This is a real longshot - but do you have any personal contacts in Guam? I’m not saying that you should use their address on the contact form - but there’s a non-zero chance that a family friend’s brother-in-law works at the office that issues birth certificates or something similar.
Perhaps send a letter to the Washington office?
Are you a veteran? That might have options.
Contacted the Vets, and was given the procedure for getting my birth certificate via snail mail, self addressed envelope and $5 money order.
There might be a military ombudsman you could escalate to?
Recommend a live phone call to DC office, and in the course of it get a direct e-mail. Those autofill forms in the Congressional front pages are crap even for hometown constituents ( I’ve had to deal with that before).
There is a CDC.gov webpage that includes info on getting vital records for various states and territories. For Guam, it includes an address in Tamuning, which is, I assume, where the OP already wrote. But it also says, “For more information, please contact Maria Quinata at maria.quinata@dphss.guam.gov.” So perhaps email her?
I just sent an email to her. Thank you for the info.
This reddit thread also mentions her:
Can’t get help from anyone about getting my birth certificate for the purpose of obtaining my REAL ID or passport, so I told my family that I can’t fly out for any emergencies for the foreseeable future.
I’m attempting to line up my IDs. I was given two middle names at birth. Since then, starting with my Social Security card that my parents put in for, I’ve used only one middle name- and it’s spelled slightly differently than that on my birth certificate.
I was born in Ohio. After doing my diligence, I filled out what I thought was the proper form, had it notarized and sent it off to the Ohio Dept of Health etc etc. They refused it, informing me that I have to go to the Probate Court in the county where I reside, get THEM to approve a name change, hire an attorney, go to Court there, have my name changed and then send THAT name change document to Ohio.
Then and only then will they create a new Birth Certificate. Now, I am led to believe I don’t need an accurate Birth Certificate in NY State to get a Real ID. For now. As we all know, it takes but the swipe of a Sharpie to alter the laws.
I want my paperwork to match, so I’m in the process of getting ahold of the Probate Court in my county.
Fer fuxsake…
For me, and granted it was years ago, and varies by state:
I went to the county circuit court and asked how to change my name. There wasn’t a form or template (there was no internet in those days, O my Best Beloved), but a clerk let me transcribe the language from someone else’s change of name for reasons of personal preference. I typed it at home and returned with it. I was told I could pay one of two different amounts, one for publication, one for “posting on the courthouse door.” I chose the later since I had no debtors. In about 30 days, the court began filing the document, and then I received a notarized, crimped copy of the change of name. No lawyer involved. Check online on your state. It might be even easier than that.
But this involves me changing my birth name, that I haven’t used since I was a small child, to the name I have been using since then, I name I have used to join the U.S.A.F. and gotten my social security under and gotten married under…all without my birth certificate.
Yes, and it’s horrible that you can’t get anyone to assist you. I was replying to Cartooniverse, though.
If you now reside in NYS, what’s stopping you from trying to get a RealID despite this discrepancy?
I get the desire to clean everything up. But there’s a counter desire to not fix what isn’t actually broken. If NYS will issue you a Real ID, and you have a passport and a SS card that all agree, why kick the hornet’s nest?
Yes, maybe possibly at some future date somebody will change a law. OTOH, as has been amply demonstrated in this thread, some sort of federal “All records must match perfectly” law would be substantially impossible for the dozens of states and thousands of counties to comply with. Leaving millions of Americans in legal limbo. So ain’t gonna happen.
In other words, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough.
Because he wants to make it difficult for himself. He already has a long thread complaining about all the difficulties he has self-imposed because he refuses to take anyone’s advice that he can walk into a place today and get a Real ID, no matter how many times he is told that by other New Yorkers.
I think that perhaps part of your issue is that you see your birth certificate as inaccurate. It’s not - your parents gave you two middle names at birth and your birth certificate accurately reflects that. You have never actually used both middle names, but that doesn’t make your birth certificate inaccurate. And if that sort of discrepancy is going to cause you problems when you have never used both middle names , then loads of people are going to have problems when their passports or other ID have only their middle initial. My birth certificate , of course, has my full middle name. My driver’s license which was first issued in 1982 has my middle initial. Even after I changed to an enhanced license and provided my birth certificate again, it still had only my middle initial (although now it’s smushed together like an airline ticket.) I put my full middle name on my passport application , and sent my birth certificate with it - and it came back with only my middle initial like my driver’s license. My social security number has only m middle initial. Literally the only legal document I have with my full middle name is my birth certificate ( some religious documents have the full middle name) If having one middle name on your ID and two on your birth certificate is going to be a problem , so will be having only an initial on your ID - I wonder how many hundreds of thousands or even millions of people that will apply to.
Additionally no one will ever know that you have two middle names on your birth certificate unless they see it. Who is going to ask for your birth certificate and why , when your passport is proof of citizenship? I mean I suppose in some future world someone could - but why? Not to prove your citizenship or age - your passport will suffice for that. Maybe to prove who your parents are - but you wouldn’t have to do that except in very particular circumstances , such as getting a copy of a deceased parent’s birth certificate.
Assuming you go to court and get a name change, there’s still no guarantee that Ohio will actually amend in a way that no one can tell it was changed , rather than by adding a notation. And a notation like that might cause problems that you wouldn’t have had if you left well enough alone.
There are two players here. I was responding to @Cartooniverse. This thread is by @Czarcasm who IIRC resides in Oregon.
That comment was about this thread