Loan agreement translation for USCIS source-of-funds files

A loan used to fund an investment is documented by several records, and each one written in a foreign language needs its own complete English translation with a certification attached. In the source-of-funds files described in the EB-5 source of funds translation article and the E-2 treaty investor documents article, the loan agreement is usually the first record an officer reads, and the other loan papers are checked against it.

USCIS requires that a foreign-language document come with a full English translation that the translator has certified as complete and accurate, along with a statement that the translator is competent in both languages. A certified document translation for USCIS of a loan file is therefore a set of translations, each matched to its source, and never one summary of the loan.

Which loan documents need translation in a source-of-funds file

When part of the investment capital was borrowed, the file generally has to show the loan and the movement of the money. The loan agreement or promissory note shows who lent to whom and on what terms. A collateral, mortgage, or pledge registration shows what secures the loan. The lender's bank records show the principal leaving the lender's account, and repayment records show what has been paid back. Each of these that is written in another language needs its own certified translation.

The attorney or accredited representative decides which records go into a particular filing. The translation company's work begins after that decision and covers every page of each chosen record, including pages that look like boilerplate.

Loan agreement translation clause by clause

A loan agreement is translated in the order the original is written, with clause numbers kept exactly as printed. An officer who reads "Article 5" in the English text should find "Article 5" in the source without counting paragraphs. Recitals, schedules, annexes, signature blocks, and initials on each page are part of the document and are translated or described like everything else.

The clauses an officer reads most closely cover the parties, the principal, the interest, the term, the collateral, and the default terms. Party names are written once in the form shown in the source, together with any registration or identity numbers printed beside them, and are then used the same way throughout. Where the agreement defines a term such as "the Lender," "the Borrower," or "the Facility," the translation picks one English rendering for each defined term and keeps it from the first page to the last. A defined term whose English wording changes halfway through can look like a second party or a second loan.

A Chinese legal contract translation follows the wording of each clause as written and does not swap in a standard English contract phrase that the original never used. The same standard applies to a certified Chinese to English translation of the lender's company documents that sit behind the loan.

Promissory note wording and dates

A promissory note is shorter than a loan agreement, but its wording is just as fixed. The borrower's promise to pay and the statement that the amount falls due on demand or on a stated date are rendered as literally as English allows. The translation does not tidy a note into the form an English-language lawyer would have drafted, because officers compare it with the original and with the agreement that may sit beside it.

A note may carry a signing date, a date from which interest runs, and a maturity date. The day and month order of the source is checked before each date is written in English, since a date read the wrong way can move a maturity by months. Amounts written out in words, endorsements on the back, and stamps from a bank or registry are translated or described in place.

Mortgage and pledge registration extracts

When a loan is secured by property, the registry extract is the record that shows the security exists. A mortgage document translation keeps the registry number, the parcel or title identifiers, the registration date, the name of the registering office, and every annotation as printed. Entries that show a mortgage being registered, amended, or released stay in their original order, because the sequence is what an officer reads.

Stamps, seals, and handwritten registry notes are included. A seal is described, for example "[seal of the Land Registry Office]," and its text is translated. Anything that cannot be read is marked "[illegible]" and is not guessed at.

Private loans from a relative and the lender's own records

A loan from a parent, sibling, or other relative is often written as a short agreement, sometimes in a form the family has used for years. Its translation follows the same rules as any other loan agreement. The agreement alone does not show where the lender found the money, so the lender's own records are usually added: account statements, a property sale record, or business income documents. A bank statement translation covers every page, including opening and closing balances, transaction descriptions, and branch stamps.

Each of the lender's records is translated as a separate document with its own certification. Names, account numbers, and spellings have to match the loan agreement, because the officer is following one chain of money across several papers.

Currency, interest figures, and names across the chain

Numbers in a loan file are copied exactly as printed. The translation keeps the currency symbol or code from the source and the source's decimal and thousands separators, since a figure written with a comma as the decimal mark reads very differently once the punctuation is swapped. Interest stays as a rate per year, per month, or per day, without recalculation. Amounts are not converted into another currency inside the translation, and no total is added up on the translator's own authority. If the source contains an arithmetic error, the translation reproduces it as printed.

The lender, the investor, and the enterprise often appear under slightly different spellings across the loan agreement, the bank records, and the company filings. The investor's name should follow the spelling on the passport, and company names should follow the business registration. When the source itself shows two spellings, the translation shows both and does not merge them. The records of one loan file usually fall into four groups:

• The loan agreement or promissory note states the terms between lender and borrower.
• The collateral or registry extract shows what secures the loan.
• The lender's bank records show the principal leaving the lender's account.
• The repayment records show the payments made against the loan.

What to prepare before ordering the translations

The attorney or applicant gathers complete copies of each loan record, including attachments, schedules, and the back of any page that carries stamps or notes. The final versions go to the translation company, since a later amendment to the agreement needs its own translation. We prepare each document with a separate certification, and a financial statement translation is a sensible place to start when the lender's accounts are part of the file.