Green Card Application: Three Important Issues in Getting Your Certified Translation for U.S. Immigration
Over 450,000 Americans marry non-American citizens each year. If you are in the process of marrying an American citizen, you need to have all of your documents translated professionally and certified as requested by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS).
Are you subject to immigration quota limitation?
No. If you are marrying an American citizen you are not subject to any numerical quota limitation to get your Green Card (permanent residency). You become an “immediate relative” when you are married in the United States. If you were married in another country, then you may apply for K-1 Fiancé/Fiancée visa to come to the U.S. and get married. Your petition is processed by the American consulate in the country where you file your petition.
If you are marrying a “permanent resident” (Green Card holder rather than an American citizen), your immigration application may take longer as you will be subject to the quota assigned to your native country.
You may get your Green Card under National Interest Waiver (NIW) program even without marrying an American or sponsoring by and a U.S. employer.
Putting together your immigration documents for translation
Depending on the specific request of the USCIS, your documents may include any of the following: your birth certificate, civil registration record, police clearance, diploma, divorce decree, name change document, reference letter, personal letters and email messages (to prove existence of your relationship).
Any of the above documents written in your native language must be translated into English and “certified” by the translator.
Three important issues in translation and certification for USCIS:
Your petition to obtain permanent resident visa may be rejected if your translation does not meet the requirements of the USCIS. Here are three important issues that you should consider if you want to avoid rejection:
- If any information or data has been entered wrong in the original document by mistake, then don’t ask the translator to correct it. Translation agencies and professional translators are obligated to translate all legal documents word-by-word, as-is, without adding or deleting any information or data. You may have another legal document with the correct information. Get it translated and submit the certified translations of both documents.
- Do not submit copies (scanned or faxed) of original translation to speed up the immigration process. To avoid rejection (and wasting your valuable time), you must submit the “original” set of certified translation to the USCIS in hard copy. Many translation agencies do their certifications on their corporate letterhead with the signature of their managers and affix their corporate seal.
- Some permanent residency visa applicants assume that their certified translations must also be notarized. This assumption is not true. The USCIS does not require notarization. However, certification by the translation agency or translator must meet the requirements of the USCIS.
Let me conclude by clarifying two more issues creating confusion:
“Certified translation” or “certified translator”?
The certification requirement relates to the translation, not the translator. Many foreign countries ask translators to get certified by the government. In the United States where free market economy prevails, the U.S. government does not certify translators. However, you must still insist on “certified translation” as required by the USCIS.
Translation or interpretation?
The terms of translation and interpretation are often mixed up: translation is text-based while interpretation is verbal-based. Many translators do not work as interpreters and many interpreters do not translate documents.
How can you get your documents translated and certified?
You can get better search results online when you enter more than one or two specific keywords. Search engines such as Google™, Yahoo!™ and others try to figure out what you intend to find. Entering more keywords reflects your intention better than just entering only two keywords.
About the author: John Berker works as a manager for a translation agency in California and publishes immigration translation articles. He authored books on international consulting, multilateral procurement, and global strategic alliances in different languages.
Important Note: The content provided in this article is offered strictly for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any matter. You need to consult an immigration attorney if you need legal advice on matters relating to immigration.
