Document translation Services for the Green Card process.

May 19, 2015 1:24 PM

Does anybody on the green know of an individual or company that can translate documents from Spanish to English for green card immigration purposes. The form states that "a full English translation that the translator has certified is correct, and by the translators certification that they are comptent to translate foreign language into English" is needed. Nothing specific on what certification.
posted by Coffee Bean to Law & Government (7 answers total)

IANAL; TINLA.

In my experience handling documents for submission to USCIS, no particular certification is needed. USCIS regularly accepts translations accompanied by nothing more than a signed letter from the translator stating "I, [name], am fluent in both Spanish and English, and certify that this is an accurate and complete translation."
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:31 PM on May 19, 2015 [3 favorites]

nthing above, for our greencard purposes we found someone through the home country consulate who advertized as a translator although they did not have any official status as a certified translator through any regulating body. We paid about $50 for their translation which included the phrasing above and their personal stamp (whatever that's worth).
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:38 PM on May 19, 2015

Be sure to review the rules for your specific country. For example, immigrants from China have to use a specific government-registered translation agency for certain documents filed with the DS-230 -- marriage license, police report, and one other thing I can't remember right now. I was allowed to self-certify the translation of other documents filed with the initial I-130, though.
posted by bradf at 2:16 PM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

For Russian immigrants (speaking as a former green card holder) this has typically meant a translator who has a notary public certification and seal. Search for "Bilingual Notary Public Services", they deal with requirements like that all the time and will know what to do.
posted by rada at 2:40 PM on May 19, 2015

Best answer: The certification required is just a signed statement from the translator attached to the document stating something along the lines of

"I, (name of translator), am competent to translate from (source language) into English, and certify that this translation of (description of document) is complete and accurate to the best of my abilities."

Along with the translator's name, address, etc. at the top of the page. For INS purposes, the translator does not need any particular credentials, and the certification does not need to be notarized.

(I am a professional Spanish-to-English translator and do document translations for immigration purposes regularly.)
posted by drlith at 3:27 PM on May 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The American Translators Association has a search feature, and you can used the Advanced Search feature to limit it to local translators.
posted by jabes at 4:31 PM on May 19, 2015

As anecdotal experience when I was adjusting my status I translated my own birth certificate and then found a notary who was also fluent in Spanish, he just read it and notarized it.
posted by cobain_angel at 7:50 PM on May 19, 2015