Planning on including an affidavit from my fiance's mother about us with our I-29F, does this need to be translated to English?

[mszr 10]

We're having her mother write a letter about us but she only speaks Spanish. Would this need to be translated to English and/or notarized if we'd like to include this with our I-29F petition as front-load material?

[Illiria 980]

Why are you frontloading? I have only seen it for mena countries, if you feel you must include it then yes it will need to be translated. However I will say that proof of genuine communication between the two of you would be better to include than an affidavit.

[A'n'L 735]

Affidavits holds little weight, as previous poster says, proof of having met and spent time together is by far the most important. If you still want to include the letter, it needs certified translation.

[afortunada 182]

True, there are some things that hold more weight than affidavits, but every little bit helps. As some people have said, it seems that sometimes they've made a decision before you even get to your interview, so the more supporting documents, the better! My husband and I are filing CR-1 and he is in Mexico as well.

If you choose to include it, it will need to be notarized, yes. But, it does not need to be a "certified translation" in the way that you might think. What you need to do is have ANY PERSON translate the document (whether that be you, your fiancee, a friend you know who speaks both), and then also have someone who speaks Spanish/English confirm its contents and write the following:

The certification format should include the certifier's name, signature, address, and date of certification. A suggested format is:

Certification by Translator

I [typed name], certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the English and [enter appropriate language] languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled [enter title of document].
Signature
Typed Name
Address
Date

This is taken directly from the USCIS website (https://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-and-fees/general-tips-assembling-applications-mailing) and is precisely how we prepared all our Spanish documents. My husband and I translated them to English, and then our bilingual immigration attorney signed the certification.

Edited July 18, 2016 by jacklynriquelme