Contents

1. How USCIS Actually Reviews Your Translations

Most immigration applicants assume translations are a minor detail — something a bilingual friend can help with or a quick fix on Google Translate. What they don’t realize is that USCIS officers are trained to flag translation issues immediately.

When your file is opened, the translation is one of the first things reviewed. If anything looks off — formatting, missing details, or no translator certification — the file may be rejected before your case is even evaluated.

“Even if all your other documents are perfect, a faulty translation will halt the process entirely.”
— Former USCIS case adjudicator, anonymous source

2. Most Common Translation-Related Rejection Reasons

Here are the most frequent causes for translation-related USCIS denials or RFEs (Requests for Evidence):

• 

  No signed certificate of accuracy

• 

  Translator is not identified (no name or contact)

• 

  Missing seals, notes, or handwriting — especially on birth or marriage certificates

• 

  Summarized instead of full translation

• 

  Self-translation — even if the applicant is bilingual

• 

  Low-quality scans or unreadable formatting

These issues signal to the officer that the translation may not be trustworthy — and that the supporting evidence of your application may be questionable too.

3. Who Should Never Translate Their Own Documents

It seems harmless: you speak Spanish, you’re fluent in English — why not just translate your own birth certificate?

Because USCIS explicitly prohibits it.

“The translator must not be the applicant, petitioner, or a relative.”
— USCIS Policy Manual

Even a certified translator cannot translate their own file for USCIS. This is about objectivity — not just language skills.

4. How Spanish Documents Often Fail USCIS Review

Spanish is the most commonly spoken foreign language among USCIS applicants. And because of that, it also leads in the number of translation-related denials.

Typical red flags with Spanish documents include:

• Omitted accent marks or regional variations (e.g. Colombian vs. Argentinian terms)
• Literal translations that ignore legal phrasing
• Missing handwritten additions (common in Latin American civil documents)
• Seals or stamps labeled as “illegible” instead of translated as “seal present”
• Incomplete translations of long multi-page records (e.g. birth record books)

5. 3 Steps to Ensure USCIS Accepts Your Translations

Don’t guess what USCIS wants — follow this proven checklist:

Not a friend. Not a student. Not yourself. Use a translation agency with immigration experience.

This must be signed, dated, and include contact details of the translator or agency.

No summaries, no skipped seals, no loose formatting. The document must be visually clear and match the original layout as closely as possible.

Need a USCIS-compliant translation fast?

6. Where to Get It Done Right — First Time

Translation mistakes delay thousands of cases every year — and most of them could have been avoided by working with a proper service from the start.

At Translation Center, we provide:

• 24–48 hour turnaround
• Flat-rate pricing — from $25 per page
• Certified translations accepted by USCIS, NVC, embassies, and universities
• 50+ supported languages
• Human translators — never machine-generated

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