Original birth certificate for first passaport

Hi all,

Since the thread on the first passport has been hijacked by some users and couldn't get an answer there, I'm opening a new thread hoping it won't be deviated from a useful discussion and it will help others in the same situation.

Some countries, including mine, do not release the original birth certificate which seems to be required for the first passport. We just get an e-copy with the signature of the officer and the office stamp, which you can then print at home.

I'm wondering if others were in the same situation and how they resolved this with the Irish passport office. I'm thinking of including an explanation with my documents (e-copy of birth certificate + certified translation) unless there's another way.

Thanks!

amstillwaiting wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 2:25 pm

Some countries, including mine, do not release the original birth certificate which seems to be required for the first passport. We just get an e-copy with the signature of the officer and the office stamp, which you can then print at home.

If this is a standard process of getting a replacement birth certificate or a record of birth in your country, then the easiest way to resolve this is to send the document to your embassy or consulate and ask them to certify it. They will give your a letter confirming that this is a certified copy of an official birth certificate/birth record on a headed paper with contact details and stamp of the consulate and it will be accepted by a passport office.

There has been quite some confusions regarding the definition of 'original' birth certificate. It doesn't necessarily mean that it is the certificate that was given to you when you were born.

In some countries, you can request for as many copies of original birth certificates as you want, at any time in your life.

In some countries, there was no official birth certificate so the only ones that were issued would be the 'notarised'/'certified' copies. For example, China didn't have official birth certificates when I was born, so I used to just go to a notary office to obtain a notarised document which indicates the date I was born and who were my parents. This is the only 'original' copy we have.

If your country issues only 'e-copies', then there is nothing else you can do about it. As Vorona said there, get your document certified by the embassy, and that's about it. If you want to be on the safe side, you could also attach an official explanation from your country's government website which says this is the way that your country issues birth certs.

The passport office should have some basic ideas of how each country's birth certificate looks like.

Thank you both!