Help: DS birth certificate woes- UPDATE

[SaraMc]

OH I am so angry I want to spit. DS was born in August and we went right away to register his live birth to get his birth certificate for our upcoming trip.
The 8 weeks go by and we still have nothing back to go get his birth certificate. So I call the clerks office and they tell me a error was made on the hospital's end and they didnt catch it and it was returned to them. That the Dr never signed the form and it had been fixed and sent back. So we are told wait a few weeks then go online and order the cerificate. So I do that. It says 15 days later you should recieve the document. Still nothing. So I check the status online and it says they have no record of this child. Im now freaking out. I called the office of the registar and first of all 40 minutes I was on hold I finally get to talk to someone they find his forms and say that its in the "problem area" that I have to call back in a week to find out what the status is. Now we have a travel letter for him but its only good for 3 months apparently so I cant even go and get him a passport.
Im so furious that because they made the error I have to wait, I just dont know what to do next

 

[nosnobunny2006]

I'll see if I can help you out here. I work in a department of a municipality where we do vital statistics, ie. we register live births. We do not issue birth certificates as that is a provincial responsibility. When a child's birth is registered, you have to wait until the province sends you acknowledgement of the registration before you can apply for a birth certificate. I would strongly recommend you first contact the municipality where the statement of live birth was taken and enlist their advice. Failing that, your only recourse is to contact Thunder Bay directly. Their number is 1-800-461-2156. Good luck.

Beth

 

[SaraMc]

Thanks Beth, we did contact "the town of Oakville" and they did look into it for us, telling us that it was being processed and that they were behind. I also called the 1800 # and they told me that it had not been processed and it was in a special file because of the error made which now has been corrected. The town of oakville suggested getting him a passport. So We are going to get all of that ready and hopefully one of them will arrive before we leave.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

You might want to try calling the passport office first to see if they will issue a temporary passport without a birth certificate. If you can't get through to them, I have a telephone number for Info Ontario who may be able to help you. Unfortunately it isn't a toll free number but it's the only one I have. 1-519-576-6517.

Beth

 

[SaraMc]

Thankyou so much, after talking to the passport office, DS can get a temp. passport with the travel document he has that will cover him for the next 6 months. So off to get his passport photo's tommorow and get it notorized by our dr. Monday we go and wait in line! They did tell me to bring our travel documents to prove we are going out of the country.

 

[LdnCpl]

If you don't mind me asking what is it they said they'd require for the temp passport. I only ask because our adoption was supposed to be final this month but it's been pushed back and time might be tight and we may to need to look into this option also. We don't have a birth cert either and won't until we can finalize the adoption

 

[SaraMc]

We have a travel document that we purchased from our city that basically states that we are Ben's parents and we have registered his birth with the city and are awaiting his birth certificate.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

I'm happy to hear it all worked out for you.

I believe that travel letters are only issued to newborns (this isn't my area of expertise, so I asked a co-worker who deals with it). One other thing to keep in mind is that only one travel letter can be issued - ever. So if you lose it, you're out of luck for getting a replacement. You might want to consider having a copy just in case you have to relinquish it to Customs. The passport office would be the best place to get the information regarding ID requirements.

Beth

 

[SaraMc]

Yes she said to photocopy everything before we hand it in. Which I already had done Its almost all ready to go. Going to get the Dr. to sign off on it on Monday and head to the office and sit and wait with DS. perhaps they will move me through faster with DS in tow?? One can hope

Thankyou so much for your help.

 

[jtdl]

Glad you were able to get travel docs.

For anyone else who might have problems getting a birth certificate in a timely matter, you MPP's office is also a good place to go. I needed a birth certificate for a family member who had passed away and sent the required forms where they were supposed to go. Three months later I had still not received the document. I went to the MPP's office, he did whatever it was he did and within 2 weeks I had the document.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Yes she said to photocopy everything before we hand it in. Which I already had done Its almost all ready to go. Going to get the Dr. to sign off on it on Monday and head to the office and sit and wait with DS. perhaps they will move me through faster with DS in tow?? One can hope

Thankyou so much for your help.

Think nothing of it. I'm just your average government employee trying to help out.

Beth

 

[SaraMc]

Good news! DS birth certificate arrived by Purolator this afternoon! So now he will have both a passport and a birth certificate! Yahoo.. I was starting to worry that we would have to leave him behind with my MIL
Yahoo yahoo yahoo we are going to Disneyworld!!!

 

[justjulie]

I have a question - do you know how long it typically takes for a replacement birth certificate? My husband's wallet was stolen and he applied for a replacement birth certificate in AUGUST and it still hasn't arrived - the cheque has been cashed for months but no birth certificate ....

 

[nosnobunny2006]

I would definately follow up with the Province in Thunder Bay. Here's their number 1-800-461-2156. That line tends to be a very busy one, so keep trying.

Please let us know how you made out. I'll cross my fingers for you.

If all else fails and you need his BC in a hurry, you can always try again. The fastest way is to go online to serviceontario.ca and follow the links. I believe they guarantee 15 business day delivery (at least that's what it is for new BCs). Just make sure you have your credit card handy because they'll ask for payment again.

Beth

 

[justjulie]

Beth:

Apparently they only guarantee 15 days if you order on-line (for an increased fee). We posted it in August, had it returned "for further information" and were told we had to return it within 60 days - we returned it in 24 hours and still no birth certificate.

The "on-line inquiry" is out of service - please try again later - it's been that way for eight weeks. I guess I'll just have to try and call and be prepared to be on hold for my lunch hour.

Thanks anyway.


Julie

 

[nosnobunny2006]

That is a real stinker. I have a couple of other options for you to try, a direct number that unfortunately isn't toll free and a fax number. Sometimes you'll get an answer faster that way. It's worth a try. 1-416-325-8305 or fax 1-807-343-7459. If they don't work, I'm at a loss short of contacting your MPP.

Beth