Immigration: Tips for avoiding RFEs for your I-485

Checklist of Required Initial Evidence for EB based Form I-485

To avoid any RFEs for I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, make sure you have submitted all the mandatory

Should I submit sealed medical documents (I-693) along with my I-485?

USCIS sent a notification last year through twitter and their website to file I-693 along with I-485 to speed up process. The validity is also increased to 4 years temporarily. 

https://citizenpath.com/faq/evidence-birth-green-card/

1. If a birth certificate is not available:
As per USCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-485instr.pdf : All Form I-485 applicants, except refugees and asylees, must submit a photocopy of their birth certificate issued by the appropriate civil authority from the country of birth. USCIS will only accept a long-form birth certificate which lists at least one parent.

If your birth certificate is unavailable or does not exist, you must prove its unavailability or nonexistence and provide acceptable alternative evidence of birth. You can look up your country of birth on the following website, travel.state.gov/content/ visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country.html, to see if birth certificates are known to be unavailable or nonexistent in that country.

If this resource shows that birth certificates from your country of birth are generally unavailable or nonexistent, you do not need to do anything to prove that your birth certificate is unavailable or nonexistent.

If this resource does not show that birth certificates from your country of birth are generally unavailable or nonexistent, you must submit an original document from the relevant governmental authority explaining why your birth record does not exist and indicate whether similar records for the time and place are available.

India issues birth certificates. So birth certificate is mandatory for Indian citizens. Immihelp has also provided very good details on what to do when your birth certificate is not available. 

https://www.immihelp.com/delayed-birth-registration-issues-for-us-greencard/

Birth certificate must be translated in English and must have following mandatory information:

1. Full name
2. Date of birth 
3. Place of birth 
4. At least one of the parents full name
5. Issuing Authority’s Government seal
6. Registration Date (Must be registered within one year)
7. Issue Date

2. If  a birth certificate is not registered within one year:
When a birth is registered after one year of your birth it's called Delayed registration of the Birth certificate.  Delayed birth certificates are not considered conclusive evidence of birth.  So, you will have to provide supplementary evidence of your birth to USCIS.

It is highly recommended to provide two affidavits to support your Delayed registered birth even if you provide other secondary evidences for birth certificate.

Here are some of the secondary evidence you can use for Birth certificate:
https://www.immihelp.com/second-evidence-birth-certificate-usa-greencard/

https://citizenpath.com/faq/evidence-birth-green-card

3. What if my birth certificate doesn't match the information provided in the passport or doesn't have all the required information
I can't comment on this accurately, but I read in some places that affidavits can be used to prove that the birth certificate has the right information. But unfortunately changing the place of birth on an Indian passport is not as easy as you may think. Many assume that it can be corrected in the passport by just reissuing a new passport by providing your birth certificate. But, you would need a court order issued by a judicial officer of the rank of 1st Class Magistrate in India and above. The easiest way is to correct your birth certificate and reissue the birth certificate based on your passport and 10th/12th Standard documents. 

Updates: I was updated recently that they were able to update the place of birth on the passport based on the place in the birth certificate. They got a letter from Indian consulate and they just reissued the passport. But the place was in same Taluk ( the place in passport was place of home while the birth certificate had place of hospital) so, it may depend on specific case.

Refer to below links for more information

1. https://www.path2usa.com/change-of-date-andor-place-of-birth-in-indian-passport
2. https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/mismatch-in-place-of-birth-between-home-country-pa-2381971.html
3. https://www.path2usa.com/us-birth-certificate
   

Sample Documents:
https://www.immihelp.com/sample-documents-for-birth-certificate-us-immigration/

My birth certificate was not available and I used the information in #1 to issue my birth certificate. For secondary evidence, I produced two affidavits (Using  #2), one by my mother and the second by my paternal uncle (mother's brother). The affidavits were on stamp papers and sworn in front of an attorney and were notorized by the same attorney.

Other references:

1. https://www.uscis.gov/i-485Checklist
2. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-a-chapter-4
3. https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/finding-a-medical-doctor
4. https://www.path2usa.com/us-birth-certificate#rectifyincorrectbirthcertificate
5. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-e-chapter-5