No USCIS Help with my case with question for RFE

[Coffee2Go 5]

Hello,

 

Does anyone else ever encounter an issue with the USCIS during the petition process when an RFE was sent? In my case, I would like to speak with someone or email an agent for my case because my marriage certificate has already been translated as a dual German and English marriage certificate.

 

The USCIS hotline number is only a bot would not direct me to an agent. The email options also not possible. Can someone help?

 

Thanks!

C2G

[Dashinka 24,448]

You can try requesting "Infopass" in the phone system prompt to reach a Tier 1 agent.  Don't bother with the Tier 1 as they will not be able to help with any case specific issues so you will need to request contact from a Tier 2 that may take some time for them to respond back.

 

Good Luck!

[Coffee2Go 5]

Hi Dashinka,

 

Thank you for your response. I'm calling from Germany and there wasn't an option to request a Tier 2 agent, and every time I have called they disconnect when I request to talk with a live agent.

 

15 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

You can try requesting "Infopass" in the phone system prompt to reach a Tier 1 agent.  Don't bother with the Tier 1 as they will not be able to help with any case specific issues so you will need to request contact from a Tier 2 that may take some time for them to respond back.

 

Good Luck!

 

[JeanneAdil 6,467]

If u create a profile timeline and hit the German flag,  your post will appear in the German portal

i say that is important as i remember about 2 years ago seeing another German post talking about the same issue 

 

I tried a search and could not find it

but a post in the German portal may get  a better answer 

[pushbrk 12,826]

2 hours ago, Coffee2Go said:

Hello,

 

Does anyone else ever encounter an issue with the USCIS during the petition process when an RFE was sent? In my case, I would like to speak with someone or email an agent for my case because my marriage certificate has already been translated as a dual German and English marriage certificate.

 

The USCIS hotline number is only a bot would not direct me to an agent. The email options also not possible. Can someone help?

 

Thanks!

C2G

What is your actual concern with your case.  A German marriage certificate issued in German and English is acceptable.  Did you get an RFE, or are you concerned you may get and RFE for a different marriage certificate?

[Coffee2Go 5]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

If u create a profile timeline and hit the German flag,  your post will appear in the German portal

i say that is important as i remember about 2 years ago seeing another German post talking about the same issue 

 

I tried a search and could not find it

but a post in the German portal may get  a better answer 

 

Thank you for the advice. I didn' even consider updating my profile but I have updated some fields, so hopefully other couples immigrating from Germany can see it. Thanks again! 

[Coffee2Go 5]

15 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

What is your actual concern with your case.  A German marriage certificate issued in German and English is acceptable.  Did you get an RFE, or are you concerned you may get and RFE for a different marriage certificate?

 

Hello pushbrk, thanks for answering my post.

 

I received an RFE with the following response:

 

You submitted a foreign language document that appears to be a Marriage certificate "my name" and "my spouse's name".

However, you did not include a certified English translation of the document. Any document that is not in English must be submitted with a complete and certified
English translation. You must submit both of the following: A complete, accurate and certified English translation of the entire document, including a translation of the registrar’s name and information, signature and stamp of the civil authority;
AND
A new photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document.

 

When my wife and I were going through the process, we had requested that the Marriage Certificate would be dual in German and English, because we knew this would be needed in the future when decided on the immigration process.

 

This doesn't make any sense, and maybe the agent on my case missed the English part but it's obvious that every field category is translated. This is why I'm trying to find someone to speak with and save myself a couple hundred more euro for translating and sending the evidence.

[SansTortoise 20]

3 hours ago, Coffee2Go said:

 

Hello pushbrk, thanks for answering my post.

 

I received an RFE with the following response:

 

You submitted a foreign language document that appears to be a Marriage certificate "my name" and "my spouse's name".

However, you did not include a certified English translation of the document. Any document that is not in English must be submitted with a complete and certified
English translation. You must submit both of the following: A complete, accurate and certified English translation of the entire document, including a translation of the registrar’s name and information, signature and stamp of the civil authority;
AND
A new photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document.

 

When my wife and I were going through the process, we had requested that the Marriage Certificate would be dual in German and English, because we knew this would be needed in the future when decided on the immigration process.

 

This doesn't make any sense, and maybe the agent on my case missed the English part but it's obvious that every field category is translated. This is why I'm trying to find someone to speak with and save myself a couple hundred more euro for translating and sending the evidence.

Do you or your wife have a sufficient level of both German and English to provide an accurate translation even if the English part wasn’t there?

 

If so, you are allowed to do the translation yourself and self-certify. I’m assuming the answer to the above is “yes” since you’re writing here in English about a marriage to a German national.

 

If the biggest concern is cost, it seems like the most straightforward answer is to certify the translation yourself — which USCIS allows — certified does not mean professional.

 

It’d also probably be quicker than getting a response from them. Yes, it’s stupid. But give them what they want and move on.

Edited March 26 by SansTortoise

[pushbrk 12,826]

4 hours ago, Coffee2Go said:

 

Hello pushbrk, thanks for answering my post.

 

I received an RFE with the following response:

 

You submitted a foreign language document that appears to be a Marriage certificate "my name" and "my spouse's name".

However, you did not include a certified English translation of the document. Any document that is not in English must be submitted with a complete and certified
English translation. You must submit both of the following: A complete, accurate and certified English translation of the entire document, including a translation of the registrar’s name and information, signature and stamp of the civil authority;
AND
A new photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document.

 

When my wife and I were going through the process, we had requested that the Marriage Certificate would be dual in German and English, because we knew this would be needed in the future when decided on the immigration process.

 

This doesn't make any sense, and maybe the agent on my case missed the English part but it's obvious that every field category is translated. This is why I'm trying to find someone to speak with and save myself a couple hundred more euro for translating and sending the evidence.

The document you submitted should be acceptable as it is in both languages.  You have two choices.  1.  Submit it again with a letter pointing out it is already in both languages.  or  2.  Get an English Translation made and submit that.  You're not going to be able to talk your way out of respondin in one of those ways.

[Marieke H 2,486]

I had a similar issue with my birth certificate that was in multiple languages including English. I just created a "translation" document that had just the English pieces, included an interpreter statement saying that I am fluent in both languages and the translation is complete and accurate, and submitted that. It felt dumb, but seemed easier than trying to argue. 

[Scandi 4,154]

7 hours ago, Coffee2Go said:

 

Hello pushbrk, thanks for answering my post.

 

I received an RFE with the following response:

 

You submitted a foreign language document that appears to be a Marriage certificate "my name" and "my spouse's name".

However, you did not include a certified English translation of the document. Any document that is not in English must be submitted with a complete and certified
English translation. You must submit both of the following: A complete, accurate and certified English translation of the entire document, including a translation of the registrar’s name and information, signature and stamp of the civil authority;
AND
A new photocopy of the corresponding foreign language document.

 

When my wife and I were going through the process, we had requested that the Marriage Certificate would be dual in German and English, because we knew this would be needed in the future when decided on the immigration process.

 

This doesn't make any sense, and maybe the agent on my case missed the English part but it's obvious that every field category is translated. This is why I'm trying to find someone to speak with and save myself a couple hundred more euro for translating and sending the evidence.

We have seen British people getting RFEs for not translating their ENGLISH marriage or birth certificates. Resend the certificate and write a very short explanation that it IS in English - If the English part is on a second page I would also make sure to make an extra copy of that particular page and add that as well, on top of the certified one. In my country we don't have birth certificates for instance, so I made very sure to put post-its on the "extract from the population register" where it said this is the ONLY "birth certificates" we have in Sweden. It's USCIS after all, they often need things explained to them in a very clear way. 

[Coffee2Go 5]

Good morning, everyone! First of all, I really do appreciate the responses to my original question as it was very helpful. I value this forum very much.

 

So a quick UPDATE from my end, is that when reviewing the documents that I had initially uploaded, I did include an uploaded page of the original Marriage Certificate that was only in German language. I had also uploaded 3 pages of the dual language (German and English) document as well.

 

So, this is why the RFE was sent in the first place, because any foreign language document must be supported with an English translation. I should have just not uploaded the German document as the dual translation should have sufficed.

 

Now, since we have the RFE, my wife and I requested a translation of the German document to English and we already have it with a stamp of certification from the translator in soft and hard copy.

 

We plan to submit the RFE today and have the option to submit electronically on the USCIS site. Does this then require me to send the RFE as well via mail? Or is electronic submission good enough?

 

I tried finding help on the USCIS site but to no avail. 

 

Thank you,

C2G

[Coffee2Go 5]

I just re-read ths instructions and there is no mention that I can submit electronically even though I have this option in my USCIS account. Very confusing, but I will follow the instructions and send via mail.