Police Certificate - Original and Certified Copies

[Brian_Toma 0]

My wife is in the process of obtaining her Police Certificate. I have a number of inter-related questions on this. I apologize for asking so many questions in one post..

* Can the MVD office give her more than one Original Certificate?

* Can she get a Certified Copy at the time she picks up the Original?

* What is the correct Russian term for a "Certified Copy", so that I can explain this to her correctly?

* If she has one Original and a Certified Copy, does she send the Original to the NVC with the DS-230 application? Or should she send the Certified Copy to the NVC, and then take the Original to the interview in Moscow?

Thanks,

Brian

[mox 298]

My wife is in the process of obtaining her Police Certificate. I have a number of inter-related questions on this. I apologize for asking so many questions in one post..

No problem!

* Can the MVD office give her more than one Original Certificate?

Probably. She'd have to pay for multiple copies. Any reason why she needs more than one?

* Can she get a Certified Copy at the time she picks up the Original?

What do you mean by "certified?" The police certificate she gets from the MVD is all she needs. No reason to go beyond that.

* What is the correct Russian term for a "Certified Copy", so that I can explain this to her correctly?

Don't know, but it's not necessary.

* If she has one Original and a Certified Copy, does she send the Original to the NVC with the DS-230 application? Or should she send the Certified Copy to the NVC, and then take the Original to the interview in Moscow?

Where are you getting this idea that you need a "certified" copy? She just needs to bring the police certificate to the interview with her, that's all. Here's the relevant instruction:

Police certificates in all names as well as all dates of birth ever used. Police certificate must contain references to each place (subject to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation) in which the applicant lives or has lived for more than six months since attaining the age of 16. This includes localities where applicants have lived during university studies. If the applicant was on military service, he/she should bring the certificate from the local draft board. If an applicant has lived abroad for more than one year, a police certificate must also be submitted from the country in which he/she lived. Police certificate validity is one year since the date of issuance.

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/fiancee.html

Nothing in there about certified. Keep it simple, just give them what they ask for.

Hope that helps, and welcome!

[Brian_Toma 0]

Where are you getting this idea that you need a "certified" copy? She just needs to bring the police certificate to the interview with her, that's all. Here's the relevant instruction:

Ok, maybe the K-1 track is a little different, but I'm doing a CR-1. My wife must submit a DS-230. The problem is that the instructions for DS-230 say that she must submit a Police Certificate with that application. Then she also must bring one to the interview in Moscow. So, the only thing I can think is that either she needs 2 originals, or she must use some kind of copy ("certified"?).

Also, on the DS-230 Cover Letter on this website, it shows Original/Certified Police Clearance Certificate.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...30_Cover_Letter

However, I just called the NVC, and the operator told me that all the documents to send with the DS-230 can be copies, and they do not need to be certified. This is except for the DS-230 itself which must have the original signature on the form which is sent to the NVC. All the documents to bring to the Embassy in Moscow must be originals.

[mox 298]

Aaaahhhh, dammit, this is the second time in the last 6 weeks or so that I made the mistake of not looking at what visa was being applied for. My apologies.

But yeah, copies are fine for submitting with the DS-230. If you want to feel *real* good about it then do as you mentioned earlier and just get (and pay for) 2 copies of the certificate. But it's not really necessary. People submit a copy of the police cert all the time with no problems. It's having the original at the interview that's the most important.

Edited March 9, 2010 by mox

[Cixelsyd 1]

I actually ran into this same issue; as we are ironically going through the same process at the same time.

I never really got a definite answer as to what documents she will need to bring with her to the interview.

My general understanding after reading around is she shouldn't need any documents that were sent along with the DS-230. The reason being is that

Moscow is an appointment post, which means the visa packet is forwarded to the embassy before her interview. So they will have all these documents available.

I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have certified copies she could bring with her. Honestly, my plan was to just have my wife get photo copies of everything just in case.

Don't forget all these documents need certified translations. So to be honest, I'm not sure how much the photo copies would help; just somewhat of a safety measure.

Also, it's my understanding the embassy will send an e-mail/snail mail to your wife, telling her what she will need to bring with her.

As for how to explain "certified". I'm running into that problem as well. The best progress I had was to explain how things are certified here in the states. Since I'd guess the embassy is expecting something along the same idea.

I think I asked this question a couple weeks ago and found an answer for it. I'll see if I can't find it.

[mox 298]

With regards to "certified translation," the "certified" part means that whoever translates it writes and signs something to the effect of "I certify that I am fluent in both languages and that this is a true translation." That's all "certified" means with regards to translation. There's no stamp, no registering anywhere, just the translator writing a statement and signing.

Police certificates do not need to be "certified" (for whatever "certified" means beyond translation), but yes they should be "certified translated."

Remember that if your wife does the translation herself, she will be required to do the interview in English.

Edited March 9, 2010 by mox

[Cixelsyd 1]

This is a link to my post concerning the exact same thing:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=240068&hl=

In there is a link to the official gov website which talks about documents and everything. When I read over it, it seemed to imply what I've already mentioned. But feel free to have a look over it and tell me if you think the same.

[mox 298]

For a definitive list of CR-1 documents to bring to the interview I think I'd be over-stepping my level of knowledge if I said I knew for sure. Hopefully somebody else can give you a definitive answer. The CR-1 forum might be able to help you out also.

[Cixelsyd 1]

With regards to "certified translation," the "certified" part means that whoever translates it writes and signs something to the effect of "I certify that I am fluent in both languages and that this is a true translation." That's all "certified" means with regards to translation. There's no stamp, no registering anywhere, just the translator writing a statement and signing.

Police certificates do not need to be "certified" (for whatever "certified" means beyond translation), but yes they should be "certified translated."

Remember that if your wife does the translation herself, she will be required to do the interview in English.

Oh nice, I had no idea my wife could actually do it herself. Nor did I know how certifying something in Russia worked.

Just helped two people with 1 stone.

Thanks Mox!

I was going to post this link up which explains where to get documents in Russia, but to sum it up: it just says go to the Zags.

Here it is anyway:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciproc...ocity_3656.html

[mox 298]

Oh nice, I had no idea my wife could actually do it herself. Nor did I know how certifying something in Russia worked.

Just helped two people with 1 stone.

Thanks Mox!

You're welcome! Just don't forget to tell her she'll have to do the interview in English if she does the translations. My wife did her own translations, but we didn't know about the requirement she interview in English. Had we known about that, she'd have had someone else do the translations. Her English is damn near fluent, but she wanted to do the interview in Russian anyway. When they told her she could only do it in English, she nearly had a heart attack. Her English is damn near perfect and she got through the interview easily, but she said she was so nervous that she kept tripping over her words.

[Cixelsyd 1]

You're welcome! Just don't forget to tell her she'll have to do the interview in English if she does the translations. My wife did her own translations, but we didn't know about the requirement she interview in English. Had we known about that, she'd have had someone else do the translations. Her English is damn near fluent, but she wanted to do the interview in Russian anyway. When they told her she could only do it in English, she nearly had a heart attack. Her English is damn near perfect and she got through the interview easily, but she said she was so nervous that she kept tripping over her words.

Yeah, that would be the only thing I would worry about too. My wife does really well with English, but she always tells me how she gets nervous around anyone but me. And I know the interview will only be that much worse. Still again, thanks for the good advice.

Well, I feel all dirty and afraid for leaving the comfort of the RUB forum, but I posted our question in the CR-1 forums.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=245977

[Cixelsyd 1]

Just thought I would post some findings.

Some other people have posted similar questions to this. Closest thing I've found to an answer was in this post:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=244617

The person from Australia said they didn't have to bring anything but a passport and a photo.

Although I think we will need a medical exam result (unless that is sent from the medical office to the embassy).

Also, I checked and Sydney is considered an appointment embassy, the same as Moscow.