Birth Certificate Question

[Capt. Jack]

OK, I've been reading some other posts and decided right now to double check our birth certs for our March 28th cruise. DD & DH went downtown this week and got copies of theirs, so I know that they are OK.

Here's what I have...I was born in Johnstown, PA and now live in NC...I have a record of birth from Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hosptial and a Birth Registration Notice from Commonwealth of PA Department of Health. I'm worried that neither of these are my REAL birth certificate?

Glad I checked now, I'm thinking I need to get the real thing from PA? Hopefully I can accomplish that within 2 weeks??

Thanks for your help!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

A record of birth from the hospital is not vaild, even w/ little footprints. It must be from the Bureau of Vital Statistics town/county and most importantly it must have the raised seal.
Dh was born in Philly so I just checked his. At the top it says

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania- Department of Health
Vital Records
Certificate of Birth

The raised seal is in the lower, right corner but very subtle compared to my own BC from NJ. I know for certain it is valid b/c we sent away for it to get passports for our honeymoon. Prior to that he only had the hospital one and we were told to get a passport we must have an official one from the state with the raised seal. This is what they sent us. I think it was like $15 back then in 95.

In light of the recent threads about BCs, I would call DCL just to double check. I'd hate for you to have a problem at the port and all you can say is, "I heard on the internet that this was ok to use."
Another good reason to have a passport.

 

[Capt. Jack]

Yeah, we even went an had the passport photos made when we booked the cruise, but never quite made it to the post office to get them done!

I went ahead and ordered a certified copy from PA department of health through the VitalChek that was mentioned on the other thread. It says that the certified copy is valid for passports, travel, etc...so that should do it. If not I'm going to drive up to PA and get it! No way I'm missing this cruise!! The website says 3-5 days processing time and I paid for express delivery, so I should have it in time.

A lesson to us all...double check your vital documents the minute you book your cruise! I'm so glad I started reading that other thread and it prompted me to double check. I had looked at my stuff last week and just assumed that I had what I needed!

Thanks!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yeah, we even went an had the passport photos made when we booked the cruise, but never quite made it to the post office to get them done!

I went ahead and ordered a certified copy from PA department of health through the VitalChek that was mentioned on the other thread. It says that the certified copy is valid for passports, travel, etc...so that should do it. If not I'm going to drive up to PA and get it! No way I'm missing this cruise!! The website says 3-5 days processing time and I paid for express delivery, so I should have it in time.

A lesson to us all...double check your vital documents the minute you book your cruise! I'm so glad I started reading that other thread and it prompted me to double check. I had looked at my stuff last week and just assumed that I had what I needed!

Thanks!

So true. It's never too early to get organized.

 

[lbgraves]

Just to let everyone know, not every state puts a raised seal on their official BCs. I was very concerned after I ordered mine from VA because it did not have a raised seal but it does have a watermark and says official yadda yadda yadda on the bottom. You will be able to tell if it is the real thing if it has the right wording and marks.

 

[tvguy]

Just go to a Post Office in your area that issues Passports. They will be able to tell you if your Birth Certificates are up to snuff.
Some birth certificates have raised seals, newer ones tend to have water marks or on special paper with engraved printing, sort of what U.S. Currency is printed on. Depends on where and when they were issued. We all have raised seals on ours, but if we were to get replacements today, they would be on engraved paper.
Frankly, I often wonder how the State Department determines if a birth certificate is legitmate. I was on the local Little League Board of Directors, and we had to see a birth certificate to each child to sign up. This is especially critical after age 9 when the kids could end up in post season All Star play, and you have to have the BC available for each game. Last thing you want to happen is have a kid show up for a game and be told he could not play because his bc was not correct. I've seen BC from Japan...and NO, I don't speak Japanese, but the name and birth date matched, and it had a raised seal. Same with another kid from Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, neither kid in my tenure made a tournament. I don't know how they would sort that out.