Question about document translations

[Joel&Andreina 1]

Hello everyone! First of all, I just want to express how thankful I am to have come across such a wealth of information here on these boards... My wife and I are just about ready to send in our AOS packet but we are hung up on a couple of things. She is from Costa Rica and my understanding is that we need to have all her national documents (birth certificate, immunization records, etc..) translated into English. I don't really want to pay for someone to translate these papers as my wife and I can do it easily. Do you think that if we translate them and we get them notarized we will be OK? Of course if you guys suggest that this is a bad idea we will get someone to translate them for us!

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide with this issue!

-Joel and Andreina

[MedRoni 161]

The instructions specifically say "any document containing a foreign document must be accompanied by a full English language translation which the translator has certified as complete and accurate, and by the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language to English".

To me, a certified translator would be the way to go. They may view you doing it yourself as making sure it is all in your favor. Maybe not, but to me it is worth the cost to get translated. These types of things are a small price to pay to make sure there are no issues if you can help it. How important is it for you to chance the delay if they request you to get it done?

Edited February 5, 2013 by MedRoni

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Anyone fluent in both languages can do the translations. No notarization needed. No need for a professional. It will not delay your process.

You just need to put this Certification by Translator on any document you translate: http://www.visajourney.com/content/translations

Taken from this USCIS page(about halfway down): http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=fe529c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextoid=ff053d146a7ee010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD

What do you need the immunization record translated for? Her DS-3025 should be in English. Is she missing vaccinations and needs to see a civil surgeon for the I-693?

[Joel&Andreina 1]

Thank you both for your replies! Right now we are leaning more towards translating ourselves but I did get what seemed to be a reasonable quote from a professional (12cents per word).

What do you need the immunization record translated for? Her DS-3025 should be in English. Is she missing vaccinations and needs to see a civil surgeon for the I-693?

I glad you brought this up Jay-Kay; I should have included more information about our situation in the original post. My wife came here on a B1/B2 travel visa so we never went through a process for getting her a fiance one. We scheduled an appointment for her to see a civil surgeon next week to work on getting her I-693 completed (they told me that her immunization records were fine being in Spanish - we'll see). Once that is completed do we need to look into the DS-3025 or is that only related to the K visas (I haven't come across anything saying we needed it)?

Right now we are planning to send in all these forms at once:

I-130 (from me - completed)

I-485 (from her - completed)

I-693A (from her - done next Thursday)

G-325A (1 for each of us - completed)

I-765 (from her - completed)

I-864 (from me - waiting on tax transcripts from IRS) - I didn't make enough last year (unemployed); but my current job will qualify - Just to be sure my Mom has also agreed to fill one of these out.. We aren't totally sure if she has to do a I-864A or another I-864.. She doesn't live with us and I can't be claimed on her taxes.

I am so excited because this seems like the last thing we will have to do unless I have horribly over-looked something.

We are also debating on whether or not to file the I-131 right away also: looks like a lot of people are doing that..

[Joel&Andreina 1]

I just realized I posted this topic in the wrong section of the boards! Hope this isn't a sign of things to come! - Should be in Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas - I think..

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Thank you both for your replies! Right now we are leaning more towards translating ourselves but I did get what seemed to be a reasonable quote from a professional (12cents per word).

I glad you brought this up Jay-Kay; I should have included more information about our situation in the original post. My wife came here on a B1/B2 travel visa so we never went through a process for getting her a fiance one. We scheduled an appointment for her to see a civil surgeon next week to work on getting her I-693 completed (they told me that her immunization records were fine being in Spanish - we'll see). Once that is completed do we need to look into the DS-3025 or is that only related to the K visas (I haven't come across anything saying we needed it)?

Right now we are planning to send in all these forms at once:

I-130 (from me - completed)

I-485 (from her - completed)

I-693A (from her - done next Thursday)

G-325A (1 for each of us - completed)

I-765 (from her - completed)

I-864 (from me - waiting on tax transcripts from IRS) - I didn't make enough last year (unemployed); but my current job will qualify - Just to be sure my Mom has also agreed to fill one of these out.. We aren't totally sure if she has to do a I-864A or another I-864.. She doesn't live with us and I can't be claimed on her taxes.

I am so excited because this seems like the last thing we will have to do unless I have horribly over-looked something.

We are also debating on whether or not to file the I-131 right away also: looks like a lot of people are doing that..

Oh, in your case then you only need the I-693 from a civil surgeon. She will need to get the full medical and have any vaccinations she is missing that are required. The DS-3025 is the vaccination form given at the K-1 medical exam.

Your current income qualifies, so that should be enough. You would send a letter from employer and most recent pay stubs to prove the current income amount you list. If you still would feel safer with a joint sponsor, then your mom would fill out her own separate I-864 and provide her most recent tax transcript, proof of current income and proof of being a USC or LPR.

The fees for the I-131 and I-765 are waived when filed with a pending I-485. It is free, so why not file it? It is a simple form to fill out and some people that have skipped it wished they had not when wanting to leave the US while waiting for their green card approval.