My girlfriend was born in May 1994. Her "family book" says she was born in October 1996.  She doesn't know why the family book is wrong; her parents are dead.  Maybe her parents wanted her to appear 3 years younger so they could enroll her in school.

Last year she got a passport that has her (incorrect) 1996 date of birth. She has traveled on that passport.

I am thinking of petitioning for a fiance visa for her to the USA and I am concerned about how much of a headache this will cause. The embassy requires presentation of the applicant's "original" birth certificate to get a fiancee visa. She has not seen her birth certificate in a while, and she says it is lost. She thinks she can get one from her village, would that be considered an "original"?

The problem is that the birth certificate would have a different date of birth from her passport, and this would probably doom her visa chances.

She also thinks she can get a new birth certificate that has an incorrect 1996 date of birth that matches her incorrect family book and incorrect passport.  She thinks it will be "easier" to get a new birth certificate with an incorrect date than it will be to get her family book changed and get a new passport with the correct date of birth. She says it's just a matter of tea money to get a birth certificate with the date she wants.

My preference is that she (a) gets a birth certificate with her correct 1994 date of birth, (b) uses that to get the incorrect date in the family book changed, and (c) gets a new passport with the correct date of birth. She is suggesting to me that this will be impossible, family books cannot be changed, etc.

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with Cambodian bureaucracy on this, or on what is possible or not possible, or any experience dealing with correcting errors in family books and other Cambodian official-type documents?

If the family book is wrong, the birth certificate probably is also, but probably matching.

My wife's documents all say she was born 6 months before she was. So that's her birthday, officially. Hasn't been an issue.

epidemiks wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:34 pm If the family book is wrong, the birth certificate probably is also, but probably matching.

My wife's documents all say she was born 6 months before she was. So that's her birthday, officially. Hasn't been an issue.

She thinks the birth certificate had a different date from the family book.

A friend of mine had a similar problem with his wife's papers and it took a whole lot of messing around in Cambodia to get it sorted out. Another friend had issues with his kid's papers and got serious grief coming from his home country. It's common for records here to be skewed as the original documents are often inaccurate. That won't wash with any foreign authorities though and they'll likely refuse to issue a visa/ passport etc if there are inconsistencies. Deal with it here first.

I would honestly try and go the other way around, and get a new birth certificate that matches her passport.

The numpties here never take dates or details seriously on records, I can't the errors that have even been on my own papers like visas and moto registrations.

PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:09 pm Sangkat level bureacracy can be a right pain in the ass, your gf is probably correct in saying that it will be easier to just get a new birth cert with the same birth date as her family book and passport.

What I find odd though, is that she managed to get a passport without her birth certificate.

Today my 16 year old and I were at AEON 2 and we went into the new passport office there and asked what she needed to get a passport . They told her only need a ID card.,,,, which she has already applied for ,,, and was told ready after the elections .

GTC7 wrote:I would honestly try and go the other way around, and get a new birth certificate that matches her passport.

^^^^^ this. Do it in Phnom Penh and it might cost $100 and take 2 days. No Sangkat involved.

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Why not go the easy road on this, get a matching birth certificate.

Can i ask why the 3 year difference bothers you? Is she 15yo?

bvanfossen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 12:16 pm Why not go the easy road on this, get a matching birth certificate.

Can i ask why the 3 year difference bothers you? Is she 15yo?

I’m guessing maths isn’t your chosen subject.