Translating Documents

When seeking a green card, you may be wondering exactly what goes into getting one. Perhaps the documents that you need in order to apply for your green card are not in English. Here is information regarding translating documents.

Very often, when we are close to the end of someone’s green card processing, especially if people have to depart the country or if people have relatives abroad that are attending their interview at the US Embassy, this particular question arises. There are a lot of documents – birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce judgments, sometimes school records, sometimes police clearances – in another language. They want to know, “Is translating documents into English absolutely necessary?”

I’m sorry to tell you translating documents is absolutely necessary. Even though there are people at the Embassy that do speak the language, let’s say in this case, Spanish – many people or most people do speak the language, but it is a government requirement that when you’re processing for a green card that translating documents into English happens. They have to be certified translations, also.

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Translating Documents: National Visa Center

Along the way, we deal with the National Visa Center prior to dealing with the Embassy after the approval with immigration. The National Visa Center asks for the original documents. That would be birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce judgment, etcetera, etcetera and the certified translations. All of that has to be accomplished when we’re dealing with the National Visa Center. They also send a form called the DS-260. It’s an electronic form, and it gives a list of all the documents that the person going for the interview needs prior to the interview.

The National Visa Center is like an intermediary agency between USCIS at this end and the embassy abroad. They make sure that someone has all the documents before the appointment is scheduled. Finally, someone attends their appointment, and they bring all the originals with them again, just for inspection purposes. The answer is, “Yes.” Even though sometimes it can be time consuming and expensive, you are required to have certified English translations for all the documents. Thank you.

If you have any further questions about translating documents, please contact New Jersey Immigration Attorney Susan Scheer.