K1 Visa evidence: Translation

[dmitriy_zolotov 0]

Hello,

I have gathered some evidence, such as chat logs (which are in Russian, since both of us speak Russian and its our native language) and engagement ring receipt (which was purchased in Russia, and therefore the receipt is in russian, as well as currency) Do I need to translate our chat logs/engagement ring receipt? Also, I heard some people write place and date on the back of the photographs as part of the evidence, is that necessary or optional?

Thank you so much in advance!

Dmitriy

[lhxyl 0]

Hello,

I have gathered some evidence, such as chat logs (which are in Russian, since both of us speak Russian and its our native language) and engagement ring receipt (which was purchased in Russia, and therefore the receipt is in russian, as well as currency) Do I need to translate our chat logs/engagement ring receipt? Also, I heard some people write place and date on the back of the photographs as part of the evidence, is that necessary or optional?

Thank you so much in advance!

Dmitriy

I would go ahead and write the names, date, and place on the back of the photos. I did at least - just to be on the safe side.

However, I dont know about the translating part... I did not send in any chat logs even though we had some, I just used call history.

Hope that helps.

[jenni17 36]

Hello,

I have gathered some evidence, such as chat logs (which are in Russian, since both of us speak Russian and its our native language) and engagement ring receipt (which was purchased in Russia, and therefore the receipt is in russian, as well as currency) Do I need to translate our chat logs/engagement ring receipt? Also, I heard some people write place and date on the back of the photographs as part of the evidence, is that necessary or optional?

Thank you so much in advance!

Dmitriy

Is this for the original petition or to bring to the interview. For the original petition any evidence submitted must be translated for USCIS. If it's for the interview you would need to look into your consulate's requirements. My fiance's consulate does not require translation unless it is in a language other than the english or spanish.

Do write the place and dates on the back of photographs submitted with the petition. (I also put the names of people in the pictures if there was someone other than ourselves ex)family members) I'm not doing this for photographs we bring to the interview since there are a lot of them and we will be there to tell the date and place of the photographs provided.

[Ryan H 3,903]

Do I need to translate our chat logs/engagement ring receipt?

No

Also, I heard some people write place and date on the back of the photographs as part of the evidence, is that necessary or optional?

IMO, necessary; also include the names of the people in the pictures.

For the original petition any evidence submitted must be translated for USCIS.

Evidence such as chat logs, letters, emails, retail receipts, etc. never needs to be translated. There is nothing wrong with translating such items but doing so is nothing more than needless busywork (or expense if done professionally).

[JParce 8]

As far as I know if the interview takes place in Russia and the proof that you have is in Russian you don't need to translate them, only if those documents are not in English or your fiance's native language... I will have my interview in Costa Rica but to make sure I won't have any problem I am translating my birth certificate, police record and single certificate, but the proof for my relationship I wont.. Acording to embassy in Costa Rica they are bilingual..

[TBoneTX 47,583]

Evidence such as chat logs, letters, emails, retail receipts, etc. never needs to be translated. There is nothing wrong with translating such items but doing so is nothing more than needless busywork (or expense if done professionally).

Brother Ryan is completely correct in regard to labeling the photos. He's also technically correct about not translating other items, strictly for USCIS purposes. I'd like to expand on his answer a bit.

USCIS will not care about inclusions in the petition package that go beyond their own requirements (chat logs, etc.). However, USCIS passes your petition package (once it's approved) to the consulate. One must always look ahead to the crucial consulate/embassy (interview) phase, which generally seems very under-considered by people at the petition stage.

At a tough consulate, it's not out of the question that evidence brought to the interview will be refused, with the claim that it doesn't exist. This sounds senseless, but it has happened. The consulates are not supposed to reject evidence that they know USCIS has seen. Therefore, when USCIS petitions are "front-loaded" with evidence of bona fide relationship, key pieces of foreign-language evidence can be translated and included. This is so USCIS can be considered to have seen the evidence (which has been translated into English), which means that the consulate can't deny its existence or claim that USCIS hasn't seen it.

Dmitriy, the Moscow embassy is not known as a "tough" place, at this particular time. Therefore, you need not translate anything. However, others who are going through tougher embassies/consulates might consider translating a selected few pieces of key evidence (correspondence, etc.) among extra items that are front-loaded into the USCIS petition package.

[Ryan H 3,903]

regarding T-Bone's post. Another reason why I usually post that it is unnecessary to translate chat logs in addition to the needless busy work is that it shows you, the petitioner can speak in the language of the country of the beneficiary. For some countries, ability to communicate in a common language is sometimes scrutinized at the Embassy/Consulate level.