US Citizen born abroad

[JOHN DOWNEY]

In going through the residency Visa process, can anyone tell me if a “Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America” will suffice in place of a Birth Certificate? I was born in Canada of American parents. Or if I need to get an original copy of my Birth Certificate from Canada and the Consular Report. Or if I’m just out of luck :).

Just joined this site; thanks for your help!!

[SUZAN HASKINS]

John, contact attorney Santiago Andrade (santiago1397@gmail.com) and ask him. He’s good about answering questions, whether you eventually use his services or not.

[JOHN DOWNEY]

Thanks Suzan, I’ll shoot him an email.

[SUZAN HASKINS]

Ok, and if he can’t help you, let me know and I’ll dig into this.

[JOHN DOWNEY]

I did receive an answer from Mr. Andrade (he was quite prompt and appreciated), but it left me more confused than I was to start. I wrote in part “I was born in Canada of American parents”; the response in full was “Regarding your question, you will need to bring your birth certificate, apostilled”. It is my understanding that Canada does not apostille any documents. Believe I read that in the Visa requirements on this site.

If I can take you up on your offer, I would appreciate it if you could dig into this a little further, thanks.

Being an American born abroad was never an issue for me until post 9/11. Since then, it has become a point of irritation and at times a real pain. Not thinking, the last time I went to get my Drivers License renewed they asked for 2 forms of ID, so I tossed my pocket Birth Certificate on the counter, along with my old license. I thought the officer was going to have me deported! Fortunately, my father, still living at the time, kept good records and still had my 50+ years old Consular Report of Birth Abroad and all was well.

[SUZAN HASKINS]

No, Canada does not apostille. A couple of things you might want to do: call your nearest Ecuador consulate and verify what they will acccept, and call your nearest Canada consulate and ask if they can certify the document in an internationally accepted way. Meanwhile I will see what else I can find out.

[JOHN DOWNEY]

Thanks for all your help! It seems to me that there must be others going through the visa process in my same situation. I will check with both consulate’s to see what I can find out.

[SUZAN HASKINS]

All I’m reading is that a Canadian birth certificate must be legally authenticated. The Canadian consulate must have a way of doing that. Lots of expats here recommend the services of Maite Duran, an Ecuadorian who has helped lots of expats through the visa process — and specifically getting a resident visa in the U.S. prior to coming to Ecuador. Check out her website at http://www.ecuadormovers.com and shoot her an email. I am sure she’d be happy to help.

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