Marriage green card translation checklist for the I-130 and I-485

Every foreign-language document in a marriage-based green card packet needs a full English translation with the translator's certification, and the rule is the same for the I-130 and the I-485 whether they are filed together or separately. USCIS regulations require it for any document that is not in English, so certified document translation for USCIS has to cover the whole packet, with names and dates spelled the same way in every record.

The order below follows how most concurrent filings are put together. The form instructions and the attorney or accredited representative handling the case decide which records go in; this article covers only how each one is translated.

Birth certificates for both spouses

The foreign-born spouse nearly always needs a birth certificate in the file, and a petitioner who was born abroad needs one as well. The first thing to settle is which version of the record exists. The Department of State's Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country schedule lists, country by country, who issues the birth record and which form is acceptable, and a translation of the wrong version wastes the fee.

Abridged extracts are the usual problem. A Polish odpis skrócony is not the same record as the odpis zupełny, and a Brazilian certidão de nascimento can be issued as a short extract or as the full inteiro teor copy. When the full copy is the acceptable one, the translation of the extract does not help the case. Once the right version is in hand, a certified birth certificate translation covers every printed field, the registry stamps, the signatures (described as "[signature]"), and any marginal notes added later. A Portuguese birth certificate translation of a Brazilian record follows the same rule as a record in any other language.

Marriage certificate translation for the I-130 and I-485

The marriage certificate is the document the whole packet depends on, since the I-130 petition and the I-485 adjustment both rest on the marriage it records. A marriage certificate translation should reproduce the names of both spouses exactly as the record writes them, the date and place of the ceremony, the registrar's name, the witnesses, the registry numbers, and every stamp and seal.

The back of the page matters here. Registry offices often add annotations on the reverse, and a translation that stops at the front leaves part of the record unexplained. If the certificate has a handwritten entry that cannot be read, the translation marks it "[illegible]" instead of guessing. The I-130A, which the foreign-born spouse completes, lists names and places that the officer will compare against this certificate, so a spelling that differs between the two draws attention.

Divorce decrees and death certificates for earlier marriages

When either spouse was married before, the packet shows how that earlier marriage ended. The proof is a divorce decree or, after a spouse's death, a death certificate, and both are translated in full. A divorce decree translation includes the court's name, the case number, the parties, the full judgment text, the date of the decision, and any note that the decision became final. Translating only the paragraph that grants the divorce is a partial translation, and it does not meet the requirement.

Death certificates follow the same approach. The cause of death, the registrar's entries, and the stamps all belong in the translation, because the officer matches the translated certificate against the earlier marriage record it is meant to close.

Name-change records, passports, and entry documents

Many marriages involve a change of surname, and the record behind it, such as a court order or a registry annotation, is translated like any other civil document. The translation uses the name as the document writes it. A nickname used at home or a shortened name from a social media account does not belong in a certified translation unless the source document itself prints it.

The foreign spouse's passport is translated for the pages that carry information: the biographic page, visa pages, entry and exit stamps, and any page with handwriting. Blank pages are noted as blank. Entry documents from other countries, such as a residence card or a prior visa, are handled the same way. Name order deserves attention across all of these records, since a passport may print the family name first while the birth certificate prints it last.

Foreign bank accounts, leases, insurance, photos, and messages

Joint evidence in another language is translated in full too. A bank statement from a foreign account is translated page by page, including account holder names and transaction descriptions. A lease needs both names, the clauses, and the signatures. An insurance policy needs the beneficiary designation. Photographs with captions or handwriting on the back need those words translated, and a chat export needs a text message translation that keeps the sender names, dates, times, and message order visible.

How much of this evidence a marriage case needs is a separate question, covered in the post on bona fide marriage evidence from abroad. The translation rule is simple: whatever is submitted in another language is translated completely.

Translation errors that draw a Request for Evidence in marriage cases

USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny when a translation is missing, incomplete, or uncertified, and it can also deny a filing without first asking when the initial evidence falls short. The errors below cause the problem most often:

• An abridged extract was translated when the full certificate was the acceptable record.
• The back page of a certificate or decree was left out of the translation.
• A nickname or shortened name replaced the name the document prints.
• Stamps, seals, and handwritten entries were skipped instead of described.
• The certification covered a batch of documents without identifying each one.

Machine translation does not solve any of these, since it carries no human certification and often mishandles names, dates, and abbreviations. A certification signed by the applicant or the spouse is also a poor choice, because that person would be certifying evidence in their own case. A translation company supplies a certification that stands apart from the case.

Vaccination records for the I-693 medical exam

The I-693 exam is completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. The applicant brings vaccination records, and the civil surgeon has to read them to transfer the data onto the form, so a record written in another language needs an English translation first. Records of past treatment that are submitted as evidence, for a waiver for example, need a certified translation like any other document.

Before ordering anything, collect every foreign-language page in one folder, check the Reciprocity Schedule for the version of each civil record, and confirm with the attorney which documents the Form I-485 packet calls for. We prepare each document with its own certification, and a Spanish marriage certificate translation follows the layout of the original page.