DACA documents translation: identity and school records

Every foreign-language document filed with Form I-821D needs a full English translation and the translator's certification, and for most DACA requesters that means the identity papers first and the school records second. A passport, a national ID card, and a birth certificate from the home country are almost never in English, and early school records are usually in the language of the school.

USCIS regulations require that the translator certify the translation as complete and accurate and state that the translator is competent to translate from that language into English. USCIS does not keep a list of approved translators, so "USCIS-certified" only means that the translation carries the certification USCIS asks for. The I-821D page on the USCIS website lists the evidence to send, and certified document translation for USCIS covers the foreign-language items among it. The attorney or accredited representative decides which documents go into the filing.

Which DACA identity documents need a certified translation

Form I-821D asks for proof of identity, proof of arrival and presence in the United States, and proof of education. Foreign-language documents appear most often in the identity group. Any of the following that is not written in English has to be filed with its translation.

• The biographical page of a foreign passport, together with any visa pages, stamps, and endorsements.
• A foreign birth certificate, in the full version the issuing country provides.
• A national identity card, front and back.
• A school identification card that carries a photograph and a name.
• Any foreign document that explains a change of name or a difference in spelling.

A passport translation covers more than the photo page. Visa stamps, entry and exit marks, handwritten notes, and the machine-readable lines at the bottom are all part of the page, and the translation describes each one. A document that is entirely in English needs no translation, and a page that is only partly in English is translated for the parts that are not.

How a Mexican acta de nacimiento and CURP are translated

The acta de nacimiento is the birth record kept by a civil registry, and the copy issued to the family is a certified copy of that record. The translation reproduces the entries in the order they appear: the registry office, the state and municipality, the registration number, the date of registration, the date and place of birth, the child's name, and the details of both parents and of the declarant. Stamps, seals, signatures, and any bar codes or digital marks printed on the page are described in brackets, for example "[seal of the Civil Registry]" and "[signature]".

The CURP is a code of 18 characters that appears on the birth certificate and on other Mexican documents. It is an identifier, so it is copied exactly as printed, with no spacing or correction. Mexican names carry two surnames, and the translation keeps both in the order shown, without joining, dropping, or reversing them. A Spanish birth certificate translation has the certification attached to the same file as the translated pages.

The Department of State's Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country schedule lists which version of a civil document each country issues and which one is acceptable. Checking it before ordering saves the cost of translating a version that will not be used.

DACA school records and transcripts with foreign grading scales

Education evidence is often a mix of foreign and American records. A requester who began school abroad may hold report cards, enrollment certificates, or a transcript from a primary or secondary school in another country. Each of these records needs a certified translation, while records from a United States school are filed as issued.

A transcript is translated as a table, with the same rows and columns as the original, so that an officer can match each subject and each grade to the source. Subject names are translated, school names appear as printed with an English rendering in brackets, and grades are kept exactly as they are shown. A mark of 8 on a scale of 10 stays 8 on a scale of 10, and the legend that explains the scale is translated along with the rest of the page. Converting a foreign grade to a United States letter grade or grade point average is an evaluation of the credential, which is a separate task from translation. An academic transcript translation keeps the school's own terms, and a Spanish transcript translation follows the same rule for the marks used in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

Seals, signatures, stamps, handwritten comments, and anything on the back of the page belong to the document and are translated. Text that cannot be read is marked "[illegible]" and is not guessed.

Why names and dates must match across DACA documents

A DACA request rests on several documents that are read together, so the same person has to appear the same way in each of them. The spelling of a name in the translation follows the source document. A difference in the source, such as a missing accent mark or a second surname written in full on one page and abbreviated on another, is shown as it appears and is not corrected.

Dates need the same care. A Mexican document that reads 03/04/2008 puts the day first, so the translation can write the date out with the month in words to remove doubt. The same convention applies to every date on every page of a document handled through Spanish translation services, including dates inside stamps and in the margins.

Using documents translated earlier in a DACA renewal

A renewal request is filed on the same form and follows the instructions that apply at the time of filing. Each foreign-language document sent with the new request still has to be accompanied by an English translation and a certification. When the source document has not changed and the earlier certification is complete, signed, and dated, the attorney or accredited representative can decide to send the earlier translation again.

A new translation is needed in a few situations: the requester has a new passport or identity card, a school record has been reissued, or the earlier translation left out part of a page. A machine-generated translation carries no human certification, and a certification signed by the requester or a close relative comes from a person certifying evidence in the requester's own case, so officers may give it less weight. Replacing either one before the renewal is filed avoids a Request for Evidence. USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny when a translation is missing or incomplete, and it can also deny a filing without first asking for more evidence.

Before a DACA request is filed, set each foreign document next to its translation and check that the names, numbers, and dates agree. We prepare a certified birth certificate translation and the matching certification, so the identity file is complete before it reaches the attorney.