Birth certificate from Belgium

[neca 166]

7 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Incorrect.   It is common knowledge that if the OP is fluent in both languages,  then they can absolutely translate it themselves along with signing an attestation as such.

This isn't what I've read elsewhere on the internet.

 

I quoted here earlier, they say "Translating birth certificates or other documents yourself or having a family member translate them for you does not comply with USCIS requirements." and this, "Unfortunately, you cannot complete this task yourself if you are the going through the immigration process. Simply, you cannot translate your own birth certificate for immigration purposes," as well as here, "Unfortunately, even if you can do the birth certificate translation yourself, it won’t be accepted by the government authorities. The translator has to be an outside party who has no vested interest in you." I can provide more sources.

The idea as I understand it is that the applicant can easily fake the information in the translation, so you need to use someone that isn't connected to you.

 

Now, all of these sources could be lying (I couldn't seem to find anything from USCIS when I looked), but this is the first I've read of it being acceptable for someone being able to translate their own documents.

[payxibka 10,044]

3 minutes ago, neca said:

This isn't what I've read elsewhere on the internet.

 

I quoted here earlier, they say "Translating birth certificates or other documents yourself or having a family member translate them for you does not comply with USCIS requirements." and this, "Unfortunately, you cannot complete this task yourself if you are the going through the immigration process. Simply, you cannot translate your own birth certificate for immigration purposes," as well as here, "Unfortunately, even if you can do the birth certificate translation yourself, it won’t be accepted by the government authorities. The translator has to be an outside party who has no vested interest in you." I can provide more sources.

The idea as I understand it is that the applicant can easily fake the information in the translation, so you need to use someone that isn't connected to you.

 

Now, all of these sources could be lying (I couldn't seem to find anything from USCIS when I looked), but this is the first I've read of it being acceptable for someone being able to translate their own documents.

What i read is that your source is pay translation service trying to drum up business by advertising it cannot be done.   

 

If you can't find something on the USCIS or Department of State (which by the way is the deparyment  responsible for the overseas consulates), then it needs to be further fact checked

 

 

[neca 166]

22 minutes ago, payxibka said:

What i read is that your source is pay translation service trying to drum up business by advertising it cannot be done.   

 

If you can't find something on the USCIS or Department of State (which by the way is the deparyment  responsible for the overseas consulates), then it needs to be further fact checked

 

 

I'd be surprised to find people outright lying like you seem to be saying, but I guess we live in a society like that these days 😔

 

I did more digging and found this from boundless, "Although the current immigration law allows you or your spouse to be your own translators — if you can certify that you are truly competent in both languages — the decision to accept a certified English translation is always at the discretion of the immigration officer reviewing your documents. It is therefore a good idea to seek the help of a professional translation service or a friend or family member with such experience to avoid any delays or complications with your marriage-based green card application."

 

So I guess, like with what seems like most visa application questions, the answer amounts to "it depends on who is looking at your application."

 

I would be interested to see where the common knowledge of people translating their own documents comes from if you have it, since evidently it wasn't common enough for me. Is it something you glean from being on this site longer?

[Crazy Cat 39,450]

54 minutes ago, neca said:

This isn't what I've read elsewhere on the internet.

 

I quoted here earlier, they say "Translating birth certificates or other documents yourself or having a family member translate them for you does not comply with USCIS requirements." and this, "Unfortunately, you cannot complete this task yourself if you are the going through the immigration process. Simply, you cannot translate your own birth certificate for immigration purposes," as well as here, "Unfortunately, even if you can do the birth certificate translation yourself, it won’t be accepted by the government authorities. The translator has to be an outside party who has no vested interest in you." I can provide more sources.

The idea as I understand it is that the applicant can easily fake the information in the translation, so you need to use someone that isn't connected to you.

 

Now, all of these sources could be lying (I couldn't seem to find anything from USCIS when I looked), but this is the first I've read of it being acceptable for someone being able to translate their own documents.

This is inaccurate.  Many people here have translated their own documents. The requirements are

1.  that the person (ANY person) is fluent in both languages

2.  The person certifies the translation by including the proper certification statement.

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[neca 166]

5 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

This is inaccurate.  Many people here have translated their own documents. The requirements are

1.  that the person (ANY person) is fluent in both languages

2.  The person certifies the translation by including the proper certification statement.

 

I guess people really do go on the internet and tell lies...😔

 

I'm sorry for following bad information, friends

[JFH 12,189]

17 minutes ago, neca said:

I'd be surprised to find people outright lying like you seem to be saying, but I guess we live in a society like that these days 😔

 

I did more digging and found this from boundless, "Although the current immigration law allows you or your spouse to be your own translators — if you can certify that you are truly competent in both languages — the decision to accept a certified English translation is always at the discretion of the immigration officer reviewing your documents. It is therefore a good idea to seek the help of a professional translation service or a friend or family member with such experience to avoid any delays or complications with your marriage-based green card application."

 

So I guess, like with what seems like most visa application questions, the answer amounts to "it depends on who is looking at your application."

 

I would be interested to see where the common knowledge of people translating their own documents comes from if you have it, since evidently it wasn't common enough for me. Is it something you glean from being on this site longer?

FWIW I translated all of my documents. 

 

All were accepted without question. 

[Crazy Cat 39,450]

1 minute ago, neca said:

I guess people really do go on the internet and tell lies...😔

 

I'm sorry for following bad information, friends

They are lying to get your money....or they are misinformed.  No reason to apologize.  We all live and learn.  

[payxibka 10,044]

37 minutes ago, neca said:

I guess people really do go on the internet and tell lies...😔

 

I'm sorry for following bad information, friends

Not lies per se, but certainly exaggerated HYPE in an effort to separate you from your money 

[HRQX 4,145]

4 hours ago, neca said:

I would be interested to see where the common knowledge of people translating their own documents comes from if you have it, since evidently it wasn't common enough for me.

OP can translate the BC: https://web.archive.org/web/20190824025502/https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-2061/0-0-0-2253.html

For example: "I certify that I am competent to translate from [Foreign language] to English and that the above Birth Certificate of [Person's name] is a complete and accurate translation to the best of my knowledge and belief."

Sign and date below the statement. Also put name and address.

[Leon63 6]

12 hours ago, Trish and Oli said:

Here is the Belgian birth certificate that my husband received from his municipality which is also digital. We have redacted the names and places, but you can see that they provide the names of his parents. The certificate is also already translated into English, Dutch, French, and German. If you cannot get this from your municipality, we have used Rush Translate to translate other documents that were in Dutch into English within 24 hours or less and USCIS accepted this without any problems. 

This is the exact same birth certificate the belgium government provided. But on my birth certificate the names of my mom and dad are missing.

The lady from the city of Schoten (where I was born) wrote me that this form never has the names of the parents on it. They leave it blanc.

So did your form have the names of the parents on it?

 

Now I am thinking of just sending the long dutch language birth certificate with the electronic one.

I will translate the dutch certificate and hope that it will be fine.

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

[Leon63 6]

I understood and read as well that I can do the translation myself if my english is good enough.

So I am just going ahead with it.

 

 

[Bug&Bug 143]

Yes I also translated everything myself, put the attestation at the bottom, signed and dated, and no issues.

 

I think i requested most of my documents apostilled (unless i already had them without the apostille), probably not needed but cant hurt. 

[Trish and Oli 28]

13 hours ago, Leon63 said:

This is the exact same birth certificate the belgium government provided. But on my birth certificate the names of my mom and dad are missing.

The lady from the city of Schoten (where I was born) wrote me that this form never has the names of the parents on it. They leave it blanc.

So did your form have the names of the parents on it?

 

Now I am thinking of just sending the long dutch language birth certificate with the electronic one.

I will translate the dutch certificate and hope that it will be fine.

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

Yes, his birth certificate had his parents name on it without us having to ask them to put it on there. I am not sure why yours was given without your parents' name. In any case, use the long Dutch certificate and have it translated into English and submit both documents.