Filing I-129F Petition - Some questions regarding proofs translations

[Rassolnik Tom Yum 0]

Hello! Me (Russian) and my partner (US citizen) have been on the process of collecting everything needed for filing the I-129F petition. Since I come from a not English-speaking country, I got confused regarding translations of our proofs. I would be really happy to know your advice or experience on following:

 

1. Since I've been adopted as a child of 8 y.o. I need to attach the proof of Legal Name Change, am I right? I don't use the surname I had before being adopted, but I listed it in the petition form just in case cause I'm used to do it in this kind of questions when I do paperwork for Russian legal affairs. My certificate of the adoption is in my native language. Should I hire a third party translator to legally translate it into English? I should not translate it myself since I'm not a professional, should I? If so, what are the requirements for the translator to hire?

 

2. We also need to provide the proof of having met in past two years and ongoing relationships. Since we gathered all proofs in one place, we realized a lot of our proofs have some parts either in Russian (since my fiancé travelled to Russia to see me and used my native language in his postcards and stuff) and in Thai (since we both travelled to this country a lot to meet up). Does this mean that we also should hire third party translators to legally translate it all into English? If so, should each and every foreign word be translated? Or only those parts that make the most sense and meaning?

 

Thank you so much for your help to solve our confusion!

[JaneStaark 11]

Hi! I was in the same situation (my parents were not married by the time when I was born), so I have an adoption papers too. I listed my moms last name in the petition too. With the I-129F petition you don't need to professionally translate this documents. I did it all by myself and just add another paper said that I have enough knowledge and abilities to translate it and that says in this papers is true. (did it for my birth certificate and adoption papers). But later for the interview you need to bring the certified translated copies of those papers. That what I did.  

1 hour ago, Rassolnik Tom Yum said:

Does this mean that we also should hire third party translators to legally translate it all into English? If so, should each and every foreign word be translated? Or only those parts that make the most sense and meaning?

I think you can provide your own translation for this evidence too 

[powerpuff 6,734]

*** Topic moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures ***

[millefleur 5,047]

20 hours ago, Rassolnik Tom Yum said:

(since my fiancé travelled to Russia to see me and used my native language in his postcards and stuff) and in Thai (since we both travelled to this country a lot to meet up). Does this mean that we also should hire third party translators to legally translate it all into English?

You can translate yourself as long as you are qualified to do so and include a note saying you certify the translation to be correct and that you are fluent in both languages. 

 

From my experience hiring a translator in Russia was generally pretty cheap, but it's your call. The times I did my own translation most of the work went into formatting the documents to match the originals, so sometimes it is worth outsourcing it just for that.

Edited February 21 by millefleur