Passport/birth certificate nightmare, ack!
 

Just had to post this in case fodorites have any suggestions/similar experiences, but it is not looking so good at this point. As I have posted on here, I am planning to travel to Paris with my younger (16 year old) sister in the first week of April.

Sis has never had a U.S. passport before. She was born in Ontario, Canada, but is a US citizen (mom is a citizen and sister has lived in the us for 15 of her 16 years). She applied for a US passport but was rejected because she only has a "short form" birth certificate (this is just what they gave mom at the hospital) and they require a long form.

She has been desperately trying to get a copy of her long form birth certificate, but no luck. The birth certificate request form requires that a CANADIAN citizen guarantor (someone she has known for 2 years and who has a listed occupation, i.e. police, judge, teacher, etc.) sign the form to verify my sister's identity. She doesn't know any non-relative Canadians. To top it off, the Ontario Office of the Registrar General (where you get a birth cert) appears to be horribly disorganized, doesn't answer phones, faxes don't go through, etc. So what to do???

Audrey, I'm sure you've seen this page, but I thought I would post it anyway:
http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/guarantors.htm

I know this page is not the final word, but it does not state there's a Canadian citizen requirement. And is there a specific requirement that the guarantor cannot be related to you? If you have a Canadian relative with one of those occupations, I would use him/her if at all possible.

Otherwise, I think you might just have to spend several hours phoning the numbers at the bottom until you get through to someone.

Off-the-wall suggestion: Figure out what legislative riding (district) your sister was born in and find out what MPP represents it. Phone the MPP (Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario) for that riding and see what he/she can do for you. They are used to dealing with red-tape situations.

For sure there is a way to achieve what you want, but it may take some effort.

This is odd. Here in Canada if you apply for a passport you have the option of having a guarantor sign or, if you don't know someone suitable, using a Notary (who charges a fee). I was going to suggest you contact a Canadian notary.
But...
I looked at the birth certificate form online and it says no one can charge a fee for acting as a guarantor, and that even if the guarantor is a notary they are not allowed to charge a fee and must indeed have known the person for 2 years.

What a quandry!

Not sure why you are having so much trouble getting through to the offices. Did you confirm that you have the correct numbers? (try checking online if you haven't).

Sorry I couldn't offer better advice. Best of luck.

I apologize - the PDF birth request form does have the Canadian citizenship requirement, but I don't see a requirement that the guarantor not be related.

Hi,

I'm a US citizen and gave birth to my daughter in Canada. After her birth I went to the US consulate and registered her as an alien born abroad. This has the certificate she has used to get her US passport etc. Check with your mom to see if she did this....

audreyleigh99, you have received good suggestions already. Here are a couple more ideas.

(1) Phone the Canadian consulate that is closest to you and ask their advice. I hope <b>they</b> will answer their phones. Contact details of Canadian consulates in the U.S. are listed at this website:

http://www.canadianembassy.org/offices/index-en.asp

(2) Consider posing the question at the Fodors Canada forum.

Hi audrey,

1. My mother had a similar problem. Her mother wrote a letter attesting to the fact that she had known her from birth and that she was the person she said she was. This was accepted by the US Passport Agency.

2. Call your Member of Congress and your Senator. Getting you through red tape is one of the few things that they can do that are useful.

Good luck.

((I))

I assume that you looked here already:

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/DS-0011.pdf

In particular, 1b(2) on the second page. There're ways to circumvent presenting the birth certificate as proof.

Sorry.

1 b 2

Thank you all so much for the helpful responses. 111op I actually had not seen that section on the alternate ways to prove citizenship for a passport, that is now my backup plan. However, I was finally able to get through to the Registrar's office (my mom said she had been trying for days with no luck ) and hopefully, hopefully we will get the birth certificate in time. They okayed using a U.S. guarantor b/c of our situation and luckily since my sister lives in a small town she knows a couple of people on their list of acceptable occupations who can sign for her. So hopefully this will work and we will get to Paris!!

I am also going to ask my mom about the registration as a back up, although I have a feeling that maybe she did not do this. The short form birth certificate that the hospital gave her doesn't even list mom and dad's names on it, I can't believe this is the only ID she has had for my sister all these years!

Okay here's the thing. I just live in Ontario. Don't know anyone useful at Queen's Park (the seat of government in Toronto).

But if I can help you at all with phone calls, forms or whatever contact me at: [email protected]

Very good of you, tedgale.

((I))

No more news yet, but I just wanted to say thank you to tedgale, that is really nice of you to offer to help! I will re-post when I have an update.

Good news - my sister's birth certificate arrived today!! We sent in a statement from a US guarantor (her school principal) and they took it. I really can't believe that there is not an official procedure for Canadian's living abroad, though, if they wanted to be difficult they could have (under the law) rejected the non-Canadian guarantor.

So anyway, the birth certificate is on its way to the US passport agency and hopefully we will get her passport in time to travel :) Thank you all so much for your help and encouragement!

thanks for the update !I'm glad it worked out !!

Phew--I hope you and your sister have a terrific trip!