Key Takeaways
- Every foreign-language record in an N-600K file needs a full English translation with the translator's certification, and a separate certification for each document is the safer practice.
- The attorney or accredited representative decides what evidence an N-600K file contains, and the translation company only translates the documents it receives.
- The child's foreign birth certificate should be checked against the Department of State Reciprocity Schedule before it is ordered, because translating the wrong version wastes the fee.
- A Japanese birth record may be a birth notification extract or a koseki copy, and the translation has to show which one it is and keep the original era date beside the converted date.
- The parents' marriage certificate is translated in full, including margin notes and the back of the page, whenever the claim depends on the marriage.
- A custody order is translated with its court name, case number, every numbered clause, and its signatures and seals described in brackets, and illegible parts are marked as illegible.
- School records, enrollment letters, and attendance records show where the child has lived, and each foreign-language page needs its own certified translation.
- Foreign employment, rental, and school records from periods the parent or grandparent spent abroad are translated in full and kept in the same format as the rest of the packet.
- A grandparent's birth, naturalization, and relationship records are translated separately from the parent's records and grouped by person so the chain of relationships is easy to follow.
- The child's name should be romanized in one spelling across the birth certificate, custody order, school records, and Form N-600K, matching the passport, with any difference in a source record listed for the attorney.
An N-600K file for a child living abroad usually holds foreign-language records of four kinds: the child's birth certificate, the parents' marriage certificate, the papers that show custody and where the child lives, and the records that show the citizen parent's or grandparent's time in the United States. USCIS requires a full English translation with the translator's certification for every one of them that is not in English. A certified document translation for USCIS is prepared one document at a time, which makes the packet easier to check against the originals.
Which N-600K records are in a foreign language
Form N-600K lets a US citizen parent, or in some cases a citizen grandparent, apply for a certificate of citizenship for a child who lives outside the United States. The attorney or accredited representative decides which grounds apply and which evidence to submit, and the translation company translates what it is given.
Because the child lives abroad, much of the file comes from foreign registry offices, courts, and schools. The certification for each translation carries the translator's typed name, signature, date, and contact information, a statement of competence in both languages, and a statement that the translation is complete and accurate. Each document is safer with its own certification.
Birth certificate and marriage certificate in the child's file
The child's foreign birth certificate shows the parent-child link, so the translation has to reproduce the parents' names, the place and date of birth, the registration number, and every stamp and handwritten entry. Before ordering, check the Department of State's Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country schedule for the issuing country. The schedule says which version of the record is acceptable, for example a long-form record instead of an abridged extract, and translating the wrong version wastes the fee.
A child born in Japan is a useful example. The record may be a birth notification extract or a copy taken from the family's koseki, and a Japanese birth certificate translation has to show which of the two the document is. Dates in the Japanese era system are converted to calendar dates in the translation, with the original era date kept beside the converted one so the officer can match each line to the source. Texliff also provides Japanese to English translation for other records in the same file.
The parents' marriage certificate translation is needed when the claim depends on the marriage. A parent's earlier divorce or death record belongs in the same set when it explains a change of name or status. Each record is translated in full, including the registrar's notes in the margin and any text on the back.
Custody orders and school records for a child living abroad
When the file has to show legal and physical custody, the main foreign record is usually a court order or an agreement approved by a court. The translation reproduces the court's name, the case number, the date, and every numbered clause. Signatures and seals are described in brackets, such as [signature] and [court seal], and a page that carries only a stamp still gets a line in the translation. A part of the order that cannot be read is marked "[illegible]" and is never completed from a guess.
School records help show where the child has lived. A school transcript translation carries the school's name and address, the enrollment dates, the grade levels, and the registrar's signature, so an officer can see which household the child lived in during which years. Enrollment letters, report cards, and attendance records are translated the same way, and so are medical or church records used for the same purpose.
A written statement from a relative, a teacher, or the other parent is common as well. When it is written abroad in a language other than English, the affidavit translation includes the signature block and the date, because the officer needs to see who made the statement and when.
Physical presence records of the parent or grandparent
The citizen parent has to show time in the United States, and some files rely on the grandparent's time when the parent's is not enough. Most of that proof is already in English. A family that moved often can also hold foreign records from the years the parent or grandparent was outside the country, such as employment letters, pay records, rental contracts, and school documents. Foreign records of this kind are translated in full and in the same format as the rest of the packet.
The grandparent's own records are kept apart from the parent's. A grandparent's birth certificate, the record of the grandparent's naturalization, and the records that link each generation to the next each need their own translation if they are not in English. Grouping them by person lets the officer follow the line from the grandparent to the child. Texliff's guide to N-600 parent citizenship documents covers the parent's side of that chain for Form N-600.
Keeping the child's name the same on every document
A child can appear with different spellings on the birth certificate, the passport, the school records, and the custody order. The translation follows the source on each page, and the spelling on the child's passport and on Form N-600K is the reference for transliteration. When a record shows a different spelling or name order, the translation keeps what the document says, and the preparer lists the difference for the attorney.
Names written in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Arabic characters are romanized once, in one spelling, and that spelling is used for the parents, the child, and the grandparent in every document. Matching names let the officer connect the records at the interview without asking the family to explain each variant.
Before the packet is filed, line up each original beside its translation and certification, check that every page and the back of every page is translated, and confirm that the names match the child's passport. For the birth record that anchors the file, a certified birth certificate translation from Texliff comes with its own certification, and our team prepares the other records in the same format.