If you are applying for a green card, visa or any other United States immigration service, you will be asked to submit several documents – maybe your birth certificate, marriage certificate, police records and more.
Though, if the documents you are presenting are in a language other than English, you will need to have them translated. Failure to provide a translation that does not meet the standards that U.S. immigration officials ask can result in rejection of your application.
If a translation is needed, here is how to deal with this.
What Your Translation Must Include?
You will need to present both:
- a copy of the original document
- a certified, word-for-word translation
A copy of the original document is required to show that it’s the real item. Even if the immigration officials can’t read what it declares, they need to see what it seems like and relate it to their internal guidelines regarding what constitutes an adequate document from your homeland. If, for instance, your copy is missing the government seals that the immigration executives are customary to an understanding of such a certificate, it might be denied.
A “word-for-word” translation is just what it says like: Not a summary, but an exact translation of every word, even if they appear unrelated.
Who Can Do the Translation?
The best way to assure your translation for immigration is done accurately is to use professional document translation services from companies dealing with certified translations. Professional agencies that are usual with immigration matters will make sure that your documents are adequate to USCIS. By submitting correctly translated documents the initial time, you can avoid problems like paused processing times or getting a request for evidence (RFE).
You can pick anyone else apart from yourself as long as your preferred translator can write out a declaration and sign declaring that the translation is a real and precise translation of the main document. When it is time to present your request to the USCIS, you will need to give just a photocopy of the document like your birth certificate and the certified translation that must be in English. The translator should consider him or herself as an expert who can show fluency in both English and the targeted language and who can translate certificates for the USCIS without making any mistakes. Your preferred translator will need to give his or her name, a signature, an address, company seal and stamp and the certification date as this is what the USCIS requires.
Going with a document translation service for immigration is worth the small additional price. Most companies have a database of translators they can locate on your behalf. They will be sure to have the document final on time, and if there are any problems, you will have support to get your money back or have the translation changed or revised as the case may be.
One of the most critical benefits to hiring professional translators is the consistency of their work. One thing we know for sure: you will run the chance of a denied USCIS application if you offer documents with irregular translation. A professional translator or translation team will work with you during the entire process, helping to assure consistency of term language and communication.
When your documents are translated, they will be given back to you as an electronic version to check over. Do look precisely at names, place names and dates. Names getting into and out of English from languages that do not use the Roman alphabet will need to have the grammar carefully looked at. If names are spelled phonetically, there can be changes. Check all dates; these can often be changed by mistake. Once you are comfortable with the electronic version, prove with the translator or agency that they can post the translation to you. This will have the certifying seal and signature on the document. You may also require the original scan to be printed out and sealed and signed so that they can be shown as a pair. Some translators will submit the translated document placed on top of the original scan, with the sealed put over the folded edge of both documents. That approach, with the seal partially on both documents, proves that they belong together.
