Immigration Translation Requirements

Why the confusion and what is the difference?

Lori Jena Freise

certified translator signing translation Certified translation professionals in the U.S. find that the topic most confusing for clients is the exact requirement for translated documents requested by the USCIS that are often needed for immigration proceedings or for any other government institution. We all know how difficult it is to even reach a human voice on the other end of a telephone call to most of these government institutions. Certainly this plays a role in my clients’ common misunderstanding; if the institutions cannot clearly relay their translation requirements to my clients, how are they to know? Fortunately I have gained a fairly clear understanding of it and I’d like to share.

The terms certified and notarized are two separate entities, yet they are often used synonymously by clients.

I am a project manager and every day I am requested to provide a notarized translation. Of course I am here to give the client the service they request, and therefore I can certainly complete the task. However, it is my job also to provide guidance and insight to my client if I am able to help at all. What I do is to confirm that our translation service will meet the requirements of each client’s proceedings. When I ask for which institution the translation will be used, nine out of ten times the end result of my investigation of the requirements is certified, not notarized. I’ve even had a couple universities whose website requirements stated “notarized translation” exactly, although when I’d call and speak directly to the school department, they’d confirm that they indeed require the translation to be certified. It is necessary to understand the difference when searching for the right translation, and to clarify with the institution to which you’ll be providing such translation. This is often where I am able to assist; If I don’t know by experience I will find out for sure.

A certified translator is the only person who can certify his/ her translation. This means that they have taken the necessary examinations and proven a high level fluency of both languages as such to be honored a certification in the specific language pair. Certified translators have also sworn by a Code of Ethics which is taken very seriously. These certified translators have a personalized certification number and provide their certification stamp to the translation and affidavit.

A notarized translation in itself actually isn’t an obtainable service anywhere, as a notary public cannot give the translation any more value of accuracy than the translator. (What are the odds that the notary public even speaks the foreign language?) What a notary public can do is this: to notarize the signature of the translator, who appears in person before the notary and signs the affidavit. I repeat: a notary public can only notarize the signature on the affidavit that corresponds to the translation. When you think about it, this task doesn’t seem very effective, does it?

What is Required?

 

Certified translation of legal documents is frequently needed for proceedings such as these. Certified translations must be verbatim by a certified translator, and will be accompanied by an affidavit, or a declaration, from the certified translator who did the required work.

An affidavit, or declaration, is a sworn statement in which the certified translator attests that the attached translation is a true and accurate translation of the original document, and specifically identifies the original document.

Because most translations of legal documents are primarily to be presented to official government institutions such as court, an immigration department or a university, it is almost always a certified translation that the client needs.

USCIS Certified Translation Requirements state: "Any foreign language document offered by a party in a proceeding shall be accompanied by an English language translation and a certification signed by the translator that must be printed legibly or typed. Such certification must include a statement that the translator is competent to translate the document, and that the translation is true and accurate to the best of the translator's abilities."

Our certified translators have years of experience with this field of work and hold the required certification to meet the standards of these institutions. We provide our translations in a format that corresponds to the USCIS as required above. You’ll note there is no mention of "notarization" or "notarized translation", but rather certification. If you have any further doubts or concerns regarding this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us. A project manager can surely assist no matter what your translation needs. That’s what we’re all about- attentive service and quality translations.

Lori is a project manager employed by Translationz