Birth Certificate Woes... Has this happened to anyone else?

[MrsPotatoHead]

I ordered 2 certified copies of my birth certificate last Thursday from vitalchek.com. I was born in St. Louis, MO so I faxed the order form to St. Louis Vital Records. Per the detail on Vitalchek.com, St. Louis Vital Records only provides CERTIFIED COPIES OF BIRTH CERTIFICATES, which is what I'll need for our cruise. The birth certificates showed up today (WHEW!! That was fast!!) and they are official-looking, raised seal certificates from the state of Missouri. However, it is not an actual COPY of my birth certificate. It lists my name, birth date, county of birth, parents' names, ages and their state of birth. Then at the bottom it says "This is a true certification of name and birth facts recorded in this office." I quickly called their office just before 5:00 pm, and the lady there said this should work fine for passports, etc. I told her I was going on a cruise and she said this is all I needed. She said to get an actual ARCHIVED COPY, I'd have to contact the Missouri Dept. of Health, which is also listed on the vitalchek website. I hate having to pay for MORE copies from another state agency, but I feel like the ones received today are no good for boarding a ship. Has anyone else been able to board with just "birth facts" from your state?

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

What you have should be sufficient for boarding the ship.

 

[Mjasp]

That is exactly what I got from the state of NY for myself and DH. It was all that was needed, we just got back from the 5/11 cruise.
They looked at it and said OK ready to go everyone was born.LOL

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by MrsPotatoHead
The birth certificates showed up today (WHEW!! That was fast!!) and they are official-looking, raised seal certificates from the state of Missouri. However, it is not an actual COPY of my birth certificate. It lists my name, birth date, county of birth, parents' names, ages and their state of birth. Then at the bottom it says "This is a true certification of name and birth facts recorded in this office."

Here's an excerpt from http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/d...=RatesAndDatesFAQGrping#RatesDocumentationFAQ
<DL><DD>What documentation do I need to bring?
All U.S. and Canadian citizens must travel with proof of citizenship, which is a valid passport, or certified birth certificate with a picture identification, or a certified naturalization certificate with a picture identification. Acceptable forms of picture identification are state or provincial driver's license with a picture, or federal, state, province, or local government photo I.D. card. Children 17 and under who are U.S. or Canadian citizens are only required to have proof of citizenship, excluding picture identification.</DD></DL>
It certainly seems that what you have is a certified birth certificate, raised seal and all -- exactly what DCL specifies.

 

[MrsPotatoHead]

Shew! Thanks everyone! For some reason I was thinking you had to have an actual certified copy of the certificate itself. I was worried that the "birth facts" wouldn't be acceptable, but it sounds like everything will be fine. I also sent away for my DH's birth certifcate from Georgia. I'm curious to see what we get from there as well. Then again, we might just end up getting passports... We've never been to Europe, so maybe the passports will give us an incentive to go within the next 10 years!

 

[Mjasp]

Don't waste your money on passports till you have to. The birth certificates are just fine. Don't worry. We ordered ours from Vital check also. Thanks again Dave.

 

[MrsPotatoHead]

Thanks everyone! I feel much better now. One less thing to worry about.

 

[stormkrow]

I have the birth certificate issued by the hospital (it has a raised seal). Is the same as the birth certificates issued by the local municipality? Will DCL accept this?

 

[TnRobin]

Stormkrow,

It sounds like you are talking aobut the "Mother's Copy" that is issued by the hospital before the mother and child leave the hospital. If so, this is not a "certified" birth certificate. You will need one from the state which shows the birth was registered.

The birth certificate can be order at the hospital when the child is born and may have been delivered to the hospital. If this is the case then you may have the Certified Birth Certificate. Look for some indication that the copy you have is from the state.

 

[tinkerbell4two]

Must it have a raised seal? I greceived my certified copies right after my kids were born (3 years ago) and they did not do the "seal" at the time. The most recent ones that I got have the raised seals for DH and myself. The paper they are printed on are all the same. So, I don't think I'll have a problem....or will I?

 

[Mjasp]

Yes, they must have a raised seal!!!!!!!!

Feel it good, sometimes its raised in white, the seal is a raised circle but its white.

 

[ucralum]

Actually, many areas no longer use raised seals, instead using a colored stamp. My son's birth certificate (Orange County, CA, 1992) has the stamp and was accepted by the State Department for a passport with no problem. It just has to be an official copy, not the "souvenir" types that some hospitals provide.