USCIS wants a certified English translation of every foreign-language document in a filing, which in practice means birth, marriage and divorce certificates, diplomas and transcripts, passports, police clearances, and the court, medical and financial records that back up a case. Prism Language Solutions translates each one in full, word for word and laid out like the source, and signs a Certificate of Translation Accuracy stating that the English is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent in both languages. As a guide, short certificates start from around $24.95 per page.
The rule is short, and it covers everything. Section 103.2(b)(3) of Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations says a foreign-language document submitted to USCIS has to arrive with a full English translation and the translator’s signed certification of completeness, accuracy and competence. Nothing in the regulation limits that to official records. A handwritten affidavit, a stamp on the back of a diploma, a one-line annotation in the margin of a register: all of it is in scope. Summaries and extracts do not qualify, and a single untranslated seal is enough for an officer to question the page.Pick your document from the lists below. Each one has its own page on where it is issued, what tends to go wrong and what to send us. For the certificate itself, and for when a notary adds anything, read certified translation. Contracts, manuals and correspondence that no agency will ever file sit under our broader translation services instead.
- Certified translations prepared to meet USCIS requirements
- Human linguists only, matched to the subject
- Fixed written quote within 60 minutes in business hours
- One office in New York, linguists in every state
Which Documents Does USCIS Require a Certified Translation For?
Every page in the packet that is not in English. That said, the same few records appear in almost every case, and the form you are filing decides which. The table sets out the usual pattern.
| Filing | Records usually translated |
|---|---|
| Family petition (Form I-130) | Birth certificates proving the relationship, the marriage certificate, divorce decrees or death certificates ending any earlier marriage, an adoption decree for an adopted child |
| Adjustment of status (Form I-485) | Birth certificate, passport pages with non-English entries, court dispositions for any arrest |
| Naturalization (Form N-400) | Marriage and divorce records where marital history matters, court records |
| Employment-based petitions | Diplomas, academic transcripts, experience letters from former employers |
| Consular processing (National Visa Center) | Police certificates and civil documents from the countries the applicant has lived in |
Treat the table as a map, not as the filing instructions. Read the current instructions for your form on uscis.gov, and translate anything in the packet that is not in English even if it is missing from this list. Whether a given record is accepted is decided by the officer on the case; a complete certified translation simply takes one easy reason for a request for evidence off the table.
Birth, Marriage and Divorce Certificate Translation
Civil registry records carry most family-based cases, and many passport and name-change applications too. The vocabulary is rarely the hard part. What slows these down is a registry that has since moved to another municipality, an entry a clerk wrote by hand decades ago, a later legitimation or marriage stamped sideways in the margin, and a surname spelled one way on the certificate and another on the passport. Our translators copy names exactly as the source writes them and point out the mismatch in a translator’s note, rather than quietly correcting it.
- Birth certificate translation
- Marriage certificate translation
- Divorce decree translation
- Death certificate translation
- Adoption documents translation
Diploma and Transcript Translation for Evaluation and Admission
Credential evaluators such as WES and ECE, graduate admissions offices, state licensing boards and sponsoring employers all read translated academic records. The translation gives the degree title and every grade exactly as the institution printed them. Converting a 20-point or 5-point scale into a US GPA is the evaluator’s job, and a translator who does it for them produces a record the evaluator cannot rely on. Where a qualification has no US counterpart, one sentence in a translator’s note explains what it is.
Passport, Driver’s License and Police Clearance Translation
Identity records are short and dense with fields: issuing authority, place of issue, endorsements, restriction codes. Many passports already print the data page in English next to the national language, so the real work is usually in the visas, entry stamps, observations page and handwritten amendments. A foreign driver’s license gets translated for a state DMV, an insurer or a rental desk. Police clearance certificates are collected by the National Visa Center during consular processing and requested by some employers and licensing bodies as well.
Legal, Medical and Financial Record Translation
These run longer and are priced by the word rather than by the page. Think of a power of attorney signed abroad to sell a house in the US, or signed here for use in another country; hospital records for a treating physician, an insurer or a disability claim; bank statements showing funds for a student visa or an affidavit of support; a letter from a former employer confirming years of experience for a petition. Each goes to a linguist who works in that subject, because a misread dosage or a wrong account balance does more damage than a misspelled street.
- Power of attorney translation
- Medical records translation
- Bank statement translation
- Employment letter translation
How Much Does a Certified Translation Cost per Page?
As a guide, a short certificate such as a birth or marriage record starts from around $24.95 per page, with the signed certificate and a PDF copy included. Longer records like transcripts, court judgments and hospital files are counted by source word, typically $0.10 to $0.25 depending on language and subject. Notarization, printed copies and rush delivery appear as separate lines. None of this is a price list: the written quote is the price, and it holds once you accept it. The pricing page sets out the wider ranges.
Ready to order? Upload clear scans of every page, front and back, on the quote form and tell us which office will receive them. Within 60 minutes during business hours (Eastern) you get a fixed price and a delivery date from a project manager, and a one-page certificate is usually back within 24 hours. If you would rather talk it through, call +1 (833) 282 8883.Ready to start? Send the document or the booking details through the quote form, call +1 (833) 282 8883, or email info@prismlinguistics.com. You get a fixed written price within 60 minutes during business hours.