HELP with translated documents

[Mononoke28 134]

Hello everybody.

Does anybody know if the translations of documents (ex. birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.) that need to be sent to the NVC with the DS-230 need to be apostilled? My husband just went to get them translated and the lady told him he has to pay $20 each to get the apostilles, then she can translate them and THEN, he needs to get the translations apostilled as well. I think that is just ridiculous. We sent a simple translation of the marriage certificate to the USCIS and had no problems, but now my husband is freaking out that the NVC and the embassy will make a big deal about the apostilles.

Can anyone please guide us?

Thanks a bunch!!

Diana

[jediknight 0]

i didn't apostile our documents and as far as i've read no one who has recently gone through bogota has had to either. i sent the marriage and birth certificates with a translation only and the case has been completed, meaning everything was accepted. i think in bogota they are out of the loop or are trying to get more money out of your husband, preying on people who don't know.

JK

Edited May 29, 2007 by jediknight

[Mononoke28 134]

Thanks JK. That's exactly what I told him yesterday. He had just walked out of the translations place in Bogotá and was bummed about having to have the documents and translations apostilled. I said, find another place where they will just do the translations and send them to me, he did and will be picking them up on Thursday. I also just found out that the DS-3032 & AOS bill were generated on Monday, so it seems I will have the documents from my husband just in time before I have to send the DS-230.

Thanks again!

[jediknight 0]

i did all of my translations after reading the translations done by so called certified translators in colombia. a friend had done it there and they were a joke, so many mistakes. my wife and everyone i met in colombia insisted on having one of these "experts" do it but i said no, especially after reading that one is not requiered to goto one of these people. the only thing that you need is to place a statement at the bottom of the document stating that you are fluent in both languages and are capable of translating, or something to that effect. btw, i'm glad things are moving along for you. will you be sending the email for the choice of agent? make sure to send it from you baby's email address.

JK

Edited May 30, 2007 by jediknight

[parkpapa 0]

i did all of my translations after reading the translations done by so called certified translators in colombia. a friend had done it there and they were a joke, so many mistakes. my wife and everyone i met in colombia insisted on having one of these "experts" do it but i said no, especially after reading that one is not requiered to goto one of these people. the only thing that you need is to place a statement at the bottom of the document stating that you are fluent in both languages and are capable of translating, or something to that effect. btw, i'm glad things are moving along for you. will you be sending the email for the choice of agent? make sure to send it from you baby's email address.

JK

I had some of my stuff translated by a "professional" here for like $25 per page and then figured out I could do my own translations and have a native speaker "certify" the accuracy of my translations. Same difference, and all it cost me was a bigger tip at the Mexican restaurant.

[Mononoke28 134]

I thought about doing the translations myself but I didn't feel like I could do it. My husband found a place that charged him $9.000 pesos per page, so we'll only spend about $9USD for the translations of the certificado judicial and his birth certificate.

My husband FINALLY got around to e-mail the NVC about the choice of agent. Augh, he made me so mad that it took him all freaking day to do it because he was hanging out with people he knows in Bogotá. Dude, get it done asap and THEN chill with your buds as long as you want.

[ColombianoGringo 0]

I didn't realize I could do the translations myself. I am natively fluent in Spanish and English so it would be a piece of cake to do so. I could even make an exact copy of the original forms in Illustrator.

However, assuming that my translations are accurate, could this potentially cause any RFE's or other slowdowns?

My understanding is that the Bogota Embassy does not even require translations. Is this correct?

Thanks,

CG

[Mononoke28 134]

CG,

I just replied to your PM regarding the translations. But again, yes you can translate them yourself. And as a rule of thumb, any document that you have to send to an office here in USA such as the USCIS or the NVC has to be translated. And any document that you have to take to the embassy doesn't.

Diana

[ggbr 0]

CG,

I just replied to your PM regarding the translations. But again, yes you can translate them yourself. And as a rule of thumb, any document that you have to send to an office here in USA such as the USCIS or the NVC has to be translated. And any document that you have to take to the embassy doesn't.

Diana

I am preparing the documents to send with DS-230. For my country it is required to send birth certificate and police certificates translated to English. Does anybody know if I have to translate everything in the certificates? I mean, do I have to translate each stamp, fingerprints, etc? Does anybody have a sample of a translated document?

[paisita411 0]

Send me a PM and I'll send you some sample docs. You'll need another person to have them notarized as the 'translator'..the script is in the samples I have. I do a lot of translation work for Immigration and translated all of my docs myself, put the required wording and had my mother notarize them as if she had translated them. Its much easier than you think and as for wet seals and fingerprints...I just write at the end, "certified by wet seal", you don't have translate all that stuff.

Dre