Do I need to have our marriage certificate (Japanese) notarized?

[kristinakiko 0]

I know that this has been discussed many times before but in going through old threads it seems like the jury is undecided on whether marriage certificates need to be notarized by a notary to certify translation is accurate, or if we can just do it ourselves? Anyone from Tokyo or knowledgeable about this can answer? Tokyo DCF people, did you have your marriage certificate notarized at the embassy or what? When we turned in our I-130 and had our first interview, we turned in our marriage certificate and the .PDF file from the embassy website that you can download to translate it. We didn't get any trouble from them about it not being notarized by a notary.

On the Immigrant Visa Checklist for the I-864 appointment it says:

English translations of all foreign language documents are required. Any foreign language document must be accompanied by a full English translation that the translator has certified as complete and correct. The translator must certify that he/she is competent to translate the foreign language into English. It is not necessary to have the translation notarized.

Sorry, probably just being too precautious about this, but I need to make sure.

Also, anyone have a good template for stating that the translation is accurate?

Thanks, as always!

[sms305 0]

If you've already submitted the original documents and it was accepted at the initial I-130 interview, you don't need them for the second interview.

Source: http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivinterviewcheck2.html

If the original documents listed below have already been submitted with your I-130, you do not need to resubmit them. However, if there are any corrections or amendments of the records made, please submit the documents with corrected/amended information.

[kristinakiko 0]

Thank you for your reply. We are going to bring the documents anyway, just in case something got lost or something. I guess we won't have it professionally translated and hope for the best.

[redglasses 1]

No, it doesn't have to be notarized for the final interview. And the embassy is not likely to ask you another copy of your marriage certificate if you've already submitted one at the time of your I-130 petition.