We had original marriage certificates from Philippines with the PSA seal. We also had original birth certificates from PSA for my daughter. The USA accepted them without question for our visa and green card processing.
These are the documents that the consular officer held up to my face and said “these are garbage.”
We were not aware of the Apostille certification process and the USA, despite being a member of the convention, did not require this extra certification for our documents.
Greece would only accept them after they have been presented in person at their Manila consulate with the Apostille certification.
I did not feel it was a racism issue until the consular officers’ behavior made it feel evident there was more to it than a paperwork snafu.
I agree that I portrayed Finland and Germany as racist in an unfair fashion, that was unintended. The racism was evident only at this Greek consulate.
Yeah, I’m pretty certain that racist asshole used bureaucracy to be an asshole.
But you should get them notarized in the USA when you can in the future just in case. Harder for smaller countries to not accept diverging when a country line the USA already legally okays it.
Hawaii is nicer than Greece. My brother lives in Waikiki. If they exterminate the mosquitoes then it truly would be pretty close to a mythical tropical paradise.
We had original marriage certificates from Philippines with the PSA seal. We also had original birth certificates from PSA for my daughter. The USA accepted them without question for our visa and green card processing.
These are the documents that the consular officer held up to my face and said “these are garbage.”
We were not aware of the Apostille certification process and the USA, despite being a member of the convention, did not require this extra certification for our documents.
Greece would only accept them after they have been presented in person at their Manila consulate with the Apostille certification.
I did not feel it was a racism issue until the consular officers’ behavior made it feel evident there was more to it than a paperwork snafu.
I agree that I portrayed Finland and Germany as racist in an unfair fashion, that was unintended. The racism was evident only at this Greek consulate.
The information I received about Finland, Germany and Greece not accepting Philippines documentation was found here: https://dfa-oca.ph/quick-facts-on-apostille/
Upon opening this page I see that now Austria is now also not accepting these documents.
Yeah, I’m pretty certain that racist asshole used bureaucracy to be an asshole.
But you should get them notarized in the USA when you can in the future just in case. Harder for smaller countries to not accept diverging when a country line the USA already legally okays it.
We decided not to stress, finish the citizenship later this year, and enjoy some time in Hawaii.
Hawaii is nicer than Greece. My brother lives in Waikiki. If they exterminate the mosquitoes then it truly would be pretty close to a mythical tropical paradise.