[WaitingMom22]

or was stamped sufficient. Thanks

[prechrswife]

Our agency instructions said hand signed BC's for the dossier. You might check with your agency, though, because some people said that theirs went through fine stamped.

[drmalcolm]

I just emailed my HS agency about this earlier in the week and was told that a raised seal and/or an original signature is acceptable.

Christina

[WaitingMom22]

I do not have an agency yet and probably will not for a year...I am probably driving people nuts because I am trying to be proactive. I just talked to the person in the town I was born in and they have never heard of a hand-stamped birth certificate so I will just go ahead and get a few copies of the raised stamped ones and when the time comes I will worry about it if I need to.

[drmalcolm]

I think it's great that you are planning ahead! I wish I'd found this forum before I actually started the process.

Does anyone know, is the issue date of the marriage or birth certificate important? Since it seems to matter with everything else in the dossier, WaitingMom22, you might want to wait and see if anyone gives advice here on whether or not you can make the mistake of getting a BC or MC *too* soon (I'm just suggesting this since you said you may not begin the process for awhile).

Good luck to you!

Christina

[akina]

I just dealt with this. After reading about Pen-in-hand signatures I panicked and contacted my agency. I was told that it depended on what state you were in. For example: Birth and Marriage certificates from New York State that are stamped with Peter Carucci's Signature are acceptable. This does not apply to NYC. There you need to get vault copy long form certificates (you need to call and explain this to them) WITH letters of exemplification. (It took me three tries to get this right!!)
It is best to ask your agency, or if you don't have one yet, ask someone else who has done this in your state.
Good luck!
-akina

[bethnil]

It is my understanding that your BC and MC had to be less than 9 months old by the time you were DTC. Our BC just had the embossed stamp, but the MC was hand signed. If you cannot apply until the end of the year, you might want to wait to request these. I had to get all new copies because the date they were stamped was too old.
Good Luck!
Beth

[drmalcolm]

Beth, thanks so much for the info--that's exactly the question I had.

Christina