Translating documents for NVC

[emilyjsh 0]

Would love your advice/input regarding translating documents for the NVC!

My husband's birth certificate, family history, our marriage license, etc. is in the Korean language. Our lawyer advised us that we should have all documents translated into English by a lawyer for it to be acceptable to the NVC. The US Embassy in Korea advised my husband that ANYONE could translate it, as long as it was notarized properly.

My husband decided to follow the US embassy's advise: he translated the documents and a lawyer certified the translation. We sent the documents to our lawyer to submit to the NVC. He responded that this 'translations' was not acceptable to the NVC, mailed my husband's family history to a lawyer in New York for 'proper translation' and now we're waiting for a $100+ bill for this 2nd translation.

I've spoken to the US embassy in Korea, and they've assured me that the way my husband translated it is perfectly fine. But what about the NVC?! In your experience, how picky is the NVC with translations? Can anyone translate with proper notarial services or MUST it be a lawyer translating it?

Thanks for your help!

[chinook101 0]

Anyone that is a "certified" translator can translate the documents. We had ours translated across from the marriage office in Seoul and both the USCIS and the NVC took them with no problems. If I were you, I would fire that lawyer and see if you could get a refund. You don't need one. You can get all this done yourself without the assistance of a lawyer. In fact, my wife was in Korea when we got married and she went back to Uzbekistan. So, when she did all of her paperwork, she had original papers in Korean, translated into english and again translated into Russian so that she could get the ministry of foreign affairs to sign off on them. We did all paperwork ourselves and did not use a lawyer. In my opinion, this just adds to the cost and the time it takes to get the visa paperwork done. The longer the lawyer can keep you on the hook, the more he gets paid.

quote name='emilyjsh' timestamp='1347238316' post='5673552']

Would love your advice/input regarding translating documents for the NVC!

My husband's birth certificate, family history, our marriage license, etc. is in the Korean language. Our lawyer advised us that we should have all documents translated into English by a lawyer for it to be acceptable to the NVC. The US Embassy in Korea advised my husband that ANYONE could translate it, as long as it was notarized properly.

My husband decided to follow the US embassy's advise: he translated the documents and a lawyer certified the translation. We sent the documents to our lawyer to submit to the NVC. He responded that this 'translations' was not acceptable to the NVC, mailed my husband's family history to a lawyer in New York for 'proper translation' and now we're waiting for a $100+ bill for this 2nd translation.

I've spoken to the US embassy in Korea, and they've assured me that the way my husband translated it is perfectly fine. But what about the NVC?! In your experience, how picky is the NVC with translations? Can anyone translate with proper notarial services or MUST it be a lawyer translating it?

Thanks for your help!