Reading time: about nine minutes. Last reviewed September 2026.
What USCIS requires
The rule is short. Any document submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services that is not in English must be accompanied by a full English translation, and the translator must certify that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from the foreign language into English.
That is the whole requirement. It produces three obligations worth separating out, because applicants usually satisfy one or two and miss the third.
- Complete. The whole document, not the parts you consider relevant. Stamps, seals, marginal notes, registrar signatures, watermarked text and the reverse side of the page are all part of the document.
- Accurate. The English says what the original says. Names, dates and numbers transfer exactly, and nothing is smoothed over because it looks odd.
- Certified. A signed statement from the translator attesting to both of the above and to their competence in the language pair.
What the certification statement contains
There is no official form. A certification is accepted when it contains the attestation, identifies the translator and is signed. In practice a compliant statement includes:
- A declaration that the translator is competent to translate from the source language into English
- A declaration that the translation is a complete and accurate rendering of the attached document
- The translator's full name, signature and the date
- The translator's address or the address of the translation company, and contact details
- A description of the document translated, so the certificate cannot be detached and reused
The certification is normally printed on company letterhead and attached to the translation, with the copy of the source document behind it. Filed as one package, the reviewing officer can see the original, the English and the attestation together.
Does it need to be notarized?
For USCIS, generally no. The regulation requires certification by the translator, not notarization. A notary public witnesses a signature; they do not verify that a translation is accurate, and USCIS does not ask them to.
Notarization is still worth adding in three situations. First, when a consulate or embassy asks for it, and some do regardless of the USCIS position. Second, when the same translated document will also go to a court, a university or a foreign authority with its own rules. Third, when an attorney handling your case asks for it, in which case add it and move on rather than arguing the regulation.
An apostille is a different thing again. An apostille authenticates a public document for use in another country under the Hague Convention. It applies to the original record, issued by the authority that holds it, and not to a translation of it. If you are told you need an apostille, that request concerns your original birth certificate or court record, not the English version, and you obtain it from the issuing authority in the country of origin.
Which documents usually need translation
Any supporting document in another language. The ones that come up most often:
- Vital records. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, death certificates, adoption records.
- Identity and civil documents. Passports where a page is not in English, national identity cards, household registration records, name change orders.
- Police and court records. Police clearance certificates, criminal record extracts, court judgments and any disposition documents relating to an arrest.
- Academic records. Diplomas, degree certificates and transcripts, most often for employment based petitions and student visas.
- Financial documents. Bank statements, tax records, employment letters and property records supporting an affidavit of support.
- Medical records. Where a medical condition or a vaccination history is part of the filing.
Where applications go wrong
Translating only part of the document
The most common rejection. An applicant submits a translation of the printed text and leaves out the registrar's stamp, the seal, the fee receipt printed in the corner or the handwritten annotation on the back. A complete translation accounts for everything on the page, including describing elements that cannot be rendered as text. A seal is represented as a bracketed note such as [Round seal of the Civil Registry Office, City of ...], not silently omitted.
Reformatting the document
A translation should mirror the layout of the source so an officer can compare the two side by side. Tables stay tables, the information stays in the same order, and a field that appears in the top right of the original appears in the top right of the translation. Turning a certificate into a flowing paragraph makes verification slow and invites a request for evidence.
Getting names wrong
Names are transliterated, not translated. A name written in Arabic, Amharic, Chinese or Cyrillic script must appear in the English version exactly as it appears on the applicant's passport, even where a different transliteration would be more standard. A mismatch between the passport spelling and the translated birth certificate is a discrepancy in the officer's file, and discrepancies generate requests for evidence.
The same applies to places. If the town on the birth certificate has since been renamed, translate what the document says and add a translator note, rather than substituting the current name.
Date format confusion
Most of the world writes the day first. The United States writes the month first. A birth date of 03/04/1990 is 3 April in the source country and reads as 4 March to a reviewer in the United States. A careful translation removes the ambiguity by spelling the month out: 3 April 1990. Calendar systems need the same care. Ethiopian, Persian and Islamic calendar dates should be given as they appear with the Gregorian equivalent noted, and a translator who converts silently has introduced an unverifiable fact.
Self translation
You cannot translate your own documents for your own filing, and neither can a beneficiary translate for a petitioner. Even where a family member or friend is genuinely bilingual, an interested party's certification invites scrutiny that a professional certification does not. The regulation does not require a professional translator, but using one removes the question entirely.
Missing or detached certification
A translation with no certificate is not a certified translation, however good it is. A certificate that does not identify the document it relates to is little better. Keep the certificate, the translation and a copy of the source together as one document.
How long it takes and when to start
A standard vital record, such as a birth or marriage certificate, is typically ready within 24 to 48 hours, and a rush option can bring that to around 12 hours. Longer records, such as full court files or academic transcripts covering several years, are scoped individually.
Start earlier than you think you need to. The translation itself is rarely the bottleneck. Obtaining a certified copy of the original record from a foreign registry can take weeks, and if that record arrives with a page missing or an illegible stamp you will want time to go back for a clean copy. Applicants who order translations in the last week before a filing deadline are the ones who end up filing with a document they know is imperfect.
A short checklist before you file
- Every page of every non English document has an English translation attached
- Each translation covers the entire page, including stamps, seals and reverse sides
- The layout of the translation follows the layout of the original
- Names match the applicant's passport spelling exactly
- Dates are unambiguous, with the month written as a word
- A signed certification statement is attached to each translation and names the document
- A legible copy of the original accompanies each translation
- Nobody with an interest in the case produced the translation
What we do
Layaab produces certified translations for immigration filings with a signed statement of accuracy on company letterhead, formatted to mirror the source, with notarization available where a consulate or court requires it. Every translation is reviewed by a second linguist before it is certified. If a filing is rejected on translation or certification grounds, we re translate and re certify at no cost. The detail of that commitment is on our quality guarantee page.
Read next: preparing documents for translation, or see what a certified translation from us includes.
This guide is general information about document requirements, not legal advice about your case. Immigration procedure changes and individual filings vary. Ask your attorney or accredited representative about your own application.