Translations for emails

[SherryA 0]

I'm about to send my first round of paperwork in for the k-1 visa. My future husband is from Mexico, and we often speak and write in Spanish. I realize our official documents need to be in English (divorce decrees, etc), but I am also sending in some of our emails in as proof of relationship. Most are in Spanish, however. Do I need to have them translated as well? Thanks for your help!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Translations. Any document containing foreign language submitted to the Service shall be accompanied by a full English language translation which the translator has certified as complete and accurate, and by the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English.

[YuAndDan 153]

Translations. Any document containing foreign language submitted to the Service shall be accompanied by a full English language translation which the translator has certified as complete and accurate, and by the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English.

Note: emails are NOT legal documents so do not need to be translated.

Emails go to show a bonafide relationship, and that the petitioner and beneficiary share a common language and in fact communicate regularly.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Strange, i put that info (about the legal documents vs emails) in my post and it didn't take.

guess i hit enter to fast

but YuandDan is on top of the game!

[CA dreamer 3]

no need to translate.

[jundp 191]

We didn't translate any emails from German to English.

[brlukath 1]

The guidance from USCIS--generally--provides the following:

"Please submit certified translations for all foreign language documents. The translator must certify that s/he is competent to translate and that the translation is accurate.

The certification format should include the certifier's name, signature, address, and date of certification. A suggested format is:

Certification by Translator

I [typed name], certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the English and ________ languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled ______________________________.

Signature_________________________________

Date Typed Name

Address"

The instructions to form I-129F are similar. And, the official manuals used by those working in DHS and State provide that officers should be looking for translations with the certification.

True, emails are not legal documents, BUT the USCIS language IS NOT limited to legal documents, rather "all foreign language documents". Your emails are documents and they are not in English, so they are covered.

If you want to be sure the person reading the email understands it, have it translated. If you just want to show you have a lot of papers with your and your finance(e)'s names/email addresses on them (which is a legitimate desire), don't. If the document looks important, which an email shouldn't, you could get an RFE.

[lucyrich 20]

If you're going to submit it to a USCIS service center, translate it.

If you're going to keep it for the interview, don't bother.

The USCIS rules say that any documents you submit (not just LEGAL documents, all documents) must be translated if they're not in English. The reason for this rule is clear when you understand that the USCIS offices are all located in the US, and every adjudicator is expected to process applications from every country in the world. The staff at the USCIS offices don't necessarily know any languages other than English. Your adjudicator might know English, German, and Farsi, but that won't help him translate your Spanish e-mails, will it?

Things change at the interview stage, because then you'll be dealing with a consulate located in the foreign country. The staff at the consulate will know English, and most of them will know the local language, as well. Translation rules at consulates vary somewhat, but most of them don't require translations for documents in the language of the country where the consulate is located.

If you submit an untranslated document to the USCIS office, the adjudicator may issue an RFE requesting a translation. That's true even if the untranslated document was an optional additional thing that wasn't really essential for your application. I've seen reports here of RFEs for things like that. Until he sees the translation, the adjudicator doesn't KNOW he doesn't need to read that foreign language document.