents and the seal of the issuing office), a baptismal certificate, an adoption decree, a school record, a notarized affidavit from a close relative (a parent, a close relative, neighbor or friend who was present at the time of your birth) on the appropriate stamp paper which must be sworn before a First Class Magistrate.  The person making this affidavit must state how he/she knows your family and how he/she knows the facts of your birth.