Moscow Translations Services

[ONA 133]

One thing to be very careful about, the US consulate REQUIRES the documents to be certified, it does not require them to be notarized, apostilled, stamped with Russian stamps or to be done in Russia. Alla has done a lot of "re-translations" for people whose translations were not certified even though they had all sorts of official stamps. (the FSU countries just love to pound stamps all over things, why give up the good part of the Soviet Union?)

They MUST have a certification from the translator as specified by USCIS and US consulates in addition to whatever colorful stamps they want to apply

The US consulate in Moscow does not require ANY certifications. I translated everything myself for the consulate, and the only certification was MY statement that "I am fluent in both English and Russian" and the "translation is accurate". And MY signature.

For USCIS I translated my birth certificate myself and asked a girl I know to certify it for me - she works in a language school and translates a lot of documents for different embassies to help exchange students get their visas (just in case). I know people, who did it themselves though.

I translated my diploma for ECE myself (got a Masters degree in Linguistics btw ).

I haven't had a problem so far. So, you really only need a translator if your English is not that good.

Edited January 25, 2012 by ONA

[baron555 934]

The US consulate in Moscow does not require ANY certifications. I translated everything myself for the consulate, and the only certification was MY statement that "I am fluent in both English and Russian" and the "translation is accurate". And MY signature.

For USCIS I translated my birth certificate myself and asked a girl I know to certify it for me - she works in a language school and translates a lot of documents for different embassies to help exchange students get their visas (just in case). I know people, who did it themselves though.

I translated my diploma for ECE myself (got a Masters degree in Linguistics btw ).

I haven't had a problem so far. So, you really only need a translator if your English is not that good.

This is correct. The documents in Russian are not required to be translated for the Moscow Embassy.....that being said.....some, like the BC, will need translation when included as part of the AOS package.

And the certification is nothing but a statement from the translator stating that they are proficient...there is no government certification required.

[Scafidi454 22]

This is correct. The documents in Russian are not required to be translated for the Moscow Embassy.....that being said.....some, like the BC, will need translation when included as part of the AOS package.

And the certification is nothing but a statement from the translator stating that they are proficient...there is no government certification required.

I read on the Moscow embassy website that her police certificate and birth certificate have to be translated, plus the original and a copy is required. http://moscow.usembassy.gov/fiancee.html

[ONA 133]

The documents in Russian (BC and Police Certificate and divorce documents if applicable) do need to be translated, but don't have to be notarized. If a document is in any other language (except for English, of course), it needs to be translated and notarized.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The US consulate in Moscow does not require ANY certifications. I translated everything myself for the consulate, and the only certification was MY statement that "I am fluent in both English and Russian" and the "translation is accurate". And MY signature.

Ona, that is EXACTLY the certification I was speaking of. Moscow requires it. Alla has retranslated and certified many documents that were rejected by Moscow and Kiev because they had all sorts of official stamps but NO CERTIFICATION from the translator.

Read carefully, interpret literally. I SAID they need to be certified. Yours were. An official Ukrainian stamp is NOT a certification. One document she did even HAD a certification but the certification was in Ukrainian! There must be a certification IN ENGLISH

Yes you can translate and certify your own documents. Alla was not comfortable with that as she thought they would think it is suspicious. They don't, and may people have translated their own.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[baron555 934]

I read on the Moscow embassy website that her police certificate and birth certificate have to be translated, plus the original and a copy is required. http://moscow.usembassy.gov/fiancee.html

OK, always follow the Embassy's directives.

[visaveteran1 33]

Ona, that is EXACTLY the certification I was speaking of. Moscow requires it. Alla has retranslated and certified many documents that were rejected by Moscow and Kiev because they had all sorts of official stamps but NO CERTIFICATION from the translator.

Read carefully, interpret literally. I SAID they need to be certified. Yours were. An official Ukrainian stamp is NOT a certification. One document she did even HAD a certification but the certification was in Ukrainian! There must be a certification IN ENGLISH

Yes you can translate and certify your own documents. Alla was not comfortable with that as she thought they would think it is suspicious. They don't, and may people have translated their own.

I made the mistake of thinking I did not need to translate anything when I applied for my wife's son to immigrate to the US. Well, turns out we needed to translate his birth certificate and I think his police report. I don't remember the exact details in this moment but there are docs that need translating and they needed certification. There is confusion between what the instructions say on the travel.gov government site and the embassy site on translation, if I'm not mistaken.

Gary's wife helped me with the translation. Did a great professional job too.

[Scafidi454 22]

Ok - So certifiable translations only - Notaries are not required, or apostilled stamps. I think that the A stamps are required for English -> Russian translation for use at ZAGS, but I could be wrong.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ok - So certifiable translations only - Notaries are not required, or apostilled stamps. I think that the A stamps are required for English -> Russian translation for use at ZAGS, but I could be wrong.

Ukraine and Russia have their own laws regarding translations that do not apply to the US consulate or USCIS.

ALL documents sent to USCIS require translation and translation rules vary by consulate, use the comsulate instructions

Kiev does not require translation of documents if they are in English, Ukrainian or Russian but you will need them anyway for the AOS when she arrives, RoC two years later and citizenship. She will need the ORIGINAL translations for the citizenship interview, always get more than one "original" translation (Alla provides two with her fee)and always keep at least ONE for yourself with other important documents. She will need it for other things in LIFE. USCIS and consulates being a very small part of LIFE.

When Alla got her list of needed items for the citizenship interview (1 week!) we already had all in order. I simply made some new copies of the originals, put the originals and copies in a file folder. Alla can walk in the office and hand over the folder and say "please, keep the folder and return the originals" Job done. Again. For the last time.

I have been ordering transcripts of my tax returns every year since this began and I think I will continue to do so. Each year get a new one and throw out the one from 3 years ago. I will get 2011 later this year and throw out everything related to 2008. When someone asks for your transcritps for a student loan for example or any other form of loan, scholarhsip, student aid, mortgage etc, simply pull them out and drop them on the document feeder, press "copy" and you are done.

Ok - So certifiable translations only - Notaries are not required, or apostilled stamps. I think that the A stamps are required for English -> Russian translation for use at ZAGS, but I could be wrong.

certified translations. "certifiable" would mean the COULD be certified. They MUST be certified for either USCIS or the Consulates.

[Scafidi454 22]

Ok - Certified*

[Gene & Milena 0]

Will you share your translation experiences for Russian to English document services in Moscow, Russia? Please share as much as possible: price per page without notary, price per page with notary, what types of documents you had translated, accuracy and turnaround time, plus business contact information (website, phone number, etc.).

[Gene & Milena 0]

My wife and I have translated every single Russian written document we could think they would need at interview. I am pretty shore we are paying somewhere around $45 with out notery and about $20-$25 more with. We translated her and her daughters birth cert., her marriage and divorce papers, her change of name from her birth name to her first husbands sur name, our marriage cert., police and shot records, and more I can't think of right now. I have probably spent somewhere around $1000 BETWEEN OUR MARRIAGE AND THE VISA PROCESS FOR TRANSLATIONS AND NOTERY. i NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH ANY THAT WE HAD DONE. wE USED A TRANSLATION OFFICE IN lOTTA Plaza which is right near the American Embassy maybe a block or 2 away. My wife keeps the original and emails me a copy of each paper so we both have a copy and it is quicker for me to print a copy and mail it then for her from Moscow it could take weeks that way. My wife is a worry wort about not having the proper papers when she finally gets an interview. Good uck and if you want I will get the exact name of translation office we use.

[Scafidi454 22]

So far, this still looks like our best option: http://translation-s.ru/en/

Edited January 26, 2012 by Scafidi454