RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
#1
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RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Hello,
Hoping someone may be able to shed some light on the situation we are currently in after submitting our massive packet at the end of September. We received an RFE on form I-485 in the mail today. Here's what it says:
I am the US born citizen petitioning for my UK born, UK citizen wife to be granted a visa.
We submitted a photocopy of her long form UK birth certificate. She was born in England, the birth certificate states her full name, DOB, parents' names, place of birth in the UK, etc, etc. Everything is there. The ENGLISH birth certificate is entirely in, you guessed it, ENGLISH.
Why on earth would they need a translation?
Hoping someone may be able to shed some light on the situation we are currently in after submitting our massive packet at the end of September. We received an RFE on form I-485 in the mail today. Here's what it says:
Why We Are Writing You
This office is unable to complete the processing of your Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, (Form I-485). We are writing to inform you that we need more information from you to make a decision on your case. Please read this letter carefully and follow all of the instructions below.
What You Need To Do
You must provide the following information for us to make a final decision on your case. Please include a copy of ALL pages of this letter with your response
This office is unable to complete the processing of your Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, (Form I-485). We are writing to inform you that we need more information from you to make a decision on your case. Please read this letter carefully and follow all of the instructions below.
What You Need To Do
You must provide the following information for us to make a final decision on your case. Please include a copy of ALL pages of this letter with your response
- Submit an English translation with the applicant's foreign birth certificate issued by the appropriate civil authority. If the document is in a language other that English, you must submit a copy of the foreign language document and an English translation. If the birth certificate is not available, you must submit acceptable secondary evidence AND a letter from the government or other authority. Examples of acceptable secondary evidence may include, but is not limited to; church or school records, listing your parents' names and your date of birth; hospital records of your birth; or other official records indicating a country and record of birth.
We submitted a photocopy of her long form UK birth certificate. She was born in England, the birth certificate states her full name, DOB, parents' names, place of birth in the UK, etc, etc. Everything is there. The ENGLISH birth certificate is entirely in, you guessed it, ENGLISH.
Why on earth would they need a translation?
#2
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
They don't, it's just a SNAFU.
Humour them, just send another copy of the birth certificate, because it isn't worth arguing about.
Humour them, just send another copy of the birth certificate, because it isn't worth arguing about.
#3
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Just an error on USCIS part. Return the RFE with another photocopy of the birth certificate, with an explanation that since it's in English, no translation is needed.
Rene
Rene
#4
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
You may need to translate the dates. The US is full of Americans that can't speak or write English.
#5
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Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
I'll drop the letter in the mail with an explanation and another copy of the official BC and overnight it to them tomorrow afternoon.
#6
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Ensure you send it via USPS where it is trackable and you know it got delivered.
#7
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Could it be that they’re not happy with a photocopy? Possibly ordering a certified copy from the GRO and sending that plus a photocopy might satisfy them. When you do the IV route they expect you to bring “originals” (for which the certified copy from the GRO meets the requirement) of all documents (and photocopies) to the visa interview
#8
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Could it be that they’re not happy with a photocopy? Possibly ordering a certified copy from the GRO and sending that plus a photocopy might satisfy them. When you do the IV route they expect you to bring “originals” (for which the certified copy from the GRO meets the requirement) of all documents (and photocopies) to the visa interview
#9
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Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Could it be that they’re not happy with a photocopy? Possibly ordering a certified copy from the GRO and sending that plus a photocopy might satisfy them. When you do the IV route they expect you to bring “originals” (for which the certified copy from the GRO meets the requirement) of all documents (and photocopies) to the visa interview
I don't think so. I'm definitely not sending them originals for anything unless explicitly requested (such as for the interview process). Taken from the official I-485 filing instructions, Page 9 of 42:
3. Birth Certificate
All Form I-485 applicants, except refugees and asylees, must submit a photocopy of their birth certificate issued by
the appropriate civil authority from the country of birth. Although refugees and asylees are not required to submit a
photocopy of their birth certificate, if the birth certificate is available, refugees and asylees should submit a copy of the
birth certificate. USCIS will only accept a long-form birth certificate which lists at least one parent.
All Form I-485 applicants, except refugees and asylees, must submit a photocopy of their birth certificate issued by
the appropriate civil authority from the country of birth. Although refugees and asylees are not required to submit a
photocopy of their birth certificate, if the birth certificate is available, refugees and asylees should submit a copy of the
birth certificate. USCIS will only accept a long-form birth certificate which lists at least one parent.
They got what they asked for.
#10
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Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
We overnighted them another photocopy of her certified birth certificate, along with all pages of their letter, and an explanation stating, essentially, that English cannot be translated to English.
Definitely a weird RFE. We googled for other instances of this happening for hours before I even submitted this thread and came up empty handed. The only cases we were able to find of this happening to others were cases where the photocopy of the birth certificate that someone submitted with their RFE was either bilingual, partially in another language, or did not contain all of the required fields according to the I-485 instructions. None of those scenarios is true in our case.
I'm thinking they either made a mistake while processing things, misplaced the copy of the birth certificate after disassembling our neatly organized I-485 packet, or misread something on the BC. I'm chalking it up to human error until they either proceed in processing the I-485 or come back to us with more detail as to what the problem is. The RFE and explanation they provided to us is not applicable to the BC we submitted, so if something other than the generic response they provided is going on, they will need to be more specific.
Thanks for the replies and the help. Hopefully they pick back up on processing this at some point.
Definitely a weird RFE. We googled for other instances of this happening for hours before I even submitted this thread and came up empty handed. The only cases we were able to find of this happening to others were cases where the photocopy of the birth certificate that someone submitted with their RFE was either bilingual, partially in another language, or did not contain all of the required fields according to the I-485 instructions. None of those scenarios is true in our case.
I'm thinking they either made a mistake while processing things, misplaced the copy of the birth certificate after disassembling our neatly organized I-485 packet, or misread something on the BC. I'm chalking it up to human error until they either proceed in processing the I-485 or come back to us with more detail as to what the problem is. The RFE and explanation they provided to us is not applicable to the BC we submitted, so if something other than the generic response they provided is going on, they will need to be more specific.
Thanks for the replies and the help. Hopefully they pick back up on processing this at some point.
#11
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Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
Why is everyone trying to second guess what happened? They asked for a translation of an English birth certificate. That is obviously a mistake. Write and point it out to them.
#12
Re: RFE Received requesting translation of an ENGLISH birth certificate from ENGLAND
I don't even think it's worth arguing with them over. Just send them another copy of the birth certificate. I wouldn't do any more than perhaps sticking a Post-it on it saying "This is in English already."