u/TamalesForBreakfast6

Hi All,

I have a question regarding a missing (important record). The line of descent and the facts are a little complicated, so I will try to make it as clear as I can. I've hit a record wall and don't know if it's time to stop the process altogether, or if I can use alternative documentation and explain the line of descent in my statement. I'll explain it below but TL;DR: If I cannot find a birth/baptism certificate connecting my Croatian ancestor to his son but do have newspaper articles stating he was the orphan of my ancestor's wife and that the ancestor and wife were married, is that enough? The ancestor and son have the same name. Please read on for the full story.

My Croatian ancestor Luigi was born in Dubrovnik (got his birth records from the diocese) and immigrated to New Zealand in the 1840s where he married Annie and died at a young age. Luigi anglicized his name to Louis. Annie and Louis have several children, including my next ancestor in line, also named Louis. Louis Sr. tragically dies young and Annie cannot afford to keep them, so all the younger children are sent to an orphanage, including little Louis. Annie dies a few years later. The issue: I cannot find a birth certificate or baptismal certificate for little Louis linking him to Louis Sr. I also don't have Annie and Louis Sr.'s marriage certificate. I have found baptismal records for the other children though and newspaper articles discussing Louis' death and Annie's life after.

I have the following which I hope would help prove the link but am unsure:

Several newspaper articles discussing the following (1) A brief obit for Louis discussing his death but not his children, (2) a newspaper article discussing Annie's death, stating she was married to Louis Sr and he died three years prior to her death (3) an article discussing Annie sending little Louis and the children to an orphanage because she was impoverished after her husband (not named) died.

I also have baptismal certs linking Annie and Louis as following other children (they couldn't find little Louis') and orphanage records for little Louis proving he was sent to there, but no parents' names are listed.

I also have a death cert for Louis Sr. as the father of several male children

I've tried every other avenue (including extensive emails with New Zealand churches) but I just can't find a birth or baptismal certificate for little Louis connecting him to Louis Sr. Is this enough or should I give up on trying to obtain citizenship?

I'll keep this as short as possible, I'm hoping to get some advice before I have to subject myself to a three hour wait time with MOHELA. In 2024, I moved from SAVE to IBR because I needed my work months to count and couldn't wait any longer. My bill was $394 at a $68K salary (rough). In 2025 I made significantly more (around $100K) and my estimated bill was set to go up to $855 a month. I filed a tax extension this year to keep my 2024 tax base for one more year, to allow myself time to get financially ready for this huge increase. But when I went to re-certify, Student Aid told me my new bill on IBR is $550 a month. I can't understand why my new bill is over $150 more a month, despite my income staying the same for recertification purposes and staying on IBR. Does anyone have an idea of why this might be? I did notice that the IDR recert said they could take up to 15% of my income, is that the reason? I appreciate any guidance.