information and mis information

[kmarion1968 5]

So i had a conversation yesterday with my better half. and she informs me that the lady who does the translations for the notario office said it would be 989,000 pesos to translate and apostillo the marriage certificate, her birth certificate, and her sons birth certificate. im feeling a little like she is getting some bad info, so i post some and read and find out that the US doesnt require these to be apostilled. i relay this to her and she tells me that it doesnt matter what the usa requires because the embassy will require it. am i missing something? maybe she is just confused, then i explain to her that the process which i laid out for her step by step is we submit the I-130 with a G325a for you and i, along with the marriage certificate translated and supporting docs, then i need to submit a I-130 for our son along with his birth certificate translated along with another copy of our marriage certificate translated. but non of these are required to be apostilled.

she replies that in order to use the Birth certificate and it to be legal it has to be apostilled other wise it wont be valid in the USA.

can anyone give me some advice on what i am missing here? am i wrong in my line of thought? i dont think i am but would like to know for sure before i get upset over haveing to pay out 600.00 us dollars to have something done that isnt needed.

additionally one other question. does anyone think that 1mil pesos rent a month is alot? thats what i am sending her for the rent on her family home while she is studying to be a nurse. so in total i am paying about 1.4 mil pesos for rent and expenses is this the average or ???

any help would be appreciated as always.

cheers.

[felo391971 4]

1)Apostillo is something that the Colombian Goverment requierd. NOT the US Goverment.

a) If we are talking about Documents to be Use on the Service Centers , NVC or US embassy

in BGT . THe lady that is asking for this apostillo is just Trying to get pay

Some extra cash.

b) However the Documents from the Colombian Goberment must be Original Copies from Notaria

with the Notaria seal( Not Apostillo)

c) All must be Transalated in the US by a agency with certification on Transalation

Competence . That is needed for the state side part . IS my Understanding that the

Embassy doesnt really care about the transalation part .

2) Money Question.

a) You must be talking dollars and No pesos in your post ypou talk about pesos . and

1.4 mil pesos is less than a dollar.

b) That Social clases in colombia are different They are call stratos . However unless

your wife is on strato 5 i dont thnk there is a 6 1400 dollars she is leaving the life .

I send 410 dollars a month Plus any doctor visit and extramoney for madicine wend needed .

Some months they go buy w. the 410 . the max i have send is 900 dollars.That is for my Wife /SOn and stepdaugther .

Good Luck

Regards

F

[Edwin87 0]

989.000 pesos !!!!! that's crazy...people in Colombia are always looking to take advantage for people who don't live there. So, I'm at the end of my journey. I'm waiting for my wife's interview. You don't have to pay anyone for translation. I can tell you know English and if you don't know Spanish you can always use Google translation and have your wife's help with the Spanish. All you need is a Letter certifying that you are fluent in English and Spanish. I'm posting a template at the end so that you have an idea.

About the birth certificate; they have to be legal copies so have your wife go to the place she was born and request it at a notary they will charge you around $5 to $7 for each or probably less but it won't go higher than that. Get three for each person as you may need them later on. and that is it. At the embassy in Bogota you won't need to translate any documents to english. Translations are required only for facilities inside the U.S.

Regarding your last question i'm not sure what you mean by 1 mil. if you mean 100 thousand pesos is extremely cheap or if you mean 1 million pesos it's good for a nice place. it all depends in your income. rent in colombia starts around 500 thousand pesos for an apartment, you might get house for that price but it probably won't be a nice neighborhood.

Certification by Translator

I <translator's name>, certify that I am fluent (conversant) in

the English and Spanish Languages, and that the above/attached document is an

accurate translation of the document attached entitled <type of document; marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.>.

Signature_________________________________

Date: Typed Name:

Address:

[Done--Really 331]

You are correct that you don't need apostille at the USCIS stage, but you may well later for the embassy.

Each embassy has different rules about apostille, so the only way you will know for sure is to call or email them.. For example, we are going thru Costa Rica, and in our case documents from CR and US do not need to apostilled, but my wife was born in Mexico, and in that case the embassy requires that document to be apostilled. As to the price, it cost me about $150 to get two copies of my wife's birth certificate apostilled in Mexico City, so while $600 is a high, remember it is for three documents which would have cost me about $450 if I had to do the same in Mexico City.

I am also aware of a friend who was married to a Colombian girl, and he was processed in CR as well, and the embassy in CR required all Colombian docs to be apostilled. SO, the answer is call !!

As to the rent, what is the conversion rate and where does she live--hard to comment until we know those answers.

[kmarion1968 5]

hey guys thanks for the comments, i am speaking in terms of millions of pesos not thousands. the rent is 1 million pesos in anserma, for a house with a car garage. plus an extra 500,000 pesos for electric and food and school fees for my stepson.

as for the documents i think I will just have them apostilled to be sure but do the translation here or there is my only dilema. i cant see paying someone that much to have them done in colombia. would it hurt to have them sent to me and i have them translated here after they are apostilled?

[galenjr 1]

I'm not sure what has to be apostilized since you were married in Colombia...you do need English translations along with the original Spainish documents. We had a guy named Sergio...in Bogota...translate stuff for $20. I don't have his contact information here at work...but do at home. We used him a couple of times. He's approved by the embassy and does the work within a day or two. Send me a message if you want the info. Save yourself some money and don't use the notary to translate.

Edited June 22, 2011 by galenjr

[Edwin87 0]

Do the translation yourself and use the template from above to certify the translation. Use one Certification by Translator letter for each document that you'll translate. Do not pay anyone if you can do it yourself.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

This was recently covered in another topic.. For Colombia: You do not need an apostille for any stage of the visa process... The US does not require them and the embassy in Bogota does not require them.

If you get married in Colombia the Colombian government will require them for US documents such as the USC birth certificate, divorce docs, etc. That is the only time you will need an apostille and they will come from the US side. You never need an apostille for any Colombian documents in this process (marriage or visa).

As for translation and money:

Getting married in Colombia: You will never need to translate Spanish into English but you will need to translate English documents into Spanish. For a certificate of Soltero I printed out a bilingual statement that I was single, had my mother and brother sigh it, had it notarized, then had an apostille put on it and paid a grand total of 12 dollars for the entire thing - no translation needed. Official documents that had to be translated were done in Colombia (always best for documents for the Colombian government to have them translated in Colombia). We were originally quoted 350 dollars for all the translations- my wife shopped around and was able to get it done for about 150.00.

Visa process:

For USCIS the only thing I translated was the marriage certificate. They no longer require the beneficiary to supply a birth certificate at this stage and the Colombian passport bio page does not need translation... I used a service called FoxTranslate - I think the charge was $25.00 a page.. You email them your docs and they email you back a translation in PDF format in less than 24 hours. No Apostile needed for any documents.

NVC: NVC Does not require Spanish to be translated for Colombian documents, no apostille is required for any document. If you have documents that are in a language besides Spanish or English they will need to be translated.

Embassy interview: English and Spanish documentation does not need to be translated. If documetns are in a third language they will need to be translated into English. No Apostille needed for any document.

Edited June 22, 2011 by OnMyWayID

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

One thing I left out - you have kids involved - requirements may be different for them at the USCIS stage (I do not know) as far as birth certificate, translation, etc...

[Nana098 18]

In my case, only apostille the Spanish translation of the certificate of divorce from my husband because they require the notary to marry in Colombia. Birth certificates of my daughter, my husband, my marriage and the police certificate and departures issued in Colombia don't need apostille, USCIS requires only that the documents in Spanish must be translated into English by a person authorized to and notarize them.

according to your support payments depends on the site and the lifestyle of your wife, I think a share lease of $ 1 million pesos in Anserma is very expensive, would have to do as the house or apartment you live your wife.

In my case my husband just filled a form, form I-130 for me and my daughter.

Well suggest that you read the page of USCIS and the U.S. embassy in Colombia, here in VJ find the link

Regards

(I don't write very well the English, so I learning)

[Nana098 18]

In my case, only apostille the Spanish translation of the certificate of divorce from my husband because they require the notary to marry in Colombia. Birth certificates of my daughter, my husband, my marriage and the police certificate and departures issued in Colombia don't need apostille, USCIS requires only that the documents in Spanish must be translated into English by a person authorized to and notarize them.

according to your support payments depends on the site and the lifestyle of your wife, I think a share lease of $ 1 million pesos in Anserma is very expensive, would have to do as the house or apartment you live your wife.

In my case my husband just filled a form, form I-130 for me and my daughter.

Well suggest that you read the page of USCIS and the U.S. embassy in Colombia, here in VJ find the link

Regards

(I don't write very well the English, so I learning)

Example of translation of documents: (My birth certificate)

TRANSLATION OF A BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM THE ESPANISH LANGUAGE INTO DE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Book XX FOLIO XX

Child: XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXX

In the republic of Colombia Department of ATLANTICO municipality of XXXXXXXXX on the XX day of the month of XXXX of XXXXXX #year appeared XXXXXXXX (full name father) identified with XXXXXX (number ID) domiciled in XXXXXXXXX and declared:

GENERIC SECTION

that for the legal effects je declares before this Notary that on the XXXXX (#th) day of the month of XXXX of XXXXX #th born in the municipality of XXXXXXXX departmen or XXXXXXX Republic of Colombia a baby girl who has been named XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

ESPECIFIC SECTION

Time of birth Place

Name of mother xxxxxxxxxxxx

Identified with xxxxxxxxxxxxx profession xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nationality Colombian civil status XXXXXXXXXXX

Name of father xxxxxxxxxxxx

Identified with xxxxxxxxxxxxx profession xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nationality Colombian civil status XXXXXXXXXXX

the birth was certified by XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX License No. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

The Deponent xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (full name of father or mother)

CERTIFICATE OF TRANSLATOR COMPETENCE

Pursuant to U.S. federal regulation (59 FR 1990, Jan 13< 1994 & 223) regardin translation of document I, XXXXXXXXXX (full name translator), do hereby certify that I am competent to translate this document and that this translation is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. No inference or determination regardin the validity of the source document or its content is made.

signature

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx (full name translator ),

Sworn on to before me this #th day of XXXXX, 20XX

signature

Notary public (full name notary),

stamp's notary public

(Stamp say: FULLNAME OF NOTARY

Notary Public, State of XXXXXX

No. XXXXXXXXXXX

Qualified in XXXXXXXXXXXX County

commission expires XXXXXXx (date))

[Done--Really 331]

I just had a friend translate--all it cost was a couple of Starbuck's coffees--she signed a letter like was posted here in this thread and there was never a question from USCIS. There is no reason at all to use a professional translator.

[kmarion1968 5]

Gracias para tu comentos, en la futuro puedes escribir en espanol si es mas facil para usted. yo entiendo y puedo escribir en espanol poco. pero yo tratar, es duro a aprender a escribir en una idioma diferente yo se. yo puedo tranducir los documentos pero no puedo poner mi nombre eso es mi problema. tambien una persona de la notario dijo mi esposa que es necesario para los documentos a tener un translacion en colombia. yo creo ellos solo quiero plata. voy a ver que pasa !! gracias

[milimelo 4,194]

Gracias para tu comentos, en la futuro puedes escribir en espanol si es mas facil para usted. yo entiendo y puedo escribir en espanol poco. pero yo tratar, es duro a aprender a escribir en una idioma diferente yo se. yo puedo tranducir los documentos pero no puedo poner mi nombre eso es mi problema. tambien una persona de la notario dijo mi esposa que es necesario para los documentos a tener un translacion en colombia. yo creo ellos solo quiero plata. voy a ver que pasa !! gracias

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