Birth certifiates no raised seal

[D A P & I]

Hi my kids have their birth certificates. My husband and I sent away for ours. Mine from Texas is a abstract of birth facts with the raised seal of Texas. My husbands from Florida is a certified true copy of his birth certificate. No raised seal, but on security paper with a watermark signed and dated with a seal of FL. Will these be okay????? I am so afraid of getting down there and them saying sorry! Help if you can. Or anyone else have these types?

 

[Gina]

...an abstract of "birth facts", seal or no seal, isn't going to work. I received that when my son was born (we live in Texas) and I had to send away for a certified copy of his birth certificate before the cruise. BTW, the certified copy does *not* have any seal, but is like your husband's, with the raised type and special background. I was told that it has to be either the original, or say "certified copy" to be usable.

Not trying to upset you, just want to make sure y'all get on that ship okay!

-gina-

 

[prymsu]

I think they must have the raised seal. I think you need to try again and specify that they must be the certified copy with the raised seal. I have been on lots of cruises, and i believe it states this in your packet of documents. Hope this helps.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

To avoid any problems, I obtained US passports for all four of us. (My wife and I already had passports.) No questions and no probems when boarding the ship, when doing the early morning US INS check at St. Thomas, and when returning to Port Canaveral.

Plus, we're now set for any future foreign travel.

(Of course, I needed valid, raised seal birth certificates to obtain the passports.)

 

[BeanoC]

Your husband's will be fine. The raised seal is not so much an issue anymore because many states no longer use those seals.
As long as it's on the official colored border, you're ok.

The abstract of birth facts, however, is not likely to work. If I were you I'd definitely get a true, full copy of your complete certificate. I am almost certain that they will not accept the abstract.

Other than that you have nuttin' to worry about!


'Beano'

 

[gottaluvdisney]

The key word is 'CERTIFIED'. The birth certificate must be the ORIGINAL or CERTIFIED copy.

 

[Pugdog007]

And our birth certificates do not have a raised seal, nor do they say "certified." They do look REALLY OLD, and are on thick white paper that is about 1/2 of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet.

Both mine and my DH's parents insist that what we both have are "originals" and that they have nothing else.

Anyone from AL out there born late 60's with these type birth certificates? Anyone think we'll have trouble with them?

 

[Gina]

Just FYI -- You can go to www.vitalchek.com and order certified copies of your birth certificate. I just checked, and for Alabama it would cost $22 plus a $5.50 handling fee, and Texas would be $11 + $6 fee. Worth the peace of mind, and way cheaper than a passport!

Hope this helps,
-gina-

 

[hydster]

but I do know that NONE of my family...dh, me, or my 3 kids have birth certificates with raised seals and so far none of us have had any problems going on cruises. In the state of Utah you can get a birth certificate copy that is the size of a credit card and it is laminated. NO WHERE on any of our cards does it say Certified, or anything and it is impossible to raise the seal when it is laminated in plastic. I think the brochures saying raised seal birth certificates is misleading! I think they need to say State issued birth certificates but raised seal birth certificates dont apply to every situation! If it were me however I would NOT chance the birth fact thing but I would go to the vitalcheck website and get one sent to you asap...either express if you dont have alot of time or else regular mail if you have awhile! It wouldnt be worth it to me to chance it. I know on our last Carnival cruise a woman in front of us didnt have a birth certificate AT ALL and she had to sign a waiver releasing Carnival of ALL liability if she encountered any problems as a result. It wouldnt be worth it to me!!
Good luck..I hope you can find something that will work but just know we dont have a raised seal certificate and so far no problems! Oh yeah and I also take a copy of the state vital record phone number with me so if there are problems with the certificate I CAN call the state vital statistic office (on a weekday if I board then) and they can tell the person that it is in fact a legitimate birth certificate. Havent had to do it yet but I do take it as a precaution!
Heidi

 

[D A P & I]

WOW you guys are great at information. The problem is this is the copy they sent me from vital records in Texas.
I guess I will get in contact with them some how and firgure this out.
We sail for the first time July 27th, on the Magic Anymore information please let me know. Or if anyone knows anyone that used an absract of birth.

 

[amy1007]

Pugdog,

I was born in Mississippi in 1960, and my birth certificate is exactly as you described yours to be. I have used it cruising before and had no problem. But that was before 9/11.....are they much more strict now?

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Pugdog007
And our birth certificates do not have a raised seal, nor do they say "certified." They do look REALLY OLD, and are on thick white paper that is about 1/2 of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet.

Both mine and my DH's parents insist that what we both have are "originals" and that they have nothing else.

Anyone from AL out there born late 60's with these type birth certificates? Anyone think we'll have trouble with them?

I was born in 1961 in CT. My original Birth Certificate was just thick white paper, no raised seal, no color. I had to write to whoever in CT and send a check for $5 or so and get a certified copy with a raised seal in order to get my passport.

To find out if your documents are acceptable, go to your local passport issuing place, and ask them if you can get a passport with it. If not, you'll need to get a new one issued. If so, you're fine.

Anne

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Texas and California were using computer generated certificates for a period of time. Before moving from California 8 years ago, I went for copies of my DH and 1st born's birth certs. as they had been born there. I was sold (for $12 bucks each), the computer gen. documents, that were considered official AT THE TIME. When my DH went to use it for his passport, it was rejected and they referred us to a notice on the wall about these forms. I have wondered if DCL would have turned him away at the port, had we not found out about this.
Anyone who is not sure of the acceptability of their certificates, (Utah's little card, etc.) might want to go to a post office that does passports, and have the passport clerk look at it. If it would qualify for a passport, then I bet it would be fine for DCL. If the clerk thinks not, ask him for the proper terminology for describing the cert. and call DCL with the question.

 

[Peter Johnson]

My DW has one of the laminated credit card sized birth certificates. It was accepted as passport identification without any problem. We both have our birth certificates, but we figured a passport just might be better than a certificate post-9/11.

BTW, after paying $65, my passport was wrong... wrong birth state. So much for them actually reading the birth certificate that's enclosed with the application.

 

[srobin]

Pugdog, I am from Birmingham and was born in 1963. My birth certificate is also white but on thin paper. It has seen better days very worn etc almost torn. I decided to go to the Jefferson Co. health department to get a new copy. I gave my copy to my dad for safekeeping so I don't have it in front of me. The copy I think was computer generated I got it after about a 20 minute wait. My son was also born in B'ham. There is a statement on his birth certificate that reads:
I Dorothy S. harshbarger, State Registar of Health Statistics, certify this is a true and exact copy of the original certificate filed in the Center for Health Statistics, State of Alabama, Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama and have caused the official seal of the Center for Health Statistics to be affixed.
I believe that the exact same statement is on my copy as well.

You can tell that the seal is on it the paper is somewhat raised but you can't feel it very well. I hope these will work. I have my original but as previously stated it is about to fall apart due to frequent moves.I will probably take it as well. I did not want to go through the hassle of getting the passport. To be on the safe side I got my 11 year old son a state issued identification card with his picture to serve as a second form of ID. It only took about a week to get back and cost $23.00. I hope this helps.

I am now paronoid after reading all of this posts and will probably call the health department and post office tomorrow to ask once again if these will work. Probably don't have time for the passport now we sail in 4 weeks.

 

[D A P & I]

Okay! I talked with the clerk of court in Denton Texas. She said, "This Absract of Birth Facts" is the same thing we send with the passport appt. It is a totally legal birth certificate and you should have NO problems with it." She is also sending me a full certified copy of the orginal too, so that I will not worry about it. I would suggest doing this if you have any questions about what you have. I decide to call after getting so many different answers. I thank everyone for your help. Remember it is easy to call and ask.
Oh the certified copy of the orginal, she is sending at no charge.

Sailing July 27th on the Magic

 

[bray]

I know what you mean about being worried. I was the same way last year whenever we left on the 4 day cruise. This year I am feeling more confident.

I was born in Illinois, my husband in AZ, and my daughter in TX. All three certificates contain different information and all three look very different (raised seal, heat sensitive, colored paper) etc. In fact mine from 1962 in Illinois is a copy of the handwritten certificate placed on "certified paper".

I needed them in a hurry and had no trouble contacting the county clerks office in each of the counties. In fact in TX, I was told I could go to the local county courthouse annex near my house and get one on the spot. Hope this helps.