still translating

[chelys1 0]

Hi all,

have any of you seen or used a generic marriage translation form ? I've been doing mine using ReadIris OCR but it's pretty time consuming aside from ugly. Thanks for any and all help, Mike.

[Jersey Girl 2]

Why are you using it? Don't you have to use a professional, certified translator?

[sparkofcreation 0]

Why are you using it? Don't you have to use a professional, certified translator?

No, and as I am a professional, certified translator, I think it's a travesty that universities will require professional certified translations, the DMV will require them, all sorts of places will require them, but the USCIS? No, as long as someone states they're "conversant" in both languages, well, that's good enough. F'ing idiots. Believe me, I've seen some translations that were nearly unreadable, and a fair few more that sounded all right but bore no resemblance to the original document.

In any case, as I said, all the USCIS wants is for someone to promise they speak both languages and that as far as they [the translator] is concerned, it's a good translation. That's all.

I understand that a professional translation is expensive (I'd charge $75 for a Mexican marriage certificate which is what the OP has, if it was as long, complicated, ornate, and research-heavy as most I've seen) but sheesh.

Edited July 9, 2006 by sparkofcreation

[sparkofcreation 0]

They require immigration lawyers to be real lawyers, they require the civil surgeons to be real doctors, but anyone who thinks they speak a second language well enough to try a translation is more than welcome to.

(Oops, meant this to attach to my post above.)

Edited July 9, 2006 by sparkofcreation

[Jersey Girl 2]

We just paid a professional translator in Toronto for vaccination records and a birth certificate (booklet) from Portuguese to English. It was $100 Canadian (about $90 U.S.). We just wanted it done and done right and considered the cost to be one of many in the process.

sparkofcreation, if you created a signature showing your capabilities/credentials, you might save some people here from hunting all over (or working with wonky software).

[sparkofcreation 0]

We just paid a professional translator in Toronto for vaccination records and a birth certificate (booklet) from Portuguese to English. It was $100 Canadian (about $90 U.S.). We just wanted it done and done right and considered the cost to be one of many in the process.

sparkofcreation, if you created a signature showing your capabilities/credentials, you might save some people here from hunting all over (or working with wonky software).

Well, I didn't join VJ to troll for clients—I joined it for the same reason as most people here, which is that my husband is an immigrant. (Ironically, he's British, so none of his documents needed to be translated.)

It just riles me up that the USCIS buys into the ignorant "anyone who's more-or-less bilingual is qualified to translate/interpret" BS that I spend so much time fighting against. I worked very hard [and paid a lot of money, for classes and professional memberships and exam fees] to get to the level I'm at, and most people think that anyone whose parents spoke a different language at home can do my job. And they can't.

Along the same lines, when Gareth (who is Scottish) had his biometrics done, they marked his country as "GB: England." That was the only possible answer (he said he was from the UK, but obviously "UK: Ukraine" was not the right choice). They made him sign off, I believe, so he had to sign and say he's English. He's still angry about that.

Anyway, my point is that the USCIS's ignorance of things relating to other countries and other languages is astonishing.

[The Molinas 0]

i translated my birthcertificate by myself and then had it certified by a official translator.... saved us money