General Rule On Death Certificates

[jennabet]

The GGF in direct line was born in Italy in 1875, which is 136 years ago. I'm not submitting the death certificate in this case because when I did my own recognition case in 2001, I did submit my grand-father's death certificate and was told it wasn't required because he would have been 108 years old -- and not expected to be living. Does anybody have any reasoning to the contrary as to why I should submit a death certificate in this case.

Next. The GF was born in Italy April 15, 1894. He died at age 31. Niagara Falls death certificate says, Date of Birth "Unknown", Age: About 33.

Oddly enough, because he died young, the only document we have for him which lists his date of birth is his Italian birth certificate and I don't think I would need to have the death certificate amended. Even though he would be age 117 if still alive I am showing the death certificate in this case as the reason I can't find any more documents to prove he was naturalized. Any thoughts about the death certificate saysing DOB "unknown".

[mler]

I would think that the only reason to have the death certificate for the ggf is for purposes of entering the information at the comune; but I agree that it shouldn't be an issue.

Nor do I think "date of birth unknown" should be a problem if everything else matches up.

[Drew927]

I too have my grandfathers death certificate with no date of birth. It is just blank. It came from the NYC Archives and cannot be changed so I am submitting it "as is".
My thoughts were that it is better than a wrong date.

[jennabet]

Yeah, my thoughts too. Better than a wrong date.

[sceaminmonkey]

thats weird. My GGF death certificate from NYC municipal archives also left out his birth date. Just has his age. If you show up without a death certificate I think they will tell you to get it as it was required 2 months ago when I went for my appointment. I understand alot of people here base their advice off of what happened 10 years ago or even two years ago. Well things changed alot of people have taken interest in recent years and now its a little more strict. Dont go in with nothing I think that pisses them more off than anything

[mler]

That's true, but sometimes really old records are simply unavailable. I think jennabet is referring to the death record of someone born 136 years ago, so that in itself is evidence of his death. Of course, the consulate wants the death record for more than proof of death. The death certificate completes the file on the ancestor and provides another link to identify the person.

It's best to have all the documents they ask for, but if one is going to be missing, a missing death certificate causes the least problem.