Request for additional evidence: Help (merged)

[VolimTe 0]

Hi guys,

I am seeking some help here in regards to Request for Evidence that we received for my husband`s parents (IR-5) visa. Please see below what the letter states:

" You have submitted a foreign language documents that appears to be a Birth Certificate for Danijel. Submit a complete and accurate English translation and a photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document. Translation without the relating foreign language documents are not acceptable. The translator must certify that the translation is complete and accurate, and that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language to English."

I submitted an international birth certificate that includes English on it. I am unaware why they did not accept because it clearly had English on it, but I am would never try to argue with USCIS. I submitted this before too when I was brining my husband to US, and it did not cause any RFEs,

I would love to get some advice on the following questions:

1). Can we re-submit this international birth certificate originally filed, ALONG with a English translated certified birth certificate?

2). I heard that USCIS needs a birth certificate issued in the last 6 months.. . Will this rule apply to the TRANSLATED version or both foreign and translated? The foreign one we have with us right now is issued in April of 2015, when we originally filed for his parent to immigrate to US, and that is the one that USCIS returned to us.

Thanks ahead for the help ))

[Elf 146]

According to the Department of State,

Note: The practice in BiH has been that changes in civil status, such as divorce or name change are entered onto birth certificates. Thus, the BiH authorities usually require submission of a recently issued (within the past six months) birth certificate when BiH citizens request issuance of government documents.

which implies that it's the Bosnia-Herzegovina authorities that require birth certificates to be less than 6 months old, not the US authorities. Since you're submitting your husbands birth certificate to USCIS in support of an immigrant visa application for his parents, the relevant information for USCIS's purposes is that the birth certificate shows both his parents names. (If we were talking about a birth certificate for a beneficiary, my answer might be different)

I would submit a photocopy of the (April 2015) foreign birth certificate that you already have, plus a certified translation. I wouldn't resubmit the international certificate, because my impression is that when responding to an RFE, submitting any documents in excess of what was specifically requested creates the risk that USCIS will not notice that you've also submitted the documents they asked for. They already have the international birth certificate in your file from your initial application; resubmitting it with the foreign birth certificate increases the risk of confusion without providing them with any more evidence than they will have if you submit only the foreign certificate plus translation.