No Indian birth certificate for your US green card? What to get from India

For a US green card, USCIS expects a birth certificate from the municipal or local registrar where you were born, showing your name and both parents' names. If you don't have one, or it was registered late or has no name, sort it out in India before you file: correct or add the name, register the birth late, or get a non-availability certificate (NABC) from the registrar. Back it up with two affidavits from older relatives and your early school records, because USCIS often asks for this extra evidence.

What to do

1. Check what you have: a certificate from the municipal or local registrar showing your name, date and place of birth, and both parents' names.
2. If the birth was registered but your name is missing or spelled differently from your passport, ask the registrar to add or correct it before you file.
3. If the birth was never registered, apply for late registration, or ask the registrar for a non-availability certificate (NABC) stating that no record was found.
4. Collect supporting evidence: two sworn affidavits from older relatives who know your birth details, and your school leaving or 10th board certificate.
5. Get a certified English translation of any part not in English, then send copies with your I-130 or I-485, or with your reply to a request for evidence.

Common questions

Does USCIS accept a birth certificate registered late? Often yes, but certificates registered more than a year after birth are looked at closely, and USCIS may ask for more evidence. Sending affidavits and school records with it helps avoid a request for evidence.

What should the NABC say? It should come from the registrar for your place of birth, show your name, date and place of birth and parents' names, and state that the records were searched and no entry was found.

Who can sign the affidavits? Usually parents, or older relatives such as uncles, aunts or older siblings who know the details of your birth. Each affidavit should explain how they know and why there is no birth certificate.

Do I need to travel to India? Usually not. Your family or our team applies at the registrar's office, and relatives in India sign their affidavits there.

Do you give immigration advice? No. We get the Indian documents ready. For advice on your case, speak to a US immigration attorney.

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