How can I obtain or see my grandmother's birth certificate if she was born in Cuba?

Question

She was born in 1916, I'm trying to find her biological parents names. Already tried ancestry.com

Answer 1

I would also suggest:

look up her information on social security index under ssa.gov i believe.

and then, contact a Catholic parish in your area and ask the Priest if he will help you contact the Bishop in Cuba if the catholic church has a Bishop there.  If not, a Cuban priest in exile in Florida may be able to help you locate the records.  Even though the communists took over,these people are not barbarians and they usually do not destroy records of their citizens births, deaths and marriages, regardless of what you may have heard.

also, isyour grandmother still alive?  If not, does she have any sisters or brothers?  Or your mother/father on your grandmother's side, should know your grandmother's maiden name, which will give you her parents names.

Also try the web site below

Answer 2

Do I understand to say that she was naturalized?  If yes, the best record may be that file (not always online).  Her death cert should also have the names of parents. If you know of siblings.. don't forget to try and contact cousins. If your parent did not know the name (of his/her mom's parents), it is always possible that others in the family knew.

You also may want to see if she has a social security file, which can have information you need.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th...

there is a discussion here about how to find the birth records (if they exist).  Apparently, it is not easy to do.

Answer 3

Cuba has NO records online, it's an expense they can't afford. Cuba also didn't do birth certificates back then. The reason is that they had the Catholic Church keep all of their records and the only way you can find anything resembling a birth record from that era is to get a copy of the baptismal record. The only problem is that Cuba doesn't do email and the mail to the churches from the US is usually intercepted. So that's a hard road to follow, too.

The alternative (and it is open to you as her legal heir) is to request a copy of her INS file from the National Archives. It's not terribly expensive and will tell you the day she arrived in the US, the town where she was born, the names of her parents and siblings, where they were born, etc. It will even tell you every address she lived in between the time that she arrived and the time she was naturalized. There's more info here: http://www. archives.gov

Until the new Castro leaves and Communism falls, you won't have much access to records unless you can find a priest who has contacts in Mexico who has contacts in Cuba and can get the records for you from the parish there.