Q:

Question about I-130A for Marriage Green Card

What type of birth certificate needs to be included?
It appears we need both my wife's (she is the beneficiary, I am a US citizen) Vietnamese and English copies.
However, can we submit photocopies? Or do we need to submit notarized copies?

A:

Neither the I-130 petition nor the I-130A requires a birth certificate. The I-130 requires any one form of proof of your (the petitioner's) US citizenship or permanent residency, and (if you were born in the US) a birth certificate showing birth in the US is one form of proof of US citizenship, but you can use any other form of proof of citizenship such as a valid US passport or Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship.
Your wife's (the beneficiary's) birth certificate will be needed by the I-485 form if she is doing Adjustment of Status in the US, or by the immigrant visa application if she is doing Consular Processing abroad.
For all documents, you can submit photocopies (originals should be ready to be presented at an interview; if you mail in originals you will not get them back). Documents in a foreign language need to be translated.

