Hello,
My wife is currently completing the immigration process to get her green card. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this, and what they they did about translating documents such as the birth certificate and police record. Can my wife or I translate these documents by ourselves or is there somewhere that can do this that is not too expensive? We have asked a few places and it seems they want $2,000 per document which seems a bit steep. Although I am not familiar with how much these things usually go for. I’d appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks!
Does the application form say they want a notarized statement from a certified translator that the translation is accurate? If so, they’re expecting you to pay a certified translator - unless you or your wife are, which would save you a lot of money. For official documents, the prices you quoted, though ridiculous, are around what is normally charged.
Well here is what the instructions say:
All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified English translations. The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states that the:
Translation is accurate, and
Translator is competent to translate.
So this means it must be from someone that has some sort of certification in translating? I’m guessing that would not be us. What certifications are acceptable then?
[quote=“occhimarroni”]
All documents not in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified English translations. [/quote]
Where is your wife from? Are the documents not in Chinese? If they are Chinese, and you are applying in Taiwan, they don’t need to be translated.
Phone or email (best to get the answer in writing) the AIT and ask if they will accept a translation from you, if necessary - and tell them why you think you are competent to translate. A ‘certified translation’ is not necessarily a translation by someone who has a certificate in translation. It could just be someone who has the requisite skills and attachs the required statement.
Thanks for the info! So I may not need to translate them at all? My wife is Taiwanese and the documents are in Chinese. I sent an email to AIT asking if they needed to be translated and if they could recommend somewhere, but they are quite slow in replying. We both speak Chinese and English quite fluently, but have never done any official translations.