Birth Certificate and EAD RFE

[Preethi Hannah]

Hi All,
Me and my husband had filedd for our I-485 on the 13th of March, 2017, through his employer, hoping to receive our EAD by the 13th of June, 2017. I am an Indian who was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hence the lawyers asked me to get the birth certificate from the Civil registry of Saudi Arabia, since I had my certificate from the Indian Embassy of Saudi Arabia. We had submitted all secondary evidence of my birth (hospital certificate and the birth certificate from the Indian Embassy of Saudi Arabia). My husband got his EAD on June 4th from USCIS (USCIS had mailed his EAD on the 1st of June, 2017). My case was in process till yesterday. When we looked up online yesterday (the 12th of June, 2017), it says "Request for Further Evidence". My OPT (non-STEM) is expiring on the 19th of June, after which I won't be able to work. I have a job with a University starting in August. I am unaware of how long it will take for me to receive the RFE by mail. We're guessing that the RFE will have something to do with my Birth Certificate, but we're hoping for it to be something trivial. I am completely unaware of how long this process will take. My relatives have tried contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and lawyers regarding my birth certificate for the past several months, but they have had no luck. They also tried to get a "Certificate of Unavailability of Birth", and their attempts have been failing miserably. Does anyone have any idea: as to how we can go about the birth certificate process? details regarding how long it will take for us to send back the RFE docs and get the EAD approved? Or perhaps any suggestions?

Any thoughts would be helpful!

[Khal_Drogo]

Hey,

I have a similar profile like you, was born in Najran, Saudi Arabia and hold an Indian citizenship. On my application I was the principal applicant and my lawyer asked me to attach the registration letter from Indian embassy Jedah and two affidavits along with other supporting documents(grade 10 certificate,etc).

Here is the deal, my EAD / AP got approved early Feb as my USCIS receive date was Nov 16. However I just received an RFE e-mail on my I-485 and am eagerly waiting for the letter to see the details. The same was replicated for my wifeand my guess is because of the same reason as she was the dependent applicant.

So please let me know when you get your details and how do you get past it. I will do the same if my lawyer comes up with a solution.

P.S : I didn't even get the hospital certificate, can you share how you received it?

[Khal_Drogo]

Solution for Saudi birth certificate

Hey Preethi_Hannah,

Not sure if you have visited the below link but looks like they found a solution for our issue.

http://www. ******** .com/us-discuss...rnative/page/3

[robert128]

Solution

Hi Khal_Drogo

Can you please post the link again please? I am in a similar situation but I cannot access the link you posted. I have to respond to the RFE pretty soon.
The birth certificate issued by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh isnt sufficient and I cannot procure any other document from SA. Kindly advise.
Please help.

Thanks

[4EVER]

Hi Khal_Drogo

Can you please post the link again please? I am in a similar situation but I cannot access the link you posted. I have to respond to the RFE pretty soon.
The birth certificate issued by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh isnt sufficient and I cannot procure any other document from SA. Kindly advise.
Please help.

Thanks

I'm not Khal_Drogo, I'm Daenerys. Haha j/k. Anyway, I think I found the link posted by Khal_Drogo; sent it to you via PM.

Accdg to USCIS, if a particular record is generally not available in a particular country, USCIS may accept secondary evidence without requiring the written statement from the issuing authority. In this case, the absence of a primary record must be proven "by evidence (such as an affidavit) that repeated good faith attempts were made to obtain the required document or record." (USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual - Redacted Public Version \ Chapter 11 Evidence. \ 11.1 Submission of Supporting Documents and Consideration of Evidence.) See Section F - Primary and Secondary Evidence: https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/...html#0-0-0-312. Hopefully, you were able to document your attempts (emails, phone calls, courier) in obtaining your BC.

This link tells you the accepted civil documents by country (in your case, India): https://travel.state.gov/content/tri...try/India.html. Since your RFE states that the consular BC is insufficient, provide the listed/accepted secondary evidence in that link - either school/medical/church records, OR a notarized affidavit executed by either a parent, if living, or another close relative older than the applicant, stating the relationship between the deponent and the applicant, how well the deponent knows the applicant, the date and place of the applicant's birth, the names of both parents, and any other related facts. More examples of secondary evidences: https://www.immihelp.com/second-evid...usa-greencard/

For your RFE response, you may submit the following:
-Notarized affidavit from yourself that repeated good faith attempts were made to obtain your BC (attach evidences, e.g. copies of emails sent to embassy, phone calls made, postal/courier services used, etc.) If your family also made attempts on your behalf, have them send you their affidavits with evidences, too.
-Secondary evidences (your school, medical, church records)
-Notarized affidavit of relationship from your parent/s, if living; if not, from a close relative older than you

Make a cover letter explaining what your submissions are all about, and a Table of Contents outlining all your evidences.

Put the USCIS RFE letter on top of your packet; USCIS will scan that sheet, so it should be the 1st page of your packet to avoid delay.

Good luck and all the best!