Family register translation for USCIS: hukou, koseki, household books

A family register can serve as evidence of family relationships in a USCIS filing, provided the whole register is translated into English and the translation carries the translator's certification. Whether the register stands alone or the applicant must also produce a separate birth or marriage certificate depends on the country, and the Department of State's Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country schedule is the place to check.

The registers in question go by many names. They include the Chinese hukou, the Japanese koseki, the Vietnamese sổ hộ khẩu, the Taiwanese household registration transcript, the Thai tabien baan, the Korean hojeok, the Iranian shenasnameh, family cards issued in Egypt and the Gulf states, and the livret de famille used in Haiti and in parts of Francophone Africa. Each one records several people in one document, so a single booklet may support a birth, a marriage, an adoption, and a death in the same file.

How USCIS treats a household register as evidence

USCIS regulations require a full English translation of any foreign-language document, which is why certified document translation for USCIS covers a register from the first page to the last. The translator certifies that the translation is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent in both languages. The officer reads the English text next to the original, so every entry has to be there.

In some countries the register is accepted as proof of parentage or marriage, and in others it is only a supporting record. The Reciprocity Schedule lists, country by country, which civil documents exist, who issues them, and which version is acceptable. Applicants should read the entry for their country before ordering a translation, because translating a version the officer will not accept wastes the fee. The attorney or accredited representative decides what to submit with the filing.

Which pages of a family register are translated

Every page is translated, including pages that hold no entries. A blank page is marked as blank in the translation. Covers, inside covers, issuing office stamps, page numbers, handwritten notes in the margins, and anything printed on the back of a page are all part of the document. A translation limited to the pages that mention the applicant does not meet the requirement, even when the other household members are not part of the case.

Passages that cannot be read are marked "[illegible]" instead of guessed, and signatures are described, for example "[signature]". The layout of the translation follows the original closely enough that an officer can match each translated line to the line in the source.

Entries added over decades and how their dates stay in order

A register is rarely written at one time. A household book opened by a grandparent may carry births, marriages, deaths, moves, and name changes entered by different clerks over many years, in different handwriting. The translation keeps the entries in the order of the original, and each entry keeps the date printed beside it.

Date formats need care. Chinese records place the year first, Japanese records commonly count years by reign era, such as Heisei or Reiwa, and Iranian records use Solar Hijri dates. The translation shows the date as written and, where the translation company converts it, states the converted date in US format so the officer can read it without doing the arithmetic. Crossed-out and corrected entries are translated as they appear, with a note that the entry was struck through.

Head of household and each person's relationship

Most registers list a head of household and then give every other person's relationship to that head, such as spouse, eldest son, or daughter-in-law. When the register is used to show that two people are parent and child or husband and wife, the officer looks at these relationship words first, so a marriage entry gets the same care as a marriage certificate translation. The words also cause confusion, because a relationship stated to the head does not always state the relationship between two other members.

The translation keeps the relationship word exactly as the register gives it, with the head of household identified in the same place the original identifies that person. When a term has no single English equivalent, the translator uses the closest plain English term and repeats it on every page. Names follow the spelling in the passport, so that the register, the passport, and the forms read as the same person. An entry that records an adoption follows the same rule, and the matching adoption documents translation must use the same names and dates.

Full book or extract for one person

Many offices issue two versions of a register: the full book that lists the entire household, and an extract that lists one person or a few selected members. A household register page for a single Chinese resident, a Vietnamese transcript for one household member, and the Japanese koseki shōhon, which lists only chosen persons, are extracts. The tōhon is the full copy. Extracts are shorter, but they can leave out the very entry that shows the relationship being claimed.

The Reciprocity Schedule often names the version it wants. Where it asks for the full record, an extract may draw a Request for Evidence (RFE). A register may also be filed next to a Chinese birth certificate translation or a Vietnamese marriage certificate translation that records the same event. The family register entry and the separate certificate should agree on names, dates, and places, and the translator flags any difference instead of quietly correcting it.

Registers that were replaced or are being phased out

Some systems no longer issue the book. South Korea replaced the hojeok with separate certificates in 2008, and Vietnam has been phasing out the sổ hộ khẩu. An applicant born before the change may hold an old register while newer certificates exist for the same facts, so the filing can include both. A Japanese koseki follows the same page-by-page rules as the others, and a certified Japanese to English translation covers the full family register. The general rules for civil documents appear in the post on civil documents and the Reciprocity Schedule.

Machine translation does not meet the requirement for registers. It mishandles names, relationship terms, and era dates, and software cannot produce the signed certification that USCIS asks for. A translation company provides a certification that is independent of the case, which avoids the question of whether the applicant or a relative was certifying evidence in the applicant's own file.

Before ordering, gather every page of the register, front and back, along with any separate certificate that records the same event, and check the schedule for the country. We translate the register page by page and the separate record beside it, and the certified birth certificate translation is usually the first of those records to match against the register.