name discrepancy on birth certificate

[crystalblue]

Hi,

I have gathered all of my documents and am now just waiting for an appointment with SF consulate. My biggest worry is the discrepancy on my GGF birth certificate. He always was known as James Vincent, but his birth certificate reads Vincent (and there is also a letter change in his last name found only on this document, but I will worry about that later!). I obtained a copy of the 1900 census which shows a child of the same age named Vincenzo (also the name of his grandfather and what I believe was supposed to be on BC). Since all of his other documents show him listed at James, along with his father's naturalization papers, do you think SF will be able to allow my application to go through? I wrote to NYC to amend, but the only thing they offer is a letter stating that the info is incorrect and cannot be changed. I am hoping they also state that the listed surname is a variation of that listed on his parents' documents.

Thanks for any input!
Crystal

[carubia]

That's great that you can obtain such a letter from NY. Is the record in the NYC Municipal Archives? In particular, having it state that not only can the info not be amended but also that it is incorrect (and what the correct info should be) should be as good as an amendment.

Let me make sure I understand your situation, though. Was your GGF Vincenzo born in the US or Italy? If he was born in the US, was his name Vincent or Vincenzo on his birth cert? Does any document have both James and Vincent as his given names on it? Des his surname on his birth cert differ from that on other documents from Italy?

SF is the most lenient consulate in the US when it comes to discrepancies, so you might be alright. I just need to know more about them to say with more confidence.

[crystalblue]

Yes, I did receive the letter from the Municipal Archives. I got a letter with the corrected information about a death certificate, and now I am waiting for the letter for the birth certificate with the statement of amendment.

My GGF was born in the US to immigrants before they naturalized. His birth certificate reads Vincent Sorace (although it should read Surace) with his mother's maiden name misspelled as Cascia instead of Casciano. His marriage certificate lists him as James Vincent Surace, and his father's naturalization records list him as James. I also have a letter from the Municipal Archives stating that no records were found for James Vincent Surace in his birth year. I can get a copy of his death certificate if you think that would strengthen my case.

Actually, his parents' birth and marriage records from Italy list the surname as Suraci. The name was spelled Surace on the ship manifest and every other document that I have. I hope that this will be seen as an alternative spelling, as I don't think I will be able to amend most of the documents I have.

I appreciate any advice you may have.

[carubia]

Yes, get that death cert. It would help your case even more if you could add alternative spellings of his name, say, via an aka. (E.g., "James Surace aka Vincent Sorace"; if he ever used the surname Suraci definitely try to get it on there too.) Unlike most other consulates, SF may even let these sort of name discrepancies go, but get as much evidence as you can.

[mler]

Yet another example of the inconsistency among consulates. I'm pleased that it will likely work to your advantage. I wish other consulates would follow SF's common-sense lead.

[jmb44]

Do you have an appointment with the consulate yet? Please post the result of your interview. I have a baptismal certificate discrepancy and would like to hear how SF is handling these.

[crystalblue]

Not yet. Six weeks and two requests later with no response. But I will post once I have my interview.

[jmb44]

Did you phone or email for an appointment? We didn't get any response to our phone calls, thought we try email next time.

[jmb44]

I just noticed that the sf consulate is not accepting any new requests for interviews until November 15th!
I guess the got backed up.

[crystalblue]

I have sent 2 emails. I did not realize they would accept requests by phone, but it seems like it is impossible either way!

[jmb44]

I don't think they do accept requests by phone. We never got a response and the website is pretty clear about needing to request by email. Since you submitted your email request prior to June 15 you may yet hear from them...Do you live near Sf? You might just walk in the door and ask what is happening with your request.

[crystalblue]

No, unfortunately I live in Hawaii, so walking in is not an easy solution. I would prefer to have a face-to-face appointment, though, because it seems like I would get more feedback about missing or incorrect documents. It will certainly be worth a flight over if it saves me time in the long run!