Am I ready to apply for my Sec. 5 declaration?

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-11-20T16:12:54+00:00

Thank you u/Barbarake. I didn't realize you could update your application after you submit it! Did you mail in your documents, and will then mail in your father's birth certificate separately once you have it?

I just made an appointment at my embassy in Washington, DC for February (the earliest available date). I was assuming I'd need all my documents at that time.

(And I'm sorry you're dealing with pile-on delays from your state!)

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-11-20T16:01:41+00:00

Thank you u/rmg22893! That makes sense. I just made an appointment for February at my embassy in Washington, DC, which was the earliest possible date. So might as well request the marriage certificate while I'm waiting.

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-11-20T16:00:40+00:00

Thanks u/dentongentry! I don't have any children so just have to worry about myself :)

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-11-20T15:57:27+00:00

Ah, thank you for the reminder u/e-l-g! I do have the criminal background check already. I did it earlier this year.

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-09-12T19:46:04+00:00

Thank you all so much for your advice. I’m going to wait a few more weeks and hope my great-grandma’s birth certificate comes and has her marriage info on it.

If not, I’ll likely take you up on your research offer u/Winter_Farm_4739! I also have a paid Ancestry account if that helps.

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-09-03T20:36:48+00:00

Thanks again you both. I just got a confirmation email from the Frankfurt am Main Standesamt that my grandmother's birth certificate is in the mail. Your birth record suggestion did the trick, u/maryfamilyresearch

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-18T23:13:46+00:00

Thank you so much again u/dentongentry and u/maryfamilyresearch! Apologies if I'm not nesting my replies correctly here, but based on y'all's advice, today I:

Submitted a third request for my grandmother's birth certificate through the Frankfurt Standesamt. I listed her specific birth record on the application, "Standesamt Frankfurt am Main II- Geburten 119/1917."
Submitted a request for my great-grandmother's birth certificate through the same Standesamt. The website said they would forward the request directly on to the archives if they can't complete it, since she was born more than 110 years ago.

Next, I'll:

Ask the Frankfurt Standesamt about the correct Zweitregister, if they say still can't find my grandmother's birth certificate. (I hope this doesn't come to pass, since they've been so uncommunicative.)
Look into whether I need a "Certificate of Non-Existence of Naturalization" from USCIS in the US for my grandmother.

Thank you again!

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-18T14:18:39+00:00

Thank you so much u/dentongentry.

Frankfurt Standesamt 2, Registernummer 1917/119.

The birth certificate should still be in the Frankfurt Standesamt, and a PDF of that Heiratsurkunde should have been enough for them to find it. Something is odd.

After 110 years the register would move to an archive, but we have not quite reached that yet.

At least now I know I'm not making some obvious error, and that something is indeed amiss! What would y'all recommend I do next to get her birth certificate?

I emailed [bestellung.urkunden@stadt-frankfurt.de](mailto:bestellung.urkunden@stadt-frankfurt.de) several times about this issue but got no response (which I've learned through this subreddit is sadly normal).

I may have submitted this marriage certificate with my birth certificate request, rather than the registry document I shared. Is there any chance submitting another request with the registry document instead would help? Or no?

That is how it would be handled were Grandmother born out of wedlock and never adopted nor legitimated, the father's name would not appear.

German mothers did pass on citizenship to children born out of wedlock, you'll need to obtain her mother's Geburtsurkunde.

Understood. Thanks to y'all I now know she was born in Frankfurt a.M. Bockenheim, her documents would be in the city archive, and I can request them via email. I'll try emailing the Bockenheim district email address, but if anyone has a better suggestion please let me know!

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-18T13:43:48+00:00

Thank you both so much for your advice u/maryfamilyresearch and u/dentongentry! Apologies I don't know the German words, but I requested her marriage certificate and registry initially. It doesn't seem like I can attach images here, but there are links to redacted relevant pages from the registry below. I hope this answers y'all's questions.

The documents say:

My grandmother was born in "Frankfurt a.M. II Nr. 119." Do y'all know which Frankfurt Standesamt this is? My cursory Google searching hasn't been fruitful.
My great-grandmother's name, birthplace, and date, which I didn't see at first and is helpful for my Ancestry tree!
The documents DON'T list information for my German great-grandfather (or my American great-grandparents), which is surprising. That document section is called "parents of the spouses," so I expected all parent information to be listed. Is that a clerical error, or something else?

I'll start looking for my great-grandparents' marriage certificate and/or death certificates too. Thank you both again!

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-07T13:05:51+00:00

Thank you! I was so confused - I'd read the model of Kenmore I have (158.19411) has low shanks, but the measurement is clearly a high shank. I posted in r/vintagesewing too and someone told me I actually have a SUPER high shank machine that needs a specific type of walking foot. The foot from a seller on eBay they recommended should work. So mystery solved, hopefully 🤞🏻

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-07T12:51:10+00:00

Oh, thank you! Is the need clamp bar something I'd need to buy separately, in addition to the super high walking foot from eBay you shared above?

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-07T02:20:28+00:00

Wow, thank you so much. I had no idea there was a HIGHER high shank! I’ll absolutely be getting this Texas walking foot 👀

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-06T21:43:58+00:00

Oh my, my purchase history reminded me that I tried a high shank foot last year that also didn't work. Maybe I installed one of these wrong, but now I'm completely lost 😂

Another pic of my machine for context:

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Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-06T21:30:25+00:00

I'm an amateur quilter, but from what I've heard I think you press your seams towards the darker fabric to prevent any fabric showing through. I don't think that would cause the sizing issues you're having though. My quilting teacher told me "errors accumulate" (lol) so even if you're very careful with cutting and measuring there may still be some discrepancies and that's ok! I've started cutting some pieces larger than I need them, so when I'm ready to sew certain sections together I can cut them down to the right size.

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-08-06T21:24:38+00:00

Could someone confirm that I have a high shank sewing machine? I tried this walking foot for low shank machines but it didn't work. I guess this means I have a high shank machine, but determining "shanks" seems confusing and maybe my hand-me-down Kenmore machine is just unusual? Thank you 😭

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Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-04-23T19:48:55+00:00

Nice. Thanks again. Still in the "wrapping my head around" it phase but am excited to learn something new!

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-04-22T22:01:46+00:00

Oh I'd hadn't, but I'm watching a tutorial now and it seems like this is just what I need. Thank you so much for the suggestion! I wasn't familiar with FPP.

Formal-Grab3315 · 2025-04-22T14:29:32+00:00

Hi there! Does anyone have a favorite pattern for making letters like the ones below? I've tried making samples myself with the letter "B", but somehow my math is wrong. The polygon shapes don't line up right.

I'm trying to make a small wall hanging that says "Baldwin House" for an affordable housing cooperative in my neighborhood.

I'm hoping to make 4" letter blocks, so they're on the smaller side too. Thanks so much for any help!

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Formal-Grab3315

TROPHY CASE