Spelling mistakes on unabridged birth certificates

[OzDreams]

I briefly mentioned this problem in another post, but it's kinda worrying and I thought it deserves a separate post.

The names of both my mother and my husband's mother are misspelt on our respective birth certificates. My mother's second name is messed up and the first name of my mom in law is incorrect on hubby's birth certificate. The certificates also do not display the ID numbers of our parents, with the exception of my dad - his number is there.

Our RMA said it doesn't matter, as they're "only interested in confirming our identities" (?).

Obviously, we can't just apply for other birth certificates as I assume those will contain the same mistakes if the problem is with the records of Home Affairs. We'll probably have to get our dear Home Affairs to correct the mistakes in their records and I'm worried we'll wait for the rest of our natural lives for the corrected certificates if we attempt to go that route.

Anyone else had this problem? Any thoughts on this dilemma?

We're planning to lodge as is, as per the advice of our agent, but I'll keep on feeling worried about it, no doubt.

[Mara]

As far as the identity numbers are concerned, I honestly do not think you have to worry as they would mean nothing to Australia. As far as the names being misspelt are concerned, my guess is it would only be important if you are thinking of bringing them to live with you at some stage in the future. If not, then I cannot imagine that it would matter either. Also, your agents should know.

[Jordy]

Honestly how bad could the spelling mistake be. Why not just accept the new spelling and start spelling your moms names according to the new way.

And Australia doesnt know what "South African ID numbers" are. The concept of giving a person a number to identify them is inconceivable to Australia. Whether they on the BC or not is irrelevant to Aus. Australia identifies a person by Name and Birthdate.

[Donovan83]

Honestly how bad could the spelling mistake be. Why not just accept the new spelling and start spelling your moms names according to the new way.

And Australia doesnt know what "South African ID numbers" are. The concept of giving a person a number to identify them is inconceivable to Australia. Whether they on the BC or not is irrelevant to Aus. Australia identifies a person by Name and Birthdate.

Well they do use my drivers license number sometimes too...

[OubaasDik]

Well they do use my drivers license number sometimes too...

Yeah, but that can change, whereas the SA ID number shouldn't. The last 3 digits of mine did, though.

Edited August 19, 2013 by OubaasDik

[OzDreams]

Thanks a lot guys and gals! I'm feeling a lot better about lodging with those birth certificates as is.

OubaasDik, my SA ID number also changed (last 3 digits), so the ID on my matric certificate is now not the one in my ID book! Messy, messy..

[AlBrough]

My mother in law was born in Port Shepstone, but on my wife's unabridged birth certificate she was born in Port Elizabeth... Can they get anything right?

[OzDreams]

My mother in law was born in Port Shepstone, but on my wife's unabridged birth certificate she was born in Port Elizabeth... Can they get anything right?

We were a bit surprised to see mistakes on BOTH of our birth certificates.

In the defence of the current ANC guys (can you believe that I get to say those words..!??) I suspect these records would have been entered incorrectly when our births were registered under the previous government. My guess is that the current Department of Home Affairs just need to press 'print' to produce the certificate (after sitting on it for heavens knows how long)?

At least I'm sure Australia won't give a toss where in dark Africa your MIL was born, so no worries there.

[AndreR]

My kids birth certificates are also messed up. They specify my place of birth as a totally different city as stated on my certificate, and I had some sleepless nights worrying that it would ruin my chances. Everything was accepted as is though, so I was worried for nothing.

[Olkabolka]

Getting the unabridged certificates was quite a challenge for us. My son's certificate stated that he had someone else for a mother!! What a surprise when hubby picked it up from Home Affairs! Luckily we got it sorted quickly as we had the name and number of a very kind lady in Pretoria who changed it while I was speaking with her on the phone. That was also quite funny, how did she know I was the real mother????? A lot of interesting stories to tell about our journey!!

[OzDreams]

Getting the unabridged certificates was quite a challenge for us. My son's certificate stated that he had someone else for a mother!! What a surprise when hubby picked it up from Home Affairs! Luckily we got it sorted quickly as we had the name and number of a very kind lady in Pretoria who changed it while I was speaking with her on the phone. That was also quite funny, how did she know I was the real mother????? A lot of interesting stories to tell about our journey!!

LOL! So glad you got that sorted. I'm sure that's the type of info that should be correct when you lodge your application.

When hubby requested my son's birth certificate, he told of one question that basically asked how he knew he was the father. Really cracked us up!

[McCabes]

... and we wonder why no-one trusts SA documentation!?!?!? The fakes are probably better than the originals - probably get the details right.

Gosh... maybe there should be a thread collecting all these stories - publish a book of them "SAAustralia - Tales from the obstacled path to Oz"

[ShaunChantel]

Oh dear, Home Affairs are always unreliable!!!

I applied for my birth certificate on 2 Feb and it was available 3 weeks later only to find my parents are now indian!!!!! I am still waiting for them to correct this!!!!!!!

[OzDreams]

Oh dear, Home Affairs are always unreliable!!!

I applied for my birth certificate on 2 Feb and it was available 3 weeks later only to find my parents are now indian!!!!! I am still waiting for them to correct this!!!!!!!

With 'Indian parents', you should qualify for AA jobs!! You're too lucky, you know!

[BellaR]

I see this is an old thread so I'm hoping someone sees my question and can advise.

 

Not only is my mother's second name spelled incorrectly, but her year of birth is incorrect too!!!! We can apply for citizenship tomorrow and I've only just noticed it!!!!!  What do I do? Fill her details in correctly online and attach the bc as is, or do I fill the details in incorrectly too?  What a nightmare!

[Riekie]

On our unabridged birth certificates, both my parent's birth dates were incorrect.  We've filled out the correct information and submitted with the incorrect birth certificates.  We had no issues whatsoever (we've also submitted certified copies of our parents' ID books though...)

[BellaR]

Thank you. I filled in the correct info and submitted the faulty certificate, waiting to hear back. Thirteen days since submission and no news back yet. Sick of waiting

[Lil]

Both me and my husband’s unabridged birth certificates are incorrect. In both cases our parent’s names are misspelled. Our names are correct.  Has any one had issues with Citizenship Applications?