Old, ratty, birth certificate (WITH a raised seal)

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Does anyone have any experience using an old, worn birth certificate? Well, really it's not that old (it's for SIL, who is 42) but it looks like it is. It's only about 5x7 inches, yellowed, hand-written, and worn, but it DOES have the raised seal on it. I gently suggested to SIL that she should go get a new one just in case, but she didn't want the hassle.

PLEASE tell me that this would be okay. I'm just picturing us all getting to the port, and then DCL telling her, "There's no way you're getting on our ship with that shameful little scap of paper."

If y'all think it will be a problem, I'll show her this thread and INSIST that she go get a new one. We sail in a couple of weeks.

Thanks!

 

[tchoney]

Your SIL should be fine this time, but I wouldn't chance it. It doesn't matter how old the bc is, the important thing is that it has a raised seal. I would, however, order another birth certificate. She could go online print out the application from the city that she was born in, mail a check and they will return it. I ordered my husbands and my bc's several years ago from different cities and received them back in about 2 weeks. If her bc is hand written, over time,that ink will start to fade. I would think the bc needs to be clearly legible.

 

[Typhoon Guy]

One question, is it a state BIRTH certificate or a HOSPITAL Birth certificate? On my last sailing my Mom who is 60 only had a Hospital Certificate (with a raised seal). They luckily let us on but suggested she apply for a State one. (Which we later did.) It was also hand written, 5X7 and ratty looking too.

Just a thought.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

One question, is it a state BIRTH certificate or a HOSPITAL Birth certificate? On my last sailing my Mom who is 60 only had a Hospital Certificate (with a raised seal). They luckily let us on but suggested she apply for a State one. (Which we later did.) It was also hand written, 5X7 and ratty looking too.

Just a thought.

Uh, oh. I'll have to check with her. IF I remember correctly, it does say something about "issued by the state of Louisiana" but I could be mistaken.

I wish we could just mail a check, but in LA you can only apply online if you were born after 1983.

 

[Henlady]

My mom had what she thought was my birth certificate. My name, date of birth and some other info were hand written and it had a raised seal, but it was a hospital certificate that was a notification of fileing of the "birth certificate". It's a good thing I checked it early enough. I sent to the State bureau of Vital Statistics and got an official birth certificate. The cost in Pennsylvania was $10 and it took about 10 days.

Kris

160 days till we leave for our 30th Anniversary celebration cruise on the Wonder and 4 days at POR

 

[disnut8]

I just checked both of our birth certificates. Both are originals (yes, originals). Both from the state of Pennsylvania. Both have raised seals. Mine is from 1962 and is hand written. Husband's is from 1960 and typed. Both are fine for getting a passport and for anything else needed.

Maybe your sister-in-law could visit a local passport office (they are in some post offices) and see if the birth certificate would pass their muster. If it does, no reason why it shouldn't be OK for boarding.

 

[wdwstar]

your SIL will be fine with the old birth as long as it has the reaised seal. i just took my to the post office for my passport and showed them my BC, its old, taped up & down , you can read it & it has the raised seal. you have to be very careful when you opened it. it was approved and will be sent for the passport. i have read that some people had ordered new BC and when they came they were copies & no raised seal so they couldnt use the new ones and had to use the old ones with the raised seal.

 

[mecook]

In Alabama, you can go to the County Health Dept. and in 30 minutes time, you will have a new one faxed from the State to them.
It costs $12 and best of all, no waiting.
I was going to have to do that because I thought DH only had a 4x6" "ratty" postcard type and that mine was black with white print type...about 1/3 sheet of paper size. I didn't know if either one had a seal. When he went to the bank's safe deposit box to get them, it turned out that we had already got better ones (guess it was when we adopted our DD) and forgot about it.
So sorry, I didn't actually use the County, but I know people who have.
Melanie