translations I-130 document translation

[David Enriquez 0]

Hello Everyone! 

 

I need some guidance in regards the documents that need to be sent with the I-130 form. So my spouse and i both live in mexico,He´s the american, so o we are wondering in regards the translations, do they need to be done by a notary ? do they require an apostille seals? We are both competent in translations, but i´ve read around the internet that it needs to be someone else besides the parties interested but anyone who´s fluent in both language can do it, however since we live in mexico ,is it still OK for someone else who´s competent in translations do it? or does it need to be done officially?

 

Also if anyone can give any extra info about the process, how long does it take? can i still visit the USA (with my tourist visa) even though i started the i-130 process.

 

thanks! 

Edited July 15, 2017 by David Enriquez

[MXcompadre 75]

Hola David Enriquez.  My spouse Mexican spouse had his CR-1 Visa approved at his US Consulate Ciudad Juarez interview on July 7th. We were married in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico at the Registrar Civil. We had an abogado friend translate the marriage license, his Mexican birth certificate into English, I translated his Mexicano Military discharge certificate into English certifying that it was an accurate translation, dated and signed it. If you feel confortable translating these items form Spanish into English it is acceptable, and it's not required that you have them notarized or with an apostille seal.  Buen suerte, and feel free to ask us should you need further clarification.  We were eligible and filed our I-130 petition DCF with the USCIS Field Office at the US Embassy CDMX.      

[MXcompadre 75]

IF I am correct, once you file your I-130 petition, you will not be able to travel with your US tourist travel visa into the USA.  Have your spouse visit you here in Mexico to avoid any 'red flag' issues during the processing time of your petition and subsequent Immigration Visa administrative processing.   

[David Enriquez 0]

27 minutes ago, MXcompadre said:

Hola David Enriquez.  My spouse Mexican spouse had his CR-1 Visa approved at his US Consulate Ciudad Juarez interview on July 7th. We were married in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico at the Registrar Civil. We had an abogado friend translate the marriage license, his Mexican birth certificate into English, I translated his Mexicano Military discharge certificate into English certifying that it was an accurate translation, dated and signed it. If you feel confortable translating these items form Spanish into English it is acceptable, and it's not required that you have them notarized or with an apostille seal.  Buen suerte, and feel free to ask us should you need further clarification.  We were eligible and filed our I-130 petition DCF with the USCIS Field Office at the US Embassy CDMX.      

thanks a lot for the info! and how was your spouse´s interview? what did they ask? thanks! 

[David Enriquez 0]

11 minutes ago, MXcompadre said:

IF I am correct, once you file your I-130 petition, you will not be able to travel with your US tourist travel visa into the USA.  Have your spouse visit you here in Mexico to avoid any 'red flag' issues during the processing time of your petition and subsequent Immigration Visa administrative processing.   

ok thats good to know! cuz i plan on going to visit Chicago in September and i wanted to file the I-130 , but i dont wan to raise any red flags like you said, so we´ll just do it after we come back from out trip. 

[David Enriquez 0]

33 minutes ago, MXcompadre said:

Hola David Enriquez.  My spouse Mexican spouse had his CR-1 Visa approved at his US Consulate Ciudad Juarez interview on July 7th. We were married in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico at the Registrar Civil. We had an abogado friend translate the marriage license, his Mexican birth certificate into English, I translated his Mexicano Military discharge certificate into English certifying that it was an accurate translation, dated and signed it. If you feel confortable translating these items form Spanish into English it is acceptable, and it's not required that you have them notarized or with an apostille seal.  Buen suerte, and feel free to ask us should you need further clarification.  We were eligible and filed our I-130 petition DCF with the USCIS Field Office at the US Embassy CDMX.      

also...i forgot to ask when filing the I-130, we just mail all the docs to the Embassy address on Reforma in Mexico City?  because we live here, we were wondering if we can just drop the papers off or everything has to be done by mail(DHL)?   thanks! 

[MXcompadre 75]

To file DCF through the USCIS Field Office at the CDMX US Enbassy your spouse has to already have his MX residente permanente visa. I'm assuming you live reside in CDMX?  If he does not have his MX Residente Permante he'll need to apply for it at your local INM office. For the process to move forward without any glitches, it's important that you have each "i" dotted, an every "t" crossed in assembling all of the items required in filing for either your IR-1 or CR-1 US Immigration Visa.  If you've been married for less than two calendar years it will be a CR-1, otherwise the IR-1. In filing our I-130 petition we front loaded it with my USCIS form I-864 Affidavit of Support with IRS tax returns for the last three calander years, and every required checklist item required by the DHS and or USCIS during the administrative processing for the Immigration Visa. Let me know if you'd like me to sahre that information with each of you via the PM [private message] option here on VJ. It could mean a shorter expedited time between your filing date and notification to select and schedule your interview date at the Consulate in CDJ.       

[Ryan H 3,796]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to DCF Discussion.

[mexicoAmigo 3]

On 7/15/2017 at 9:59 PM, MXcompadre said:

To file DCF through the USCIS Field Office at the CDMX US Enbassy your spouse has to already have his MX residente permanente visa. I'm assuming you live reside in CDMX?  If he does not have his MX Residente Permante he'll need to apply for it at your local INM office. For the process to move forward without any glitches, it's important that you have each "i" dotted, an every "t" crossed in assembling all of the items required in filing for either your IR-1 or CR-1 US Immigration Visa.  If you've been married for less than two calendar years it will be a CR-1, otherwise the IR-1. In filing our I-130 petition we front loaded it with my USCIS form I-864 Affidavit of Support with IRS tax returns for the last three calander years, and every required checklist item required by the DHS and or USCIS during the administrative processing for the Immigration Visa. Let me know if you'd like me to sahre that information with each of you via the PM [private message] option here on VJ. It could mean a shorter expedited time between your filing date and notification to select and schedule your interview date at the Consulate in CDJ.       

 

On 7/15/2017 at 9:00 PM, David Enriquez said:

also...i forgot to ask when filing the I-130, we just mail all the docs to the Embassy address on Reforma in Mexico City?  because we live here, we were wondering if we can just drop the papers off or everything has to be done by mail(DHL)?   thanks! 

Hi Enrique,

As for the translations, we ended up using a court-certified translator who added her "sello" to the translated pages. It was inexpensive and as MXcompadre says, better to cross t's and dot i's now and not have any problems down the road. 

 

Re: filing, I STRONGLY recommend you go in person, particularly since you live here. I went about a month before filing to be sure about all the required documents and they told me what "extra" docs would be helpful for submission that I made sure to include. For example, they said proving the petitioner's residency is actually more of a roadblock then proving the marriage. They asked in addition to my "residente temporal" card, to bring bank statements, bills, and pay stubs going back three months. I made sure to bring all those documents. I also had some random extra papers on me, such as a wife's grocery membership card showing our joint address, that they ended up including. Also, this way you can be sure the package is complete.

 

Make sure you schedule with anticipation, it took about a month to get an available appointment. We were approved the same day and our submission package is now sitting in the black hole of ciudad juarez.

 

When we were there, we saw a woman unable to file because she wasn't able to prove her residency. It was pretty sad!!

 

good luck to you,

your amigo

[mexicoAmigo 3]

On 7/15/2017 at 9:59 PM, MXcompadre said:

To file DCF through the USCIS Field Office at the CDMX US Enbassy your spouse has to already have his MX residente permanente visa. I'm assuming you live reside in CDMX?  If he does not have his MX Residente Permante he'll need to apply for it at your local INM office. For the process to move forward without any glitches, it's important that you have each "i" dotted, an every "t" crossed in assembling all of the items required in filing for either your IR-1 or CR-1 US Immigration Visa.  If you've been married for less than two calendar years it will be a CR-1, otherwise the IR-1. In filing our I-130 petition we front loaded it with my USCIS form I-864 Affidavit of Support with IRS tax returns for the last three calander years, and every required checklist item required by the DHS and or USCIS during the administrative processing for the Immigration Visa. Let me know if you'd like me to sahre that information with each of you via the PM [private message] option here on VJ. It could mean a shorter expedited time between your filing date and notification to select and schedule your interview date at the Consulate in CDJ.       

Hey compadre, congratulations on the fast processing! what a relief. I saw in another post you mentioned about calling to get your case number. We haven't received the snail mail notice of our approval yet, though we received it the same day (June 29) via email. How did the process work for you guys? When did you go from A0000000000.... to a case number?

 

gracias,

amigo

Just now, mexicoAmigo said:

Hey compadre, congratulations on the fast processing! what a relief. I saw in another post you mentioned about calling to get your case number. We haven't received the snail mail notice of our approval yet, though we received it the same day (June 29) via email. How did the process work for you guys? When did you go from A0000000000.... to a case number?

 

gracias,

amigo

 

[mexicoAmigo 3]

On 7/15/2017 at 8:50 PM, David Enriquez said:

ok thats good to know! cuz i plan on going to visit Chicago in September and i wanted to file the I-130 , but i dont wan to raise any red flags like you said, so we´ll just do it after we come back from out trip. 

We are filing with the help of lawyers and they said my wife is still eligible to enter the US after submission of the I130 on her tourist visa, but who knows...

[MXcompadre 75]

Hola mexicoAmigo! Be very careful if after filing your I-130 petition and you decide that your wife wants to visit on her USA tourist visa. Search here on VJ for recent posts where I-130 filers were denied/not allowed entry either when checking in for their flight at their departure airport due to fact since the new DJT administration in January, the DHS has changed and restricted travel into the USA by all Immigration Visa petitioners.  Have your attorney double check the validity of what he initially told you so that you avoid any disappointments.  Buen suerte.

 

 

 

 

[mexicoAmigo 3]

22 hours ago, MXcompadre said:

Hola mexicoAmigo! Be very careful if after filing your I-130 petition and you decide that your wife wants to visit on her USA tourist visa. Search here on VJ for recent posts where I-130 filers were denied/not allowed entry either when checking in for their flight at their departure airport due to fact since the new DJT administration in January, the DHS has changed and restricted travel into the USA by all Immigration Visa petitioners.  Have your attorney double check the validity of what he initially told you so that you avoid any disappointments.  Buen suerte.

 

 

 

 

Hey compa.... Oh man, thanks a lot for the heads up. We don't have trips planned but I wasn't aware (but am not surprised...) that policy changed in January. I'll definitely look into it more, as well as keep feverishly checking the mail....

[Jorge V 195]

On 7/15/2017 at 9:59 PM, MXcompadre said:

To file DCF through the USCIS Field Office at the CDMX US Enbassy your spouse has to already have his MX residente permanente visa. I'm assuming you live reside in CDMX?  If he does not have his MX Residente Permante he'll need to apply for it at your local INM office. For the process to move forward without any glitches, it's important that you have each "i" dotted, an every "t" crossed in assembling all of the items required in filing for either your IR-1 or CR-1 US Immigration Visa.  If you've been married for less than two calendar years it will be a CR-1, otherwise the IR-1. In filing our I-130 petition we front loaded it with my USCIS form I-864 Affidavit of Support with IRS tax returns for the last three calander years, and every required checklist item required by the DHS and or USCIS during the administrative processing for the Immigration Visa. Let me know if you'd like me to sahre that information with each of you via the PM [private message] option here on VJ. It could mean a shorter expedited time between your filing date and notification to select and schedule your interview date at the Consulate in CDJ.       

 

I just want to throw my two cents here and also to what @mexicoAmigo said (btw, good to talk to you again!). I managed to get my I-130 approved at the field office in CDMX without having my MX permanent residence card. I have been living in Mexico for about three years now but never bothered to get my card. I called the field office and they said that while not required, I would need more evidence in support of my residence. I sent in my past two rental leases, my ATM history, my last three IRS tax returns showing that I have qualified for the foreign earned income exclusion for the past three years, and an affidavit from my US employer stating that they were confirm that I live in Mexico (my employer allows remote work).

 

It seems that the CDMX field office is really open to accepting other evidence.

[MXcompadre 75]

Jorge Valdivia great information offering!  The reality is, that on any give day USCIS employees regardless of where the Field Office location is they are, can exercise limited discretion based on DHS guidelines in approving or not an applicants petition.  Glad that your experience was a good, and that you're successful at the CDJ Consulate interview of your Immigration Visa approval.