Translations

[Henykat 16]

I keep reading this on the NVC web site and I'm curious as to why translations need to be made from Russian to English for my wife's visa application:

"All documents not written in English, or in the official language of the country in which application for a visa is being made, must be accompanied by certified translations."

Her documents are in Russian. Is that not the official language of the country in which the application for visa is being made? Is she technically applying for a visa from some other location?

[Y&E 12]

Your documents will need to be read and understood by English speakers in the US and most likely at the Embassy in Russia too. Not everyone who works there or who is at HLS here will read Cyrillic.

[Henykat 16]

Your documents will need to be read and understood by English speakers in the US and most likely at the Embassy in Russia too. Not everyone who works there or who is at HLS here will read Cyrillic.

So the instructions are wrong? Can I send an RFE to NVC about the instructions? Seems a risky situation for DOS to just accept that a translation is accurate given they don't require anything other than a statement that it is.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Henykat

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Her documents are in Russian. Is that not the official language of the country in which the application for visa is being made?

If she is applying for a CR1 visa, then NO, it is not.

For a K1 visa and for many other types of visas, the application is submitted directly to the Embassy.

For a CR1 visa, while the application might come FROM Russia -- it is submitted TO the NVC, an office within the USA. Last time I checked, the USA's official language was not Russian.

As for only requiring a statement attesting to the correctness of the translations ---- what else would you suggest? The DOS and the NVC do have a number of people in their ranks who speak quite a few different languages, and they do contract out to quite a few other "on call" translators whenever there is a question about the accuracy of a particular document. Of course the system isn't perfect and I'm sure they would welcome any suggestions you have for improving it.

Tell you what, why don't you do a test for us. Grossly mis-translate each of your Russian language documents. I think your chances are pretty good that you'll still make it through the NVC stage, but I have a sneaking suspicion you might have a little more trouble once your documents hit the Embassy. Try it out and report back to us.

[Henykat 16]

If she is applying for a CR1 visa, then NO, it is not.

For a K1 visa and for many other types of visas, the application is submitted directly to the Embassy.

For a CR1 visa, while the application might come FROM Russia -- it is submitted TO the NVC, an office within the USA. Last time I checked, the USA's official language was not Russian.

As for only requiring a statement attesting to the correctness of the translations ---- what else would you suggest? The DOS and the NVC do have a number of people in their ranks who speak quite a few different languages, and they do contract out to quite a few other "on call" translators whenever there is a question about the accuracy of a particular document. Of course the system isn't perfect and I'm sure they would welcome any suggestions you have for improving it.

Tell you what, why don't you do a test for us. Grossly mis-translate each of your Russian language documents. I think your chances are pretty good that you'll still make it through the NVC stage, but I have a sneaking suspicion you might have a little more trouble once your documents hit the Embassy. Try it out and report back to us.

Okay without discussing why you think you know the extent of the capabilities of the employees at DOS and NVC, it would help if the instructions were not questionable and create the need to try for an answer from someone that may or may not know what they are talking about on an immigration forum. Thanks for the answer, but you know what you can do with your advice.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Henykat