E-Mail from CIC re. birth certificate

[Coldstream63]

We just received an email from CIC requesting we explain the difference in dates on the birth certificate vs. the rest of the civil documents (Indonesian passport, ID card, work permit, etc). She is Indonesian, working in Singapore.

We're a bit confused as, while the front page of her birth certificate did have an incorrect date listed (off by less than a month), the BACK of the birth certificate had the correction, and all stamped, signed and dated by the court in her district. Both sides were certified, translated and submitted with the application.

Background - Her folks were dirt poor, and she didn't get her birth cert until she was 11 or so, as part of a government initiative to get kids like her registered for free. It's a special government program they had started, and still do, from time to time.

So, it was tucked away, lost, and not found again until 2011, when we started dating and talking about what we would need for a visitor visa app to Canada. We noticed the difference, and so she had her mum, and two witnesses (her dad had passed, by that time), go to court, swear in front of a judge, etc, and correct it to the proper date.

She does have a school document from kindergarten remaining, that shows her DOB as the corrected date, so that's good. I've asked her to have that sent to her place in Singapore to get it translated and we can include it with our reply, as need may be.

What do you guys think? Is it possible the VO didn't see the second page of the birth certificate that showed the correction, or is he fishing?

We're able to provide an explanation, as above, and will include a certified true copy and translation of her school document showing her correct DOB (which, preceded the correction).

That all said, we're rattled, a bit (well, I...the chronic worrier...am).

Thoughts?

 

[Mapleson]

You've said that there is an error and how you got a correction, but you didn’t specify why there is a difference. Did her parents misremember? Was it sloppy record keeping because the program was free and a high volume at once? Was the official record amended or just the birth certificate? If the first, why didn’t you get a new certificate issued? If the latter, why wasn’t the record amended?

I went through a similar, but more convoluted process, for my step-daughter, who had no less than 5 errors on her ID/birth certificate, and those errors needed fixing of their own. After about 3 months of going back and forth, we got everything fixed officially.

 

[Coldstream63]

In talking to my wife, she had zero in the way of recollection of when it was issued, and when she queried her mum about it, and asked her why it was wrong, her mum (who was already suffering dementia), was confused and didn't know. As her husband had passed away several years before, and since she couldn't remember why the difference, they had two witnesses (one of whom was a close family friend of my wife's mum and dad) who swore in front of a judge as to the corrected date for the birth certificate.

As her mum, as well as the friend, have passed away since then, we can't even query further of them.

I've taken the time to ask an immigration lawyer about it, and he did say that some areas of Indonesia are not the best for record keeping accuracy, and it's sadly not uncommon.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Reply to the email explaining the situation as you have here and refer them to the corrected DOB on the back. If they need more info, they will ask.

 

[Sa3Sa3]

Be open and honest with them and just explain to them what you just explained here.

Best luck and warm wishes.

 

[canadianwoman]

Yes, explain as you did here, include the school record, and you might also get an Indonesian lawyer to write a letter stating that record-keeping at the time in that area was not good, and it is common for birth certificates to have mistakes. He/she could also explain about the government program. I don't think you 100% need this, but it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Coldstream63]

Thanks everyone for your comments/advice. The lawyer we'd being going to for help here and there, is going to draw up a quick reply, and resend certified true copies of the birth certificate, and will make note in his narrative that the existing document does in fact have the right info. He'll also take what we explained above, add some lawyer language(LOL), and send that explanation along with the second set of birth certificate copies. I'm meeting him next week, after Victoria Day.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks everyone for your comments/advice. The lawyer we'd being going to for help here and there, is going to draw up a quick reply, and resend certified true copies of the birth certificate, and will make note in his narrative that the existing document does in fact have the right info. He'll also take what we explained above, add some lawyer language(LOL), and send that explanation along with the second set of birth certificate copies. I'm meeting him next week, after Victoria Day.

Honestly, I would save your money on the lawyer/certifications/postage and just simply reply to the email they sent you with the explanation. CIC just wants to know why it's different.

 

[keesio]

I agree with canuck_in_uk. CIC just wants an explanation. When I sponsored my wife, we include some documentation that had differing dates for her mother's birthday. The difference was that one had her solar birthdate while the other was her lunar birthdate. We included an explanation for the differences in the dates and that seemed to satisfy CIC since they never brought it up as an issue. Of course they probably don't care as much since it is not the applicant's birthdate with the issue. But in any case they just want a reasonable explanation.