Translation and Apostille for a I-130 questions and a few random others

[smp22sco 0]

Hello Visa Journey members,

I'm new to this site and I'm happy I found this place. I've been reading a lot of others people experience and processes and I am very thankful to all those of have posted about their visa adventures. I am learning a lot and all of your information had been very useful.

However I am still a little lost. I am currently living in Korea and would like to file a DCF for my wife so we can move to the USA.

First thing first...

In the process of filing the I-130, JV's guide page suggests I include the following:

Wife's birth cert.

Marriage cert.

lease showing joint residence (this is my evidence of a bona fide marriage)

All of these documents are in Korean so they need to be translated. Should these be translated first? Then get the apostille? Or Get the apostille first and have that translated as well?

What documents should have an apostille? Apostille are used for international documentation, so is it safe to say any document i file from South Korea should be have an apostille?

The I-130 seems like a "good to go?" petition where it's basically asking, "Can we attempt to get a visa?". Then getting that approved and receiving packet 3 is where to hardcore documentation begins. Does this seem about right?

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While I'm writing I guess I'll ask some more questions.

I've been collecting a ton of information for the anticipation of "packet 3" It seems like a doozy.

Since I'm filing a DCF, I am living and working in South Korea. All of my work for the past 5 years has been in S. Korea. Any tax returns I file to accompany the I-864 would be from my occupations in Korea. Therefore, I am having my father act has a joint sponsor. I have 3 years of tax records for support. Having a joint sponsor, it necessary for me to collect translate and apostille my income/taxes from Korea? Or will having a joint suffice?

Last question (for now), I've read a lot about people bringing in pictures of trip with their spouse and pics with in-laws, yatta yatta to document their marriage together. When is this needed? In Packet 3, in the interview... at all? I have tons of pics, but I'm no Martha Steward scrapbooker. Just curious if anyone has ever been asked to show their pictures and if that made a difference in their visa approval.

Sorry a lot of random questions and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[Stressed Out 81]

Your wife's birth certificate (as the beneficiary) isn't required for the I-130, only proof of US citizenship for the petitioner which could either be photocopies of the biographic page of your US passport or your US birth certificate. As far as translations go, no apostilles are necessary and you can even translate the Korean documents yourself if you know Korean...you'd simply attach a declaration on the bottom of the translation stating you're fluent in Korean and would sign and date it. Like such:

Certification by Translator

I (name), certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the English and (soandso foreign) languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled (title of document).

Signature_________________________________
Date Name
Address

All docs submitted at the petition stage to USCIS need to be translated to English. Documents submitted later for Packet 3 can be in Korean or English as it'll be reviewed directly by that embassy.

Your assumptions regarding the role of the I-130 are correct. It's a petition that basically asks for permission that your relative can apply for a US visa. Once the petition is approved it's forwarded to your embassy's immigrant visa unit (DCF allows you to totally skip the stressful NVC process which can take months to clear) where they'll send you Packet 3 saying "we need this stuff from you before you can schedule an interview" and your Packet 3 response will be reviewed (in my case it took only 3 days to review) and they'll send you Packet 4 saying "we got your stuff, now schedule an appointment....it could be, though, that at your embassy they schedule the interview for you instead, I'm not sure.

Regarding the I-864 stuff you'd need to submit US tax returns for yourself regardless of having a joint sponsor or not. If you didn't file because you weren't required to then you could submit a written statement explaining such, otherwise you'll need to backfile beforehand. Apparently it doesn't take very long based off of others' stories. And technically only the last year's tax return is required...the other 2 are optional now.

And for the picture collection: That would be something to submit with the I-130 petition as evidence of a bona fide marriage (which you shouldn't make my mistake of ignoring it thinking you living together doing DCF is enough proof). You can also take a small scrapbook to the interview together whenever that time comes as I've heard the CO's like to thumb through pictures during the interview if you have any, so we're taking one with us tomorrow to Frankfurt.

In total I'd say the I-130 was the "beast" for us with having to provide bona fide marriage evidence such as photos, utility bills in both our names, etc. Packet 3 was easy. The only hard part there was the Affidavit of Support and you having to also include evidence of re-establishment of US domicile (since you're living abroad) with stuff like your voter registration card (any proof of having elected via absentee ballot if applicable), valid US drivers license, proof of having maintained a US mailing address, having a US bank account, etc. But, like I said, the I-130 was worse in my opinion since at that stage they're deciding whether to approve you or not even so they never get to meet you in person, although denials seem somewhat rare. It just freaked me out a little thinking my whole situation was being reviewed and judged based off of some pieces of paper, but my anxiety turned out to be folly in the end as we were approved like most others.

Hopefully this helps, haha.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Stressed Out

[awaywego 28]

Adding to the above...

Here is Seoul's page on DCF: link. Each consulate/embassy has some of its own procedures.

Agree that you might want to look into including more evidence of a bona fide marriage. The reality of our relationships is obvious to us, but USCIS doesn't know us from the next pile of papers. You have a joint lease and photos. (By the way, our photos will be in a Word document with date, place, and names written underneath, so nothing fancy or creative.) Joint accounts? Joint property? Joint bills? Beneficiaries for anything (e.g., insurance, retirement, wills)? Trips taken together? There are plenty of ideas around these forums if you get stuck.

Search around VJ for threads with details on how to fill out the I-864 with foreign income.

A couple links on domicile: letter with evidence ideas here, I-864 FAQ item here.

[smp22sco 0]

Thank you Stressed Out and awaywego for your imput. This is really helpful.

[Indra Freeman 0]

Hi everyone!

I am working on my translations of shared rental agreements and was wondering if the "self translator" rule still applies. Also I was wondering if you have translated entire rental agreements with all terms and conditions or just the main pages and signatures? I don't know if you know German contracts, it's pages upon pages ... 

I appreciate your feedback! The newbie here :-)

Indra

[payxibka 10,045]

There is one translation standard.  If you have the competence to self translate this applies to any and all documents

[Indra Freeman 0]

Thanks, payxibka!!! I appreciate your help!

[Jorge V 195]

6 hours ago, Indra Freeman said:

Hi everyone!

I am working on my translations of shared rental agreements and was wondering if the "self translator" rule still applies. Also I was wondering if you have translated entire rental agreements with all terms and conditions or just the main pages and signatures? I don't know if you know German contracts, it's pages upon pages ... 

I appreciate your feedback! The newbie here :-)

Indra

I translated our leases entirely on my own without a problem. I actually sent an email to the embassy in Mexico asking if I should translate all pages or just the important ones. Each lease was 15 pages so I did not want to translate all of that. The embassy employee responded by saying that the extra pages might not necessary, but he couldn't guarantee anything as each application is handled on a case by case basis. He didn't give me a firm answer but you could tell he was heavily suggesting that I include all pages, so I ended up doing just that. It took me days to translate them but it gave me peace of mind, so I'm glad I did it.

[Indra Freeman 0]

8 hours ago, Jorge V said:

I translated our leases entirely on my own without a problem. I actually sent an email to the embassy in Mexico asking if I should translate all pages or just the important ones. Each lease was 15 pages so I did not want to translate all of that. The embassy employee responded by saying that the extra pages might not necessary, but he couldn't guarantee anything as each application is handled on a case by case basis. He didn't give me a firm answer but you could tell he was heavily suggesting that I include all pages, so I ended up doing just that. It took me days to translate them but it gave me peace of mind, so I'm glad I did it.

Thanks, Jorge! I will then do so as well!