California Birth Certificate for Passport

[excitedcruiser]

Has anybody had any trouble getting their birth certificate from California for a passport? I have a Birth Certificate "Abstract" that I received from California 14 years ago and have used it on my 4 previous cruises. Went and applied for my passport last week and it's not acceptable for a passport. Anybody else have this problem or problems getting the long form from California?

[FnyFACEnAL]

My son's birth certificate is from California. What is a birth certificate abstract?

[ioneroy]

Yes, I had the same problem only my birth cert. was from Wisconsin.

I had been on 4 cruises before and they all took that, document, but when I applied for my passport, they rejected it and I had to get a certified one. Took 5 months to get mine. We live in California.

I was really worried, because dh got his.:eek:

[Sue L]

Just go to http://www.vitalchek.com and you should have no problem. Very easy and fast.

[excitedcruiser]

It's smaller than a regular birth certificate. Kinda like if you folded an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper in thirds. It takes up about 1/3 of it. It says on the top of it Certified Abstract of Birth, my born name, date, county of birth, mother's surname and date filed. It apparently is not enough for a passport office. I applied for my birth certificate back in 1994 and that is what they sent me. The passport man thinks maybe it is unlocatable. I was born in LA county back in 1964. Having Vitacheck try and locate it for me. Hopefully I won't receive the same thing.

[cmsmuse]

i lived in Illinois 5 years ago and had to get a San Diego birth certificate, "longform". Only took 2 weeks. I think you have to go online and request it from the county you were born in.

[excitedcruiser]

Back in 1994 I actually applied for it from the County of Los Angeles and the abstract is what they sent me. This time I am using a different company to see if they can locate the "long form".

[cmsmuse]

They don't have to locate a long form, that is something they came out with recently...sort of like redoing the dollar bill to make it harder to duplicate. Just make sure you request the certified copy, not the informational

[excitedcruiser]

The passport man said it has to be (for California BC) 8.5 x 11, tri-color with a seal on it. Nothing else will be accepted. Even showed it to me in a book he had on what they can and cannot accept. I was to say the least angry since it had taken a while to actually get into his office to apply for the passport just to be told that the copy I had was no good to use. I wish this information was posted on the passport website.

[cmsmuse]

I hear 'ya! I ordered 2, just in case something happened to the first one...didn't want to go through the hassle again!

[Podorama]

Back in 1994 I actually applied for it from the County of Los Angeles and the abstract is what they sent me. This time I am using a different company to see if they can locate the "long form".

 

 

Hi there, don't bother going or using a 3rd party. All states have an offical Vital Statistics web site to order a BC directly.

Example:

for Texas it is http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/default.shtm

for Califorina it is http://www.dhs.ca.gov/hisp/chs/OVR/BirthOrderCert.htm

For other states google <state name> birth certificate request and look for the URL that ends in .gov or .us

Why give personal information to a 3rd party that will just markup the fees the state charges when you don't need to?

 

PS most of the passport stuff you can do online as filling out the paperwork the printing it out. Also, there are many places that can process the paperwork. Most post offices can for example. There is a list of places that can handle the paperwork on the US State Depart. web site http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

[JesJ]

Hi Excited Cruiser, yes this is correct...You cannot use an "Abstract" from the State of California to get your passport even though you can use it to get onto a cruise line...

 

I found this out a year ago when I went to get my marriage licesense, I had an Abstract of Birth form that I had used on 4 previous cruises all without a single problem...

 

The lady who gave us our marraige license said, "The abstract will work for the purpose of getting your marriage license, but if you ever go to apply for a passport they will not accept this"

 

Luckily I was born and still reside in San Diego so it took about 10 mintues that same day to go to the other counter and get a "Real" birth certificate.

 

I'm glad that lady told me that...We will be getting our Passports when we return from this cruise and I would have hated for there to be any delays due to having an "Abstract" rather than the actual birth certificate.

 

If you still live in CA, go to the county accessors office and request a copy of your birth certificate...They can ususally do it in a few minutes (especially if its not crowded) and it only costs about $10 and you have it in your hands that same day!!

 

Good luck with getting the passport!!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

TRUST ME ON THIS ONE - BEEN THERE DONE THAT!

 

I ordered my hubby's birth certificate from Cal Dept of Health by mail order. Their website said there was no window service (I was willing to drive to CA to get one). I sent off for it in the mail and it took about 10 weeks to get it in the mail. After about 1 month of waiting and seeing my check hadn't even cleared the bank yet, I got worried so I did more digging.

 

PAY THE FEE and just go to www.vitalchek.com . I had a certified copy of his bc in about a week to 10 days. I was worried about the 3rd party thing too but since the other way takes so long, it is worth it. Plus thru the cal health dept it came by regular snail mail and they sent a postcard saying its on its way which made me concerned for mail theft. With vitalchek, it came by express mail. DH born in 1963 so you should have no problem.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

By the way, I got the one from vitalchek and was able to apply for his passport 5 weeks after I sent off for the first one. Could have done it a lot sooner if I had just used vitalchek. Worked out okay cuz I sent off the one from vitalchek with my passport application and have the other one as a backup in case there are any problems with the one we sent off thru the post office. I paid $14 for the backup that I have and about $30 for the other one. Worth the fee.

[Podorama]

TRUST ME ON THIS ONE - BEEN THERE DONE THAT!

 

I ordered my hubby's birth certificate from Cal Dept of Health by mail order. Their website said there was no window service (I was willing to drive to CA to get one). I sent off for it in the mail and it took about 10 weeks to get it in the mail. After about 1 month of waiting and seeing my check hadn't even cleared the bank yet, I got worried so I did more digging.

 

PAY THE FEE and just go to www.vitalchek.com . I had a certified copy of his bc in about a week to 10 days. I was worried about the 3rd party thing too but since the other way takes so long, it is worth it. Plus thru the cal health dept it came by regular snail mail and they sent a postcard saying its on its way which made me concerned for mail theft. With vitalchek, it came by express mail. DH born in 1963 so you should have no problem.

 

 

Kinda like passports, some seem to take longer then others. I got my CBC from the state of Texas took 10 days, ordered via their web site. (I could have paid an additional fee and had it in 3 days) A friend at work who is going on a cruise with me and some other co-workers in Feb got his from the state of Ca using the Ca state web site and it arrived at his home in Tucson AZ a day short of 2 weeks. On the other hand, my GF ordered hers from AZ, again using the state web site and although in state, it took almost a month for her to get hers.

Not sure how a 3rd party is able to get a CBC faster then what is available from the state. Do you need to grant some sort of POA and they go stand in line or what?

[chuibaca]

Has anybody had any trouble getting their birth certificate from California for a passport? I have a Birth Certificate "Abstract" that I received from California 14 years ago and have used it on my 4 previous cruises. Went and applied for my passport last week and it's not acceptable for a passport. Anybody else have this problem or problems getting the long form from California?

 

 

Yes, go back to the office where you ordered/(or any CA office) your birth certificate explain to them and they will give you a FREE LONG FORM copy.

We just did the same thing for about 20 of my family members- on our family reunion cruise.

[Jazzergirl]

Has anybody had any trouble getting their birth certificate from California for a passport? I have a Birth Certificate "Abstract" that I received from California 14 years ago and have used it on my 4 previous cruises. Went and applied for my passport last week and it's not acceptable for a passport. Anybody else have this problem or problems getting the long form from California?

 

I had to order my dh certificate from California. I printed out the form from their website and mailed it in with the required payment. I received the birth certificate in the mail within 14 days. :D

[cmsmuse]

I ordered mine directly from the San Diego recorders office:

http://arcc.co.san-diego.ca.us/services/birthdeath_certificates.aspx

 

simple and fast!

[excitedcruiser]

When I talked to the County of LA they said it takes approximately 12 to 14 weeks to locate my birth certificate. Vitalcheck takes about 5 working days so I paid the extra fee to get it sooner and not have to worry about it for so long. It took about 3 months to get the Abstract of Birth back in 1994 going through the county.

[excitedcruiser]

Just an update. Sent off for my birth certificate last Friday at around midnight. I used Vitalcheck. I received my certified full page copy yesterday (Tuesday). It was sure worth the extra money to get it here that fast.