wrote in message
oups.com...
A recent request from my local FBO for my ID prompted me to
upgrade to the soon to be mandatory NJ digital photo license from my

SNIP

I was called to return, I was told the original Birth Certificate I
submitted was not acceptable, and only a copy of it would be accepted.

The catch is that the copy must be issued by the municipality
where the birth occured and bear the municipal seal. The original Birth
Certificate is issued by the hospital where the birth occured, which is
not a government agency and will not be accepted by the Motor Vehicle
Commission.

Therefore a new certificate must be obtained from the municipality
of birth, bear an appropriate embossed government seal, and require a
$21.95 issuing, shipping and handling fee.

I realize that many have already obtained a digital photo license,
but having the correct birth certificate may help those who are
transitioning from paper/paper photo, to digital-photo avoid delay by
obtaining the municiplal issued certificate.

The document from the hospital is considered by all the agencies I've
worked with since 1970 as a "certificate of live birth," and not a "birth
certificate." The latter document is issued only by a municipality, or a
Bureau of Vital Statistics in and for the county in which you were born. The
fees vary widely across the United States. Some states will not bear an
embossed seal, but rather a signed certification, similiar to a
Notary(ization).
As you've seen by now, the data on the two documents are very
different.
It is unfortunate that the very first clerk wasn't properly trained
and didn't catch the problem early on. When I got the 'official' birth
certificates for each of my children in California, they cost $2. Don't ask
how long ago that was. When I needed a new copy of my own from Texas in the
90's I paid $35--but it also required some searching.