K1 Visa (Initial Packet) Translation Question

[soprano82 5]

Hello all,

 

I am currently in the process of wrapping up my initial K1 Visa submission for my fiancee from Japan, but I have run into some confusion regarding official translations of documents and was looking for some advice. According to the instructions for the I-129F, any document submitted to USCIS with information in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation (by a certified translator of course). In questions 31 through 33 of the I-129F, my fiancee's name and address are asked for as they would be written in the native language of Japanese. I completed that section in Japanese myself, but I have already provided her name and address in English earlier on the form. As a result, I can't see why it would be necessary to get the I-129F that I, as the petitioner, have to fill out myself translated by an official translator.

 

I have a similar question regarding the G-325A. Her address and all the addresses of her previous employers in Japan can easily be written in English only (Romaji). I also don't see anywhere in the instructions of that form where it specifies that the native language needs to be used for addresses, which adds to the confusion after seeing that was asked for in the I-129F. Only her name is asked for in the native language at the bottom of the G-325A, so does that need to be translated, despite having her name clearly written in English on the G-325A form itself?

 

Lastly, I am not sure what documents need to be submitted that require an official translation? I'm assuming her medical and police records fall into that category, and any document that was originally in Japanese from Japan, but I don't see when those are even involved in the process, with the exception of the medical exam prior to her in-person interview. I have been following the K1 Visa guide provided on this site, but I don't see those listed as necessary forms anywhere.

 

Thanks in advance for any input on this matter. Any help is very much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2017 by soprano82

[EG&XY 144]

1 hour ago, soprano82 said:

I am currently in the process of wrapping up my initial K1 Visa submission for my fiancee from Japan, but I have run into some confusion regarding official translations of documents and was looking for some advice. According to the instructions for the I-129F, any document submitted to USCIS with information in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation (by a certified translator of course). In questions 31 through 33 of the I-129F, my fiancee's name and address are asked for as they would be written in the native language of Japanese. I completed that section in Japanese myself, but I have already provided her name and address in English earlier on the form. As a result, I can't see why it would be necessary to get the I-129F that I, as the petitioner, have to fill out myself translated by an official translator.

 You are over thinking this. They are talking about translations of other documents (i.e., birth certificates) that are in another language. They are not talking about translations of the sections of the I-129F that must be in the native language. Most of the documents that you have to submit with the I-129 are about you, so as long as those are in english then I highly doubt that you would need any translations. I would guess that the only items that you might be submitting for her (IF THEY APPLY to your situation) that could be in foreign language and need translation are the evidence of "termination of previous marriages" and "evidence of legal name change".

 

1 hour ago, soprano82 said:

I have a similar question regarding the G-325A. Her address and all the addresses of her previous employers in Japan can easily be written in English only (Romaji). I also don't see anywhere in the instructions of that form where it specifies that the native language needs to be used for addresses, which adds to the confusion after seeing that was asked for in the I-129F. Only her name is asked for in the native language at the bottom of the G-325A, so does that need to be translated, despite having her name clearly written in English on the G-325A form itself?

Correct, just use the Romaji; the expectation would be that everything will be in English unless they specifically ask you for something else. My husband is Chinese, when we were filling out the GS-325A for our I-130 we used pinyin (latinization of Mandarin) so that it is understandable to an English speaker. They ask for certain items to be repeated in the native language so that they can compare them later if needed. The I-130 had a part in the old version that we completed where they also asked for the name and address of the beneficiary in the native language, even though it had been provided as the English version in another part of the form. I assume that Japanese is somewhat like Mandarin, it is a tonal language. Therefore, if you just write the latinized version it may not completely convey all of the information. The same latinized word may actually represent several characters. In the native language these are distinct characters, but in the latinized version (pinyin or Romaji) they would look the same. For example, in Mandarin 码 = mother, 麻 = hemp, 马 = horse, and 骂 scold; but in pinyin the would all be written as "ma". So as you can see, simply writing "ma" would not necessarily tell you which character/meaning is correct. You have to know the tone to help understand, and even then there may be several characters that could be correct. Therefore, they ask to have the information shown in the native alphabet for specific items (i.e., what is there name in their native alphabet so that they can compare this on other documents which may not be in english, such as a birth certificate). But they would still want the english translation of the document. Does that make sense now?    

 

1 hour ago, soprano82 said:

Lastly, I am not sure what documents need to be submitted that require an official translation? I'm assuming her medical and police records fall into that category, and any document that was originally in Japanese from Japan, but I don't see when those are even involved in the process, with the exception of the medical exam prior to her in-person interview. I have been following the K1 Visa guide provided on this site, but I don't see those listed as necessary forms anywhere.

See above. From what I recall/understand (we originally looked at K-1 but decided to go the CR-1 route so I'm a bit rusty here) the documents that you are talking about don't come until you are interacting with the consulate, they don't go with the I-129F to USCIS. I don't think that medical and police records go to USCIS with the I-129F, I believe that those go to the consulate as part of the actual visa application, the I-129F is just a petition to determine if you are eligible to apply for the visa. Additionally, since those would be going to the consulate where the staff would know the native language I don't think that those documents have to be translated. However, I will leave it to others here to help give you more guidance as I'm not as certain regarding this aspect.

[arianelstl 2]

Alright, for the first part of your question. I don't think you should get those translated. I'm pretty sure you dont have to get your i-129f  itself translated. Romaji is fine, but I think you should have someone else verify that as I'm not 100% sure and I would not want to mislead you. 

 

Regarding the other part of your question, as you mentioned, any accompanied documents should be translated. In your first packet, that means birth certificate, previous marriage certificate, etc. BUT for your interview, you will be asked to provide more things. You can see a checklist here:  https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee/how-to-apply-step-3/fiancee-visa-checklist/

 

So birth certificate again (make copies), police certificate, and other documents that might apply to you but not everyone. Although there is a note regarding Japanese police certificate: Japanese Police Certificates are sealed. If the seal is broken, the certificate is no longer valid. Do not open the certificate prior to submission to the Embassy/Consulate.

 

As for the medical, I got mine done in Montreal and the medical had to be done at the immigration clinic therefore it was in english already. I would assume it's the same thing in Japan. Here's the list of the places you can get your medical done in Japan: https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/medical-facilities/ 

 

Hope that was somewhat helpful

 

[arianelstl 2]

9 minutes ago, EG&XY said:

I don't think that medical and police records go to USCIS with the I-129F, I believe that those go to the consulate as part of the actual visa application, the I-129F is just a petition to determine if you are eligible to apply for the visa. Additionally, since those would be going to the consulate where the staff would know the native language I don't think that those documents have to be translated. However, I will leave it to others here to help give you more guidance as I'm not as certain regarding this aspect.

I had to send a copy of my medical along with my Adjustment of Status once I got in the US. But like I said in my previous post, pretty sure your medical will be in english.