Key Takeaways
- An asylum applicant without a passport proves identity with whatever can be gathered, and every foreign-language piece of that evidence needs a full English translation with a certification.
- USCIS regulations require the translator's certification of completeness, accuracy, and competence for informal items such as school cards and membership cards, as it does for official records.
- Each item is safer with its own certification, which carries the translator's typed name, signature, date, contact information, statements of competence and accuracy, and an identification of the document.
- Machine translation has no human certification and mishandles names, dates, and abbreviations, so it does not meet the requirement for identity evidence.
- Text cut off in a photograph is marked as cropped, unreadable parts are marked "[illegible]" instead of guessed, and stamps and signatures are described in brackets.
- A better scan found later is a new document that receives a new translation and certification, and it does not silently replace the earlier translated version.
- Records issued after the applicant left are translated with their issue date and issuing office as printed, and the translator adds no note about what they replace.
- Affidavits from relatives abroad are translated in full and in the first person, keeping the signer's own wording even when it is informal or repetitive.
- Different spellings of one name across improvised evidence are shown as each source gives them, and the translator may flag a difference in a note without choosing a spelling.
- Immigration court requires a typed, signed certificate of translation with the translator's contact information, and an English declaration signed by someone who cannot read English needs a certificate of interpretation.
An asylum applicant who has no passport proves identity with whatever can be gathered, and each piece of that evidence needs a full English translation with a certification, even when the item is a phone photo or a worn card. The translation reports what the page shows and does not repair it, and that one rule decides how every kind of improvised document is handled.
Many people who file Form I-589 left home without a passport or a birth certificate. Identity is then shown with an expired ID card, a school record, a membership card, a baptismal record, a UNHCR registration from a transit country, photos of documents that relatives send, and records requested afterward through family or lawyers abroad. USCIS regulations require every foreign-language item in that group to come with a full English translation and the translator's certification that it is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent in both languages. A certified document translation for USCIS therefore covers a school card on the same terms as a passport.
Asylum identity documents are translated from the file the applicant has
Improvised identity evidence rarely looks like an official record. An ID card may be worn through at the fold, a school certificate may be a photo taken at an angle, and a membership card may carry only a first name and a number. The translation company works from that file, because the asylum officer or immigration judge will hold the same file.
Each item gets its own certification, which is the safer practice for a packet made of many small pieces. The certification carries the translator's typed name, signature, date, and contact information, a statement of competence in both languages, a statement that the translation is complete and accurate, and an identification of the document translated. Machine translation has no human certification and mishandles names, dates, and abbreviations, which are the details an identity document exists to establish, so it does not meet the requirement.
How a photographed or cropped document is translated
A photo sent through a messaging app is common in asylum files. The translation covers everything legible in the image and marks what is not. Four conventions apply when the image is imperfect:
- Text cut off at the edge of the photo is marked as cropped, and the visible fragment is translated as far as it goes.
- Glare, folds, water damage, and faded ink that hide words are marked "[illegible]" instead of being guessed.
- Stamps, seals, and signatures are described in brackets, for example "[round stamp, partly visible]" and "[signature]".
- Handwritten entries and margin notes are translated in place, and the back of the page is translated when it carries anything.
The layout of the translation follows the source closely enough that an officer can match each translated line to the image. If the applicant later finds a better scan, the translation company treats it as a new document, with a new translation and its own certification. It does not quietly swap one for the other.
Records issued after arrival keep their own issue dates
Some identity records only exist because relatives or lawyers requested them after the applicant left. A relative may obtain a new copy of a civil record from a registry, a lawyer may request a certificate from a school, or a consulate may issue a replacement for a lost card. Each is translated with the issue date and issuing office printed on it, so the English text shows that the record was created after the events in the declaration.
The translator does not add a note that the record replaces an earlier one and does not move dates to fit the account. Whether a later-issued record persuades anyone is for the attorney or accredited representative to weigh and for the adjudicator to decide. An expired national ID is translated with its expiry date as printed, and a certified passport translation follows the same approach to stamps and page order when the applicant has a travel document. For a Persian-language booklet, Farsi passport translation applies those rules to its pages and stamps.
Affidavits from relatives abroad are translated as written
When no primary record exists, applicants often send written statements from parents, siblings, or former neighbors who know the facts of the applicant's birth, family, or residence. An affidavit translation renders the statement in full, in the first person, with the signer's name, address, date, and any signature or stamp. The signer's wording stays even when it is informal, repetitive, or at odds with another statement. A Spanish affidavit translation of a statement from a relative in Central America follows the same rules.
Immigration court adds its own format. The Immigration Court Practice Manual requires foreign-language documents to come with an English translation and a certificate of translation that is typed and signed and includes the translator's contact information and statements of competence and accuracy. The practice manual chapter on filings also covers pagination and indexing of exhibits. A declaration written in English and signed by someone who does not understand English needs a certificate of interpretation, which is a separate document from a certificate of translation.
Inconsistent name spellings are reported, not fixed
Improvised evidence almost always spells one name in several ways. A school card may use one transliteration, a church record another, and a UNHCR registration a third, each produced by a different clerk working from a different alphabet. The translation shows each spelling as its source gives it. A translator who adds a spelling the document does not contain turns the translation into an argument about the source.
The translation company can flag a variation in a translator's note, for example "the source spells the surname with a final h, unlike the preceding document." Choosing which spelling to use in later filings belongs to the applicant and counsel. Language-specific questions about Persian-language records are covered under Farsi translation services.
How the declaration about missing documents reads next to the translations
The applicant's declaration and the translated substitutes are read together. If the declaration says a birth certificate was left behind and a school record stands in for it, the translation of the school record should show a name and a date of birth that the officer can compare with the I-589 and with the declaration. Differences that exist in the source stay visible in the English, and the translation company does not alter either document to make them agree. The declaration is where the applicant explains why documents are missing and why spellings differ. Counsel should read the declaration and the translations side by side before filing, and the earlier post on translating asylum declarations and supporting evidence covers the declaration itself.
What to gather before ordering the translations
Collect the original image or scan of each item at the highest quality available, including the back of every page, and keep a short list of where and when each item was obtained. Put later-obtained records in a separate group so their issue dates are easy to see, and do not retouch, crop, or rotate photographs.
We prepare each of these items as its own certified translation, and our asylum documents translation page lists the records applicants commonly send. The attorney or accredited representative decides what goes into the filing.