Anyone from (born in) Virginia that can help?

[Danthesand]

The seal is printed on the paper, not stamped on.

Fine, but it better be more than one color!

 

[SueEllen]

Fine, but it better be more than one color!

I am telling you that the VA birth certificates that are now being provided DO NOT HAVE A RAISED SEAL on them. The old ones yes, the new ones NO. I had to replace my birth certificate back in the fall (got another copy) because of Hurricane Katrina--my BC was in New Orleans at the passport office (as well as my son's) so we had to go back up to Richmond to get new birth certificates and send them out immediately to the passport office to get our passports in time for our cruise.

I can assure you that the certificate that the OP received would not have a raised seal on it. The seal (as in picture) is PRINTED on the paper, NOT EMBOSSSED or RAISED any longer. The picture is blue and white--the paper itself verifies the validity of the certificate. It is watermarked now. It specifically states void if no watermark and it says to hold it to the light to verify the watermark. The paper itself is a blue/red/blue multicolor.

I can absolutely understand the original poster's concern. He/She is not familiar with the VA certificates which is why he/she asked about this. If I were not from VA and received a BC that did not have a raised seal I would be concerned as well (especially with all of the hoopla over needing that raised seal.) The BC will be just fine for your passport. I just got 2 of them with new BCs and 1 with an old one (for my daughter--who DOES have a raised seal on her BC)

Sue Ellen

 

[Danthesand]

The seal (as in picture) is PRINTED on the paper, NOT EMBOSSSED or RAISED any longer. The picture is blue and white

In the State Department compliance criteria I posted earlier, it was already made 100% clear that the seal on the certificate didn't have to be embossed or raised - as long as there was (a) still a seal and (b) it was multicolored. If the description of the seal on the "new" VA certificates is indeed as described, it appears to meet (albeit not really) the State Department Passport Bureau standards.

Yes, not really: the dictionary defines "multicolored" as "more than two colors" (ergo, blue and white don't cut it, hopefully, the State Department will continue not to notice). In addition, the complaince criteria say nothing about watermarks as proof of certification, so they are irrelevant - even with them, without that (not-really-multicolored) "seal", the certificate wouldn't even come close to meeting the Federal Passport application criteria.

Hopefully, this is now all straightened out for Tynker!!!

 

[tynkerbell]

We just ordered DH's Virginia birth certificate from vitalchek about 3 months ago. It looks exactly like you described and DH was able to get his passport without any issues. I really would not worry. It is an official bc and it can be used for passports.

So there was no indention or raised seal or anything, just smooth paper?

 

[SueEllen]

So there was no indention or raised seal or anything, just smooth paper?

That is correct, no indentation or raised seal on the new BCs.

Danthesand, no need to continue to argue the point. I can tell you from experience that these are indeed the way Virginia is doing these certificates now. I'm also telling FROM EXPERIENCE that these are not a problem when getting a passport as they are a legal documentation of a record of birth. In addition, Virginia Code was modified and here is the official Vital Statistics requirements for the certification in the State of Virginia (see the bolded area):
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/vitalrec/regulations.pdf

Certified Copies: How Prepared.
REGULATIONS GOVERNING VITAL RECORDS
Under the provisions of Section 32.1-272 of the Code of Virginia and Part XII of this chapter, certifications of vital records may be prepared and issued by the State Registrar and, where applicable, by the city or county registrar.
1.A. Certifications may be made by photostat or other reproduction
process, typewriter, or electronic print except that medical and health data
on the birth certificate shall not be so certified.
2.B. The statement to appear on each certification of a vital record is to
read as follows:
“This is to certify that this is a true and correct reproduction or
abstract of the official record filed with the …………… Department
of Health …………………………., Virginia.
Date issued ……………….
………………………………...Registrar.”
The registrar will enter the appropriate city or county name in the spaces
provided, date and sign the certification, and enter his official title.
3.C. The watermark of the issuing office is to be impressed on the certification.

So you can see the IMPRESSED seal is the watermark in the State of Virginia, so it does INDEED follow the US Department of State regulations for the passport. It wouldn't make sense for a state to issue a valid document that would not be recognized by the State Department.


So, I think that our OP has their answer--if you have a newer issued birth certificate in the state of VA then you will not have any sort of raised seal. If you have an older BC in VA then you will have the raised or embossed seal on the certificate.

Sue Ellen