Category
Form I-134 evidence from abroad needs a complete certified English translation. This post explains how employment letters, bank statements, property records and business registr...
Form I-824 follow-to-join cases rely on marriage and birth records, and later add police and medical documents at the consulate. This article explains which documents are transl...
A widow or widower filing Form I-360 needs certified English translations of the marriage and death records, plus divorce and birth records where the filing calls for them. Name...
A marriage green card packet can include birth, marriage, divorce, name-change, financial, and medical records in other languages. This checklist covers each one, the form it su...
An applicant filing the N-400 after three years of marriage to a US citizen may need certified translations of the marriage certificate, divorce decrees, children's birth record...
Form N-426 is completed by the military in English, but a service member's foreign birth, marriage, and divorce records still need certified translations. Spouses and children u...
H-4 and L-2 dependents prove their relationship to the worker with marriage and birth certificates. This article explains how those records are translated and certified, and how...
A DS-260 case needs certified English translations of civil documents that are not in English. This post covers the NVC rule, the official-language exception, the Reciprocity Sc...
A CR-1 or IR-1 spouse visa file needs certified translations of foreign-language civil records. The accepted version of the marriage record depends on the country, and each coun...
A citizen petitioning for a parent needs the petitioner's own birth certificate and the parent's civil records translated with a signed certification. This post covers old regis...
Married children and siblings of US citizens wait years between petition and interview. Old civil records may be reissued, spelled differently, or no longer the accepted version...
A derivative spouse and each child file their own I-485 and prove the family tie with foreign civil records. The marriage, birth, adoption and passport records each need a certi...
Form N-600K files for a child living abroad rely on foreign birth, marriage, custody, school, and presence records. Each one not in English needs a certified translation, and th...
After the wedding, the I-485 reuses some documents from the K-1 stage and adds new ones. Certified translations carry over only under set conditions, and the beneficiary's name...
A couple who married abroad file the civil registry record of the wedding with the I-130. The article explains which version to order, which records need translation, and how wi...
A birth registered years late has to be translated with both the birth date and the registration date visible. The article covers the declarant, the basis for registration, atta...
An amended birth certificate is translated so the officer sees the original entry, the correction, its date and the authority behind it. Replacement certificates and court order...
A baptismal certificate or parish register extract can serve as secondary evidence of birth when the civil record is unavailable. The article covers what the record contains, ho...
A certificate of non-availability is a civil registry's written statement that it found no record, and USCIS needs it translated in full. Names, stamps, reference numbers, and t...
A foreign insurance policy or beneficiary form that names a spouse needs a full certified English translation to serve as marriage evidence. Names, dates, policy numbers and lat...
Boarding passes, hotel invoices, receipts, and phone bills in a foreign language are translated in full and certified like any other document, with names, dates, and numbers kep...
Foreign custody orders, parenting agreements, and child support orders need a full certified English translation in a USCIS file. Here is how their terms, amounts, and case iden...
A K-1 case is read first by USCIS and later by the National Visa Center and a consulate. The documents that need certified translation differ by stage, and one translation can o...
Couples who kept a home, accounts, or family records abroad file foreign evidence with Form I-751. Leases, long bank statements, birth certificates, and waiver records each need...
Foreign tax returns, bank statements, and employer letters attached to Form I-864 need a certified English translation. This post explains what is translated, how currency amoun...
Hardship evidence for an I-601 or I-601A waiver often comes from abroad. Medical records, family letters, and financial papers each need a complete certified translation that ke...
A child who claims citizenship through a parent proves the chain with records that are often foreign. This article explains which of them need certified translation and how name...
Intercountry adoption files hold foreign decrees, birth records, orphanage registers and medical papers. Here is which ones need certified English translation for Form I-600 or...
When a birth certificate cannot be obtained, applicants file proof of unavailability and secondary evidence. Each piece, from a church register to an affidavit, needs a complete...
USCIS and consulates want the birth certificate version that shows the parents, not an abridged extract. Learn how to tell the two apart and why the translation must follow the...
A foreign divorce decree or annulment judgment is translated in full, including the operative order and the date it became final. Court names, case numbers, spouse names and cus...
A foreign death certificate must be translated in full and certified before USCIS accepts it. Widow(er) petitions, ended marriages, deceased parents, certificate formats, fields...
Chats, texts, emails, and posts used as USCIS evidence need a complete English translation and a certification. Sender, time, emojis, and long threads each have a set way of bei...
Affidavits and declarations written abroad are translated in full, in the first person, in the signer's own wording. This post covers headings, oath wording, signatures, stamps,...
Leases, property deeds, and utility bills often support marriage-based, waiver, and EB-5 filings. The article explains what in each document must be translated and how addresses...
USCIS accepts a religious marriage record only when the issuing country treats it as the official record. The post covers how to check that, when a civil extract is also needed,...
Petitions for stepchildren, adopted children and children born outside marriage depend on a chain of civil records. Each record needs a full certified translation that keeps ann...
Arabic civil records filed with USCIS need a full certified English translation, Hijri dates converted in brackets, and names spelled to match the passport. Country variation an...
Korea issues separate basic, family relation and marriage relation certificates in place of the old hojeok. Each proves something different to USCIS, and each needs a complete c...
Vietnamese birth and marriage records come in several versions, and USCIS expects a complete certified translation of the right one. Covers extracts, the household book, diacrit...
Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran civil records have to be translated in full for USCIS. Actas, the CURP, RENAP and RNP certificates, marginal notes, and constancias...
Haitian civil records are usually written in French. Here is which version of the acte de naissance to translate, how registers, stamps, and names are handled, and what to do wh...
Cuban, Dominican, Venezuelan, and Colombian registries each issue full and abridged records. The full version is the one to translate, with marginal notes, both surnames, and re...
A Form I-730 petition for a refugee or asylee's spouse and children rests on foreign records. Marriage, birth, identity, and secondary documents need certified translation, with...
A parent or sibling petition rests on records from two generations. Here are the birth and marriage records that need translation, why abridged extracts fail, and how names stay...
A Special Immigrant Juvenile packet rests on translated foreign records, beginning with the child's birth certificate. Each record is translated in full and certified, and one s...
A Consular Report of Birth Abroad is a Department of State process, and foreign-language records in the file need certified English translations. The birth, marriage, and divorc...
When part of a marriage took place abroad, the evidence filed with the I-130 and I-485 needs certified translation. The set is translated in a fixed order, with names and dates...
School records can support a child's immigration filing, but a record in another language needs a full English translation and a signed certification. Grading scales, stamps, an...
A certificate of single status or no impediment to marriage needs a complete certified translation for K-1 and consular cases. Its contents, validity dates, and earlier marriage...
A family register records several people in one document. The article covers which pages are translated, how entries and dates stay in order, and when the Reciprocity Schedule a...