Key Takeaways
- Every foreign-language record in an EB-5 filing needs a complete English translation with the translator's certification, and source-of-funds records often form the largest part of the packet.
- Source-of-funds records show where the investor earned or received the money, while path-of-funds records show each account the money passed through until it reached the investment.
- The investor's attorney decides which records to submit, and the translation company prepares the English version only of the documents that attorney selects.
- Bank statements are translated page by page, including pages with a single entry, pages marked blank, and terms and conditions printed again on the back of each statement.
- Stamps and handwritten notes are described in brackets, and anything unreadable is marked as illegible rather than guessed by the translator.
- A foreign tax return is translated with its field labels, schedules, attachments, and tax office stamps so an officer can match every figure to its labeled line.
- Business licenses, company financial statements, sale contracts, loan agreements, gift letters, and inheritance records each receive a full translation, with defined terms kept consistent from the first page to the last.
- Names and company names must read the same across years of documents, so the translator fixes one spelling, usually the passport spelling, and uses it in every translation.
- Account numbers are copied digit by digit, dates follow one format across the packet, and currency amounts are written as printed with the currency named and no conversion.
- Each source document gets its own certification and sits next to its translation under a simple index, so the attorney can build exhibits without reordering pages.
Every foreign-language document in an EB-5 filing needs a full English translation with the translator's certification, and the source-of-funds and path-of-funds records are usually the largest part of that work. USCIS regulations require the translation to cover the whole document. Because an investor's capital trail can run to hundreds of pages, no page can be summarized or skipped.
Source-of-funds and path-of-funds records: what gets translated
An investor who files Form I-526E, and later Form I-829 to remove conditions, has to document that the capital came from a lawful source and reached the enterprise by a traceable route. Which records prove that is a decision for the investor's attorney. The translation company prepares the English version of whatever the attorney selects.
Source-of-funds records show where the money was earned or received, such as salary, business income, the sale of a property, an inheritance, or a gift. Path-of-funds records show where the money went afterward, account by account, until it reached the investment. Officers read only the English, so the translation has to carry every figure, name, and date exactly as the source prints it. A summary or a selection of pages does not meet the requirement, and the certified document translation for USCIS page describes that rule for all filings.
Bank statements: translate every page, including blank and repeated ones
Bank statements are the records most likely to run into the hundreds of pages, because a petition may call for several accounts across several years. Each page is translated in full: the bank's header, column labels, transaction descriptions, running balances, stamps, and the notes printed at the foot. A page with a single entry is still translated, and so is a page marked as intentionally blank, with the blank area noted in the translation.
Repeated pages need the same care. Many banks print the same terms and conditions on the back of every statement, and the translation company renders them each time so the translated packet follows the source page for page. Handwritten notes and teller stamps are described in brackets, and anything unreadable is marked "[illegible]" instead of being guessed. Statements from banks in China, for example, are handled as Chinese bank statement translation, and the same team can also translate the investor's other records through certified Chinese to English translation.
Tax returns, business records, and contracts in the path of funds
Tax returns show that income was reported to the authorities of the country where it was earned. A foreign return is translated with its field labels, schedules, attachments, and any receipt or stamp from the tax office, so an officer can match each figure to a labeled line. A Vietnamese return, for instance, goes through Vietnamese tax return translation with form numbers and office names kept as printed, and the general tax return translation page covers other countries.
Business records tell the story of a company the investor owned or sold. A business license translation identifies the company's legal name, registration number, and scope, and company financial statements are translated together with the auditor's report when there is one. Other documents that often appear in a path-of-funds packet include:
- Property sale contracts and deeds, translated with every clause, signature block, and registry stamp.
- Loan agreements, translated with their repayment schedules and any attached collateral terms.
- Gift letters, together with the donor's own records that show where the gifted money came from.
- Inheritance records, such as the death certificate, the will, and the court order that confirms the estate.
A sale agreement or loan agreement is a legal contract translation in the full sense. Defined terms stay consistent from the first page to the last, and the translator does not paraphrase clauses to make them easier to read.
Names, account numbers, dates, and currencies must match across years
Capital trails are checked by comparison. An officer may read a salary record from one year, a bank statement from another, and a transfer confirmation from a third, and expects the investor's name, the account numbers, and the company names to match. A name romanized one way in the first document and another way in the fourth looks like two different people, so the translator fixes one spelling at the start, usually the one in the investor's passport, and uses it throughout.
Account numbers, reference numbers, and registration numbers are copied digit by digit and never reformatted. Dates follow one format across the whole packet, with the original date order checked against the source, since Chinese documents put the year first and some countries use other calendars. Currency amounts are written as printed with the currency named, and the translator does not convert them into US dollars unless the document itself states the conversion.
How a translation company organizes an EB-5 packet
With this volume of pages, organization matters as much as accuracy. A translation company normally gives each source document its own translation and its own certification, which is the safer practice because one certificate covering a stack of unrelated records is harder to match to its source. The certification carries the translator's 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 it covers.
Each translation is then placed directly behind or beside its source in a consistent order, such as by account and then by date, with a simple index that lists the document, the number of pages, and the language. The investor's attorney can then build exhibits without reordering anything. Machine translation is no substitute for this work: it carries no human certification and mishandles names, dates, abbreviations, and financial terms, so it does not meet the requirement.
Before ordering, the investor's team should settle the final list of documents, the language of each one, and the version of every civil record needed, such as a long-form death certificate. We prepare translations for the full set, and a good place to start is the page on certified bank statement translation.