Language Issues

[NYC-KK 0]

My fiancee just mailed to me her G-325 biographical statement and her fiancee letter of intent. She signed both in Thai, although she completed both in English. Is this acceptable? Also, on question 16 on the I-129F, she provided for me the required information in Thai, and I was able to cut and paste it into the document. Her signatures on the G-325 and fiancee letter, and my answer to question 16 on the I-129F, are the only non-roman lettering in the entire package. Do we need to have these documents certified by a translator? Please respond. Thanks in advance for this wonderful opportunity to receive free feedback and advice.

Edited September 15, 2009 by NYC-KK

[rsn 135]

She signed both in Thai, although she completed both in English. Is this acceptable?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Signatures are signatures. Either it is her signature or it isn't.

Also, on question 16 on the I-129F, she provided for me the required information in Thai, and I was able to cut and paste it into the document.

No problem.

Do we need to have these documents certified by a translater?

Do you mean must the non-roman characters you entered in #16 be certified by a translator? No.

[brlukath 1]

Signature DOES NOT mean signature. At the naturalization phase, for example, signature means signature in English. If the name is written in English, I would sign in both. At this point, though, I wouldn't worry. As it is signed.

No translation needed. Translations are needed of "documents" in a foreign language. On 16, you already provided the translation in #15.

Also, remember the "certification" require for translated documents is just a statement by the translator in the form suggested by USCIS.

[rsn 135]

Signature DOES NOT mean signature. At the naturalization phase, for example, signature means signature in English. If the name is written in English, I would sign in both.

What on earth are you talking about? Please let me know specifically where it says anything about an "English" signature. How absurd. Your signature is your signature.

Have a look at an actual document regarding signatures from the USCIS website.

Edited September 15, 2009 by rsn

[Thai Rath 1]

My fiancee just mailed to me her G-325 biographical statement and her fiancee letter of intent. She signed both in Thai, although she completed both in English. Is this acceptable? Also, on question 16 on the I-129F, she provided for me the required information in Thai, and I was able to cut and paste it into the document. Her signatures on the G-325 and fiancee letter, and my answer to question 16 on the I-129F, are the only non-roman lettering in the entire package. Do we need to have these documents certified by a translator? Please respond. Thanks in advance for this wonderful opportunity to receive free feedback and advice.

My husband (back when he was the fiance living abroad) signed his name in Thai on all the K-1 documents and it was never an issue.

[rsn 135]

My fiancee just mailed to me her G-325 biographical statement and her fiancee letter of intent. She signed both in Thai, although she completed both in English. Is this acceptable? Also, on question 16 on the I-129F, she provided for me the required information in Thai, and I was able to cut and paste it into the document. Her signatures on the G-325 and fiancee letter, and my answer to question 16 on the I-129F, are the only non-roman lettering in the entire package. Do we need to have these documents certified by a translator? Please respond. Thanks in advance for this wonderful opportunity to receive free feedback and advice.

My husband (back when he was the fiance living abroad) signed his name in Thai on all the K-1 documents and it was never an issue.

As I would expect. There is no such thing as a "Thai" or "English" signature to my knowledge. A signature is exactly what it sounds like. It can contain special characters, scribbles, and can be generally illegible. As long as it is consistently used and is in the person's own handwriting, whatever it looks like, it should be fine.

[thongd4me 69]

I was able to cut and paste it into the document.

I also cut/pasted it. No problem.

If you think about it, a Thai signature at least shows to an extent (not 100%)

that the petitioner is doing it with the cooperation of the beneficiary.

Yes a signature is a signature, even if it's an "X"

[NYC-KK 0]

Thanks, all of you, for your comments. My only enduring concern is about the fiancee letter. Maybe she should have signed it in both English and Thai, and/or added a statement testifying to the fact that she is fluent in both languages. My concern is that they might think that I wrote the letter for her and that she does not know what she signed. If anyone thinks this could become a significant problem, please make your case now while it is not too late to do something about it. I could ask her to send me another one right away. But I'd rather not bother with this unless there is a significant risk.

[rsn 135]

Thanks, all of you, for your comments. My only enduring concern is about the fiancee letter. Maybe she should have signed it in both English and Thai, and/or added a statement testifying to the fact that she is fluent in both languages. My concern is that they might think that I wrote the letter for her and that she does not know what she signed. If anyone thinks this could become a significant problem, please make your case now while it is not too late to do something about it. I could ask her to send me another one right away. But I'd rather not bother with this unless there is a significant risk.

I'm really not quite sure how else to explain this. There are no English or Thai or Russian or German signatures per say. A signature is just something, usually your name, written in your own handwriting. I don't know how one can look at a signature and determine what language it comes from in all cases. My signature is completely illegible, and so are many others I have seen. There is no way to determine what language I write based on my signature. My wife's signature is the same way. There is nothing to worry about as long as it is HER original signature that she consistently uses.

Edited September 15, 2009 by rsn

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks, all of you, for your comments. My only enduring concern is about the fiancee letter. Maybe she should have signed it in both English and Thai, and/or added a statement testifying to the fact that she is fluent in both languages. My concern is that they might think that I wrote the letter for her and that she does not know what she signed. If anyone thinks this could become a significant problem, please make your case now while it is not too late to do something about it. I could ask her to send me another one right away. But I'd rather not bother with this unless there is a significant risk.

There is no requirement that she be able to speak English at all. In fact, there is no place on the required documents for the initial petition where the foreign beneficiary needs to indicate if they speak English, or any other language. She also has to sign the G-325A, and that document is entirely in English.

My fiance signed both letter of intent and G-325A in Vietnamese script (which admittedly is very similar to Latin script, but with a lot of extra diacritical marks). The letter of intent WAS written in English and, in fact, she did not completely understand it when I first presented it to her. I explained it to her, and her English teacher explained it to her before she signed it. I also explained the items on the G-325A, as well as the beneficiary section on the I-129F. I had no problems whatever with USCIS.

For what it's worth, it is nearly impossible to detect from my signature whether it is based on Latin or any other scripting system known to man.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My fiancee just mailed to me her G-325 biographical statement and her fiancee letter of intent. She signed both in Thai, although she completed both in English. Is this acceptable? Also, on question 16 on the I-129F, she provided for me the required information in Thai, and I was able to cut and paste it into the document. Her signatures on the G-325 and fiancee letter, and my answer to question 16 on the I-129F, are the only non-roman lettering in the entire package. Do we need to have these documents certified by a translator? Please respond. Thanks in advance for this wonderful opportunity to receive free feedback and advice.

signatures do not have a "language", they are signatures. My wife's signature is not in any decipherable language. it was accepted on all forms and all translations she does for consulates.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Thanks, all of you, for your comments. My only enduring concern is about the fiancee letter. Maybe she should have signed it in both English and Thai, and/or added a statement testifying to the fact that she is fluent in both languages. My concern is that they might think that I wrote the letter for her and that she does not know what she signed. If anyone thinks this could become a significant problem, please make your case now while it is not too late to do something about it. I could ask her to send me another one right away. But I'd rather not bother with this unless there is a significant risk.

I worte the letter and filled out all forms for my wife and will gladly tell that to anyone that asks. She never filled a single answer, wrote a single letter, or answered a single question. I did it all. She put that unintelligible signature anywhere I said to. No problems. She understood exactly what she was signing (in fact she speks reads and writes English excellent) so if anyone asked her in any laguage what it said, she knows. We felt it best if only ONE person filled out any forms, I still do. Our sons never filled out a form either. They signed where indicated