It
is all up to the immigration officer who handles your case and your paperwork
to make the most important, initial decision on the status of your application.
The last thing you need is to have that immigration officer take a look at your
paperwork, the translation of your documents, the certification and...laugh or
worse get irritated over the "un-seriousness" of it all and reject
your application. Immigration officers are people who deal with a wide spectrum
of cases and immigrants who are sometimes not very polite. Lots of immigration
offices – service centers as they are referred to – have huge backlogs which
only aggravate the situation for either side: officers and applicants alike. Having
gone through the entire process myself, I have seen both: not very helpful
officers and some rude immigrants. Add to that sloppy, hand scribbled paperwork
and suspiciously looking certification and you have a big problem waiting to
happen. How many years do you want it all to drag on? Is it really worth it?
From my own experience with a heavily backlogged immigration service center, I
know that going for "overkill" is the only way to considerably increase
the chances of getting your application approved and possibly speed up the
process. What does it mean to go for "overkill"? Simply put:
sloppiness out, good impression in. So, make sure your forms are filled out on
the computer. If you do not have one, go to a local library where you can get
free access to one. If there is no library nearby write in BLOCK LETTERS as
clearly as you can. Make sure you have certified translations of all your
original documents: birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. An important part of your translation is the
certification. It is one of the crucial elements that give your certified legal
force. In our work with immigration attorneys and officials we have seen all
sorts of "certifications", a lot of which have been rejected by the
authorities. If you see a "certification" which is a statement made
by someone who has a corporate title, chances are this may not work. Why?
Because anyone, literally anyone, can give themselves any kind of a title in
their own company. For example: "executive vice-president for communications". Executive vice-presidents have no business certifying
translations unless they are translators as well. A legally valid translation should be certified by the
professional who actually did it – the skilled and educated translator. And, while not necessary, having a notary
seal is also very helpful (part of the "overkill". Additional stamps
and seals, although not required, can lend a sense of "official" and
show that you really do care. At USCTS we go for "overkill", but it doesn't cost any more than the so-called
"page counter" translation services.
In fact, prices at USCTS are often cheaper. All of our certified
translations are signed by the translator and notarized with respective stamps
and seals. I know something about this; I got my green card thanks mostly to
USCTS.
