Key Takeaways
- Every foreign-language financial record attached to Form I-134 needs a complete English translation with a signed translator's certification, whether a consular officer or USCIS reads it.
- Form I-134 is a different form from the I-864, so the I-864 evidence rules should not be assumed to apply to an I-134 packet.
- An employment letter is translated with its letterhead, stamp, and signature described, and the salary is stated with the same pay period the letter uses.
- Pay statements are translated line by line, including deductions and abbreviations, because officers may compare gross pay, net pay, and bank deposits.
- Dates are read in the issuer's order, so 03/04/2026 on a Brazilian document is written as April 3, 2026 in the translation.
- Bank amounts are carried over as printed with the currency named, and the translator adds no conversion into US dollars and no exchange rate.
- The account holder's name in a translated bank record has to match the sponsor's passport, so the translation company needs a passport copy with the order.
- A bank letter or statement translated only in part, such as the closing balance alone, does not meet the requirement for a complete translation.
- Property marginal notes, tax figures, and business registration numbers are translated with their stamps and titles, since they change what the document says about the asset.
- An I-134 filed for a parole beneficiary is reviewed by USCIS, so every foreign-language page must be in English with a certification, and machine translation alone does not qualify.
Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support, is backed by the sponsor's own financial records, and every record written in a language other than English needs a complete English translation with a signed translator's certification. In most files that means an employment letter, pay statements, bank letters, property records, and a business registration, each translated page for page, with every amount shown as printed and the currency named.
The Form I-134 is the sponsor's statement that the sponsor will support another person financially. A sponsor who earns or banks abroad, or a co-sponsor in that position, produces evidence that an officer cannot read without a translation. USCIS requires a full English translation of any foreign-language document, certified by the translator as complete and accurate and accompanied by a statement that the translator is competent in both languages. A translation company that prepares certified document translation for USCIS follows that standard for every page, whichever officer ends up reading the file.
Form I-134 is not the I-864 and has a different reader
The I-134 is used at K-1 fiancé(e) visa interviews, for some B-2 visitors, and in parole requests. It is a separate form from the I-864 Affidavit of Support, which has its own evidence rules; the financial records for that form are covered in the guide to I-864 financial documents translation. At a K-1 interview the consular officer reads the I-134 with its attachments, and the rest of that packet is described in the post on K-1 visa document translation.
The attorney or accredited representative decides which financial records go into the filing. The translation company translates what has been chosen and does not add, drop, or reword anything in it.
Employment letters and pay statements from a foreign employer
An employment letter usually gives the sponsor's job title, start date, and salary, and it carries the employer's letterhead, a signature, and often a company stamp. All of those belong to the page. The translation reproduces the letterhead text, describes the stamp, marks the signature as [signature], and gives the salary exactly as the letter states it. A letter that says the salary is paid monthly is translated as monthly; the translator does not turn it into a yearly figure.
Pay statements carry more small print: column headings, deduction lines, abbreviations for taxes and social contributions, and the pay period at the top. Each line is translated, deductions included, because an officer may compare the gross figure, the net figure, and the deposits on the bank statement. An abbreviation with no English equivalent is written out in full, with the original abbreviation beside it in brackets.
Dates are read the way the issuer meant them. A date printed 03/04/2026 on a Brazilian pay statement is April 3, 2026, because Brazilian documents put the day first, and the translation states it in the month-day-year order that a US officer reads.
Bank letters and statements: amounts, currency, and the account holder's name
A bank letter confirms that an account exists, names the holder, and states a balance on a given date. A statement lists the transactions. Both are translated in full, including the bank's name and branch, the account type, the column headings, and every transaction line with its description. A translation that keeps only the closing balance is a partial translation and does not meet the requirement. Sponsors in Brazil or Portugal usually need a Portuguese bank statement translation, and the certified Portuguese to English translation page describes how that language is handled.
Amounts are carried over as printed. If the letter shows 48.500,00 in Brazilian reais, the translation shows the same figure, with the same separators, and names the currency. The translator does not convert the amount into US dollars and does not add an exchange rate, because a converted figure is a calculation the bank never made. When a record prints only a symbol, the currency is named from the country and the account.
The account holder's name has to match the sponsor's passport. A name written in Latin letters is copied as printed. A name written in another script, such as Arabic or Korean, is rendered with the spelling on the passport, which is why a copy of the passport photo page goes to the translation company with the order. If a bank prints a shortened or reordered version of the name, the translation shows what the bank printed and does not repair the difference. The sponsor can ask the bank for a corrected letter.
Property records, tax records, and business registrations
A property record, such as a title deed or a registry extract, names the owners, describes the property, and often carries registry stamps and marginal notes about mortgages or other claims. The marginal notes are translated along with the main text, since they change what the document says about the asset.
A tax filing or tax certificate from abroad is translated in full, with every line label and figure. The post on foreign tax return translation covers what gets translated in those.
A sponsor who owns a business may attach its registration. Such a record lists the company name, registration number, registered address, a description of the business activity, and the people named as owners or managers. A business license translation keeps the registration number, the stamps, and the officials' titles exactly as they appear.
Form I-134 for a parole beneficiary is reviewed by USCIS
When the I-134 is filed for a parole beneficiary, USCIS reviews it, and the USCIS rule applies to every foreign-language page: a full English translation with the translator's certification. Once a case is with USCIS, everything has to be in English. A missing or uncertified translation can lead to a Request for Evidence, and USCIS may also deny a filing without first issuing one when the initial evidence is insufficient.
A machine translation of a bank letter or pay statement carries no human certification and tends to mishandle names, dates, and abbreviations. It does not meet the requirement, even when the output looks tidy.
What to gather before the translation starts
Clear scans make the translation faster to check against the source, and a few items prevent the most common back-and-forth:
- A scan of every page, including the back of any page that carries a stamp or a note.
- A copy of the sponsor's passport photo page, so the name is spelled the same way in every translation.
- The complete bank statement for the period, the full run of pages rather than the one that shows the balance.
- The employer's original letter on letterhead, not a typed summary of it.
- A note of the currency of each account when the record prints only a symbol.
The attorney or accredited representative decides which records go with the I-134. For the records chosen, Texliff translates each page and attaches a separate certification to each document, and a certified bank statement translation is ordered together with the employment letter and property records so that the sponsor's name reads the same in all of them.