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OH NO!, birth certificate has wrong birthday.


novellaherman

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My sister-in law is taking her first cruise, April 1 aboard the Glory. She got her birth certificate today and the birthday is off by one day. She has may 8 on her drivers license and it says may 7 on the BC. She thinks the mistake is because she was born at 12:45 am...........it was on a military base and perhaps on military time so maybe that was the mistake...............anyway what should she do...........we don't have a lot of time...........she mailed away for her BC over a month ago.......... Would this even be a problem? She also has a marriage license. HELP

novella

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She doesn't live in the state where she was born..........could she still go to her local office?

 

She has to obtain the new certificate from the state that originally issued it. FYI .. this might not be an easy thing to do. She may want to call the vital records department of the state she received it from and find out if there are any additional documents she needs to provide. Not sure how long you have but you should know that these things often take time.

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Novella, have her call Carnival and see what they say. I don't think it is going to be that big of a problem with them.

Her next option would be to call vital records and find out how involved getting it corrected would be.

Don't let her try for a passport til she has done these as she will need to send the bc copy with the passport application. If she doesn't get it back in time, even with expediting it, then she'll have no id.

Hope it works out.

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Seems to me that the obvious quickest and cheapest thing to do is to go to the drivers licence office and have that date changed even if it's wrong. Just tell them they made a mistake and show em the license.

 

Pay the small fee and get the DL corrected - tell Carnival the correct date.

 

Hollyspop is right on!

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I also have the same sort of problem my BC has my name spelled wrong. It is spelled YEAnadas instead of LEOnadas.also carnival has lee on the reservations but the BC has my full name. I never really tought of it before until I saw this thread. The last cruise I was on (98) I only needed my DL or ID card. I guess I got some calls to make.

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Maybe I read it wrong, as it was quite late last night when I saw this, but I think the problem is the BC date, not the driver's license.

 

It's off by 1 day.

Which is faster, go thru the whole process and get a new BC? Or drive to the the local DL office with BC in hand and say DL is wrong and get new DL on the spot?

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It's off by 1 day.

Which is faster, go thru the whole process and get a new BC? Or drive to the the local DL office with BC in hand and say DL is wrong and get new DL on the spot?

That would depend on what "the whole process" envolves. If it's just an information print onto a vital records BC form, like my DD's is, then getting it corrected would be minor. Especially compared to getting the BC and the DrLic corrected later.
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I called carnival last night and they didn't think it would be a problem with them but it is not up to them but up to immigration. They suggested calling immigration and explaining........if they say no problem then get the persons name and badge # so if we run into a problem at embarkation then we provide that info. I think the easiest thing might be to take the BC with the wrong date and take it down and get a state issued ID with the incorrect info. Then just call Carnival and change their info. Use the drivers license as a back up only if needed.........I know this would we a little white lie, but since we leave in 1 month and I think getting the BC set right would take a bit of work.

thanks everyone, I appreciate your help

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I called carnival last night and they didn't think it would be a problem with them but it is not up to them but up to immigration. They suggested calling immigration and explaining........if they say no problem then get the persons name and badge # so if we run into a problem at embarkation then we provide that info. I think the easiest thing might be to take the BC with the wrong date and take it down and get a state issued ID with the incorrect info. Then just call Carnival and change their info. Use the drivers license as a back up only if needed.........I know this would we a little white lie, but since we leave in 1 month and I think getting the BC set right would take a bit of work.

thanks everyone, I appreciate your help

Sounds like you've helped figure it out for her. Good luck with immigration, hopefully you won't have to do anything else.
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Applying for a passport would require the birth certificate and driver's license info to match so that is not a solution in this case.

 

We process passport applications in my office and we would require the birth certificate to be corrected before we would process the passport application. An expediting agency only serves the purpose of walking the application directly to the US Department of State offices for you. If there is a mismatch, the USDS would reject it as well.

 

For what it's worth we've had lots of people be able to get corrected copies the same day from Vital Statistics. Although your sister is out of state, I think it's certainly worth a call to see how quickly they might be able to accomodate her. It could solve the whole problem easily without having to get more incorrect ID or hassle with immigration.

 

Good luck!

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Applying for a passport would require the birth certificate and driver's license info to match so that is not a solution in this case.

 

We process passport applications in my office and we would require the birth certificate to be corrected before we would process the passport application. An expediting agency only serves the purpose of walking the application directly to the US Department of State offices for you. If there is a mismatch, the USDS would reject it as well.

 

For what it's worth we've had lots of people be able to get corrected copies the same day from Vital Statistics. Although your sister is out of state, I think it's certainly worth a call to see how quickly they might be able to accomodate her. It could solve the whole problem easily without having to get more incorrect ID or hassle with immigration.

 

Good luck!

 

According the the US Passport agency you need:

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html

 

A Birth Certificate

(I cut and pasted here, sorry)

 

You may prove your identity with any one of these, if you are recognizable:

  • Previous U.S. passport (mutilated, altered, or damaged passports are not acceptable as proof of identity.)
  • Naturalization Certificate
  • Current, valid
    • Driver's license
    • Government ID: city, state or federal
    • Military ID: military and dependents

NOTE: Your Social Security Card does NOT prove your identity.

If none of these are available , you will need:

  1. Some signature documents, not acceptable alone as ID

(ex: a combination of documents, such as your Social Security card, credit card, bank card, library card, etc.)

AND

  1. A person who can vouch for you. He/she must

  • Have known you for at least 2 years,

  • Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident,

  • Have valid ID, and

  • Fill out a Form DS-71 in the presence of a passport agent.

You might also be able to get a State Issued Photo ID. It's just a thought.

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You left out a critical detail. Acquiring a passport requires you provide BOTH proof of citizenship (ie-birth cert., naturalization papers) AND proof of identity (ie-driver's license or other appropriate ID).

 

The US Department of State requires us to verify all information presented matches (names, dates, etc.) amongst a laundry list of other things so if OPs sister tried to apply with what she's got, it wouldn't fly. If she got a state issued ID with the wrong birthdate on it & used that for a passport she'd be committing fraud.

 

But, what do I know, I only do it on a daily basis.

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I would think the birth certificate would be the ‘document of record’ that all other things are based. In fact I had to show my birth certificate in order to get my DL, so not sure how they could be different. Get the DL changed, enjoy the cruise and get a passport for the next one. (With the may 7th date.)

Just think of the things she will get to do one day earlier; get senior citizens discounts:) , join ARRP (yipes:eek: ) and retire (yea:D ).

If she is stuck on using the 8th as her birthday then just celebrate for two days in a row! After so many years I only use my birthday for one thing. When my DW asks what I want for my birthday I just say “A CRUISE”.:cool:

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I don't understand why the birth certificate and someone (Parent/Spouse, etc) vouching for the identity would be a problem.
Cuz that is not the way that it is.

 

U.S. citizens must present proof of citizenship in the form of a passport (valid or expired for less than 10 years), original birth certificate, state-issued certified copy of a birth certificate from the Department of Health and Vital Statistics, or original Naturalization papers.

 

Taken from carnival.com: http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/EMB_travel_document.aspx

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Just wanted to thank everyone for all your help............my sister in law decided to get the drivers license changed and then sort the whole thing out when we return. Perhaps she is the one who is wrong and has been celebrating her B day on the wrong day. I personally did not understand how she got the drivers license in the first place since you must show a BC to get it but she said that she had a hospital one with the date she has been celebrating and the "official" one has the wrong date. Weird. Just so long as we can cruise with no problems I am happy .............my advice was to celebrate her birthday twice and get 2 times as many gifts:-o

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