greenmonkey

My bad, I should've been clearer. We are debating between AOS (I-485) and Consular Processing, which would occur at the US Consulate in Vancouver actually (wife's family has all immigrated there).

The Dept. of State does not specify a format for Chinese documentation - they are simply stating what format they EXPECT it to be in. They are, of course NOT specifying valid years for these documents The Birth Certificate as issued by the Chinese Government is fine, but must be authenticated for use internationally. You have the same problem that everyone else does - you need to submit a "white book" format, which can be generated from the birth certificate. See Chinese Essential Documents - White Books - the birth certificate should be the only evidence needed. You don't say what you are using it for, but this Birth Certificate, as an official document, may be fine. So, if you experience problems with getting the white book format in China, you might submit this document as is. Thanks for the response. This is for the Green Card application. So I assume the white book would be needed?

Hi, my wife was born in 1987 and has a Birth Medical Certificate (chu sheng yi xue zheng ming) that was issued in 1997. As far as I understand, Birth Medical Certificates are okay starting from 1996 based on some googling (https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/reciprocity-by-country/CH.html). Would this document then suffice for US immigration purposes, or does it also require her birthdate to be after 1996? If not sufficient, what's the best way to obtain the Notarial Birth Certificate if we are not in China, and assuming that neither we or family members can travel back to her birthtown to obtain that document?