In the I-130 instructions it says to submit certified copies of docs or Originals and I
dont really want to submitt the origanals due to INS track record of losing things. How do
I make cerified copies of a foreign (Russian) marraige certificate and also my wife's
birth certificate??? Do I have certified copies made in Russia??? do I bring the originals
back with me to the US and have to county court house or lawyer make certified copies??? I
want to have all my Duckies in a row before submitting the I-130 to the INS. Your help or
anyone elses in this newsgroup is appreciated.

Thanks, Scott

You can submit ordinary photocopies, along with a statement that all copies are true
copies of original documents and originals will be available upon request.

In the I-130 instructions it says to submit certified copies of docs or
> Originals and I dont really want to submitt the origanals due to INS track record of
> losing things. How do I make cerified copies of a foreign (Russian) marraige certificate
> and also my wife's birth certificate??? Do I have certified copies made in Russia??? do
> I bring the originals back with me to the US and have to county court house or lawyer
> make certified copies??? I want to have all my Duckies in a row before submitting the
> I-130 to the INS. Your help or anyone elses in this newsgroup is appreciated.
>
Just make plain photocopies and send them and send the originals to your spouse to take
to the interview...include the famous, "copies submitted are true copies of the
originals, which can be produced to an INS or consular officer upon request" statement in
your cover letter.

alvena

Go to the site http://clik.to/getk1 ( Jonathan ) and get a copy of the form FC-029. This
is a form you can submit to the INS when you give them copies instead of Originals. This
is what A and P have suggested you do.

> In the I-130 instructions it says to submit certified copies of docs
or
> Originals and I dont really want to submitt the origanals due to INS track record of
> losing things. How do I make cerified copies of a foreign (Russian) marraige certificate
> and also my wife's birth certificate??? Do I have certified copies made in Russia??? do
> I bring the originals back with me to the US and have to county court house or lawyer
> make certified copies??? I want to have all my Duckies in a row before submitting the
> I-130 to the INS. Your help or anyone elses in this newsgroup is appreciated.
>
> Thanks, Scott

Go to the site http://clik.to/getk1 ( Jonathan ) and get a copy of the
> form FC-029. This is a form you can submit to the INS when you give them copies instead
> of Originals. This is what A and P have
suggested
> you do.
>
> > In the I-130 instructions it says to submit certified copies of docs
> or
> > Originals and I dont really want to submitt the origanals due to INS track record of
> > losing things. How do I make cerified copies of a foreign (Russian) marraige
> > certificate and also my wife's birth certificate??? Do I have certified copies made in
> > Russia??? do I
bring
> > the originals back with me to the US and have to county court house
or
> > lawyer make certified copies??? I want to have all my Duckies in a
row
> > before submitting the I-130 to the INS. Your help or anyone elses in this newsgroup is
> > appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks, Scott

Remember that if those docs are in a language that is not English then you have to provide
translations and these translations have to be certified by a competent person as well.
Our Experience: We had documents in Japanese. Since Japanese calendar begins with the year
the "new" emperor ascends to power, we had two different sorts of years to deal with in
the dates on the certificate as well. One could be born in the year-40 of one emperor but
could have visited USA in the year-5 of emperor-Jr. The writing was from top to bottm,
right to left and within a grid of squares and rectanges. These documents are also like
folded large maps - ~ 14" by 20" size !! We DID NOT send the originals to the INS. We
photocopied them (in a large platen machine at Kinkos) 30% shrunk to fit a normal sheet of
paper. Then we whited out the writings on one of the photocopies and translated all the
information within the appropriate grid squares. Underneath all that we typed the standard
translator's certification that all the forms suggest.

We used FC-029.

We still do for the purpose of complying with the rule that the alien has to carry
about the I-551 (green card) all the time. We leave it at home and carry a copy of the
card (front and back) with FC-029 copied overleaf.