Help! Birth Certificates - Raised Seal?

[PoohJen]

Set to sail in 3 weeks! I was compiling our birth certificates today, and noticed DH's original certificate, issued by the city of his birth, does not have a raised seal.

It is a white certificate (a little bigger than an index card), has black lettering, has blue border and blue city seal superimposed on the paper. Includes his parents name and date of birth.

Yes, I will call DCL (no humans available at this time), but can anyone put my mind to ease tonite? Is an original, multi-colored birth certificate from birth city office of vital certificates valid, if it carries a seal, just not a "raised" seal?

P.S. I didn't get passports b/c for my family it would've been over $400, and we have no intention of travelling to passport-required destinations in the near future. As I knew we had DH's original certificate, it hadn't dawned on me earlier that this might be a problem.

Thanks for your input!

 

[mark & sandra]

I questioned ours too before our cruise. The most important thing is that's it's an original; not a photocopy!!! Not all have or had raised seals.

 

[lbgraves]

I never had a paper copy of my BC because VA issued the credit card like things when I was born. I ordered one last year before our cruise & was worried when the copy I received didn't have a raised seal. It was fine since it was an official copy. Apparently not all states use the raised seal now.

 

[3DAN]

Both mine and dw are from Kentucky. They do not have raised seals. They were accepted on the cruise. We didn't have a choice. Thats all they issue.

 

[PoohJen]

Thanks for helping me breathe a little! I will call DCL just to be sure - "I" know this is the official birth certificate (even still in the original envelope postmarked 1963!), but it says "Birth Notice" and "this is to certify that..." No where does it say "Official Birth Certificate"

of course, DH is from another state; I'm leaving on a business trip in the morning; and so on and so forth. Okay, deep breaths...

 

[tvguy]

The "old style" black and white certificates need a raised seal.
Many states now issue full color certificates, those are also legal.
Too bad you didn't go with the passports, they are so much easier and durable. It seems like twice a year that we need proof of our kids birth dates for school, or soccer, or little league, we use the passports for that. Our kids are 13 and 17, and they are taking foreign school trips I never anticipated, so well worth the $$$. You must have a huge family if it's over $400.

 

[tchoney]

My ds's birth certificate has a watermark and not a raised seal. My understanding is that when you go to the office in your city, ours is the register of deeds office to get your birth certificate, you can get a copy or an "Official" Copy. A lot of notaries now use regular stamps and not raised seals, so the watermark birthcertificate was just fine. We didn't have any problems.

 

[janetlynn]

If you booked through a TA, take them to her, (thats what we did) however in NJ, my Dh went to get his drivers licence renewed and they wouldn't take the birth certificate because it was only a record of his birth, now mind you we have cruised before and they took it, so to make a long story short he took a day off from work and drove to the city where he was born to retrive a real copy. So to be sure we took all of our info to the TA, she also told me to bring our marriage licence just in case. I wouldn't want to spend all of this money and not be able to get on the ship! Good Luck

 

[fourfoxesinpa]

Here's an idea if you find yourself in a pinch with the birth certificate...

A man in our area got married. With all the planning for the nuptials, he didn't realize he have the "right" b.c. until the last minute so he called his local State representative's office who rushed it through Harrisburg and got it to him via overnight mail. So, don't forget about those elected officials who are there to help, if need be.

 

[Cleo41]

My brother and his family came across the same situation. He went to the his state's department of vital statistics online and ordered one. He had it within 3 days ($33 - included overnight fee).

 

[PoohJen]

Update: I called DCL and described the certificate - the agent said "No Problem", as long as it's an original, it's fine (of course, in this age of color copiers, I don't want it questioned...).