DCF in Frankfurt - documents in German accepted?

[MichaelaMaria 0]

Hello everyone,

 

my American husband and I are about to file our I-130 with the consulate in Frankfurt, Germany. We are now gathering all kinds of documents needed.

 

I read somewhere (don't know where, as I read to many website about the visa topic!) that the consulate in Frankfurt accepts documents in English and German. This would be such a help to us, as many of our certificates, leases and statements are in German, and we would not need translations. Then I read somewhere else that we need to provide English translations of all documents. I have no definite answer.

 

What is your experience on this? Anyone here who das filed German documents in Frankfurt?

 

I wrote the consulate, but they haven't responded yet. Also, my general experience with them is they like to refer to their FAQ's or homepage is often does not answer our specific questions!

 

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks everyone

[Mark88 184]

If you DCF you can submit documents in German. If you file over the US, you need them translated. 

[Jorge V 195]

It is my understanding that when submitting the I-130 you need English translations. What @Mark88 is referring to is at the interview phase, which is done at the embassy. Embassies typically accept documents in both English and the local language, but USCIS (who you submit your I-130 to) only accept documents in English. When I filed my DCF petition in Mexico the DCF specific instructions required English translations when submitting the I-130, but the embassy did not require them later for the interview.

 

Also check out USCIS Frankfurt's site (https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/germany-frankfurt-field-office) under the I-130 section and you'll see this:

 

Quote

Any document issued in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full English translation and must include  the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate the foreign language into English. The original documents, with one copy, and the English translation should be submitted with the petition.  Any original documents submitted upon USCIS’ request will be returned.

This seems to backup my belief that the I130 submission requires German documents to be translated into English. You'll be able to submit German documents during your interview, but not for this step.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Jorge V

[MichaelaMaria 0]

Thank you for your answers. I read the website you mentioned above and I think you are right with the English documents for the I-130 petition. 

 

For the translations, I believe it has to be a certified translator?! Any experiences with this process, anyone?

 

Thank you.

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, MichaelaMaria said:

Thank you for your answers. I read the website you mentioned above and I think you are right with the English documents for the I-130 petition. 

 

For the translations, I believe it has to be a certified translator?! Any experiences with this process, anyone?

 

Thank you.

You are dealing with the Frankurt office of the USCIS which is different than the Consulate in Frankfurt.  Consulate might accept either German or English documents but the USCIS does not

 

A certified translator is not required.  What is required is the translator must "attest" that they are proficient in both languages.  If you meet this then you can self translate

Edited March 21, 2018 by payxibka

[MichaelaMaria 0]

 

4 hours ago, payxibka said:

You are dealing with the Frankurt office of the USCIS which is different than the Consulate in Frankfurt.  Consulate might accept either German or English documents but the USCIS does not

 

A certified translator is not required.  What is required is the translator must "attest" that they are proficient in both languages.  If you meet this then you can self translate

 

Thank you, this helps a lot.

[MRSW1709 0]

We filed DCF Frankfurt. Phase 1 (I-130) we sent everything in English with translations of German documents. When we began Phase 2 (Packet 3) the checklist said that documents can be provided in English and German. When in doubt, English is probably the best option unless it explicitly says German is acceptable. 

[Jorge V 195]

1 hour ago, MRSW1709 said:

We filed DCF Frankfurt. Phase 1 (I-130) we sent everything in English with translations of German documents. When we began Phase 2 (Packet 3) the checklist said that documents can be provided in English and German. When in doubt, English is probably the best option unless it explicitly says German is acceptable. 

Yep, two different phases, two different entities, two different sets of guidelines.

 

During phase 1 (the I-130 phase) you're dealing with USCIS and they only accept documents in English.

During phase 2 (the interview phase) you're dealing with the local US embassy. In general, embassies will accept documents both in English and the local official language.

[Mr_B 3]

When reading threads in the DCF forum, make sure to understand whether it's about a DCF filed in a country with a USCIS field office, or an exception based DCF filed at an embassy. 

The exception based DCF is even quicker (sometimes even < 2 months) and one can submit ordinary xerox copies of all official US documents (like marriage/divorce certificate) as well as local documents in a local language at all stages (so including I-130), as long as originals are shown to the consular employee. 

[hashtagme 29]

On 4/5/2018 at 6:33 PM, MRSW1709 said:

We filed DCF Frankfurt. Phase 1 (I-130) we sent everything in English with translations of German documents. When we began Phase 2 (Packet 3) the checklist said that documents can be provided in English and German. When in doubt, English is probably the best option unless it explicitly says German is acceptable. 

Sorry to hijack the conversation but how did you get your appointment in Frankfurt for direct filing? I am having trouble finding that info. Do I have to call USCIS in Frankfurt? 

 

[Jorge V 195]

43 minutes ago, hashtagme said:

Sorry to hijack the conversation but how did you get your appointment in Frankfurt for direct filing? I am having trouble finding that info. Do I have to call USCIS in Frankfurt? 

 

 

USCIS Frankfurt's website (https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/germany-frankfurt-field-office) has this to say:

 

Quote

Appointments must be made online. Our public information phone number is +49-69-7535-2233.

 

However,  it also says this under the I-130 section:

 

Quote

Residents of Germany filing with USCIS Frankfurt must submit the petition and supporting evidence by mail. 

 

Are you planning on filing in person? If so, it seems that that isn't allowed. Be sure to check the procedures thoroughly.

[Hattivatti 35]

They don't take filings in person. Or that's the answer we got when we asked. They offer infopass appointments for couple reasons and beyond that, all filings by mail. That's posted on their website also.

[hashtagme 29]

4 hours ago, Jorge V said:

 

USCIS Frankfurt's website (https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/germany-frankfurt-field-office) has this to say:

 

 

However,  it also says this under the I-130 section:

 

 

Are you planning on filing in person? If so, it seems that that isn't allowed. Be sure to check the procedures thoroughly.

Yes we want to do that in person. I thought the OP here would have done that. Maybe i misunderstood?