Considerations when translating your birth certificate in the USA

 

In many countries birth certificates are standard documents. In some countries, however, they come in multiple forms:

 a) Birth certificates from Venezuela come in multiple forms, from a single handwritten document, to a form, to a document spanning multiple pages (with SAREN payment receipt, legalization, handwritten and typed document text, legalizations and apostil. Therefore, a quote request is always required.

 b) Brazilian birth certificates have evolved over the years. Older documents are simple, and latter documents have been issued in a form. These forms seem to be changed every couple of years. Additionally, Brazilian law also allows a civil registry in one state to issue a paper (or digital) document from another. This may result in refusal of document in the U.S.A. Additionally, for USCIS cases a CERTIDÃO DE NASCIMENTO DE INTEIRO TEOR (FULL TEXT BIRTH CERTIFICATE) may be requested. This is a narrative document, which differs from the form based documents usually issued by most civil registries.

 c) Cuban birth certificates come in two formats. One is a short form, front and back, the other one comes in a regular size page, with information printed in one side only. The presented information is the same. If you have the shorter version, both front and back must be translated.

 d) Older Soviet era birth certificates usually come in a shorth form presented as a simple booklet. These documents were issued in all former Republics, the documents being issued in both Russian and the Republic’s language.  The documents are handwritten and often impossible to read, requiring assistance from the client.

 e) Documents written in an alphabet other than the  Latin alphabet require transliteration. As words can be transliterated in different forms, it is necessary for the client to provide the correct transliteration used, to ensure consistency. This does not apply only to Cyrillic, Greek names can also be transliterated in different versions.   

 f) Mexican birth certificates also come in different formats, depending in the State where issued.

 g) European Union birth certificates are also issued for all countries who are member of the EU, written in French and the country’s official language.

 h) American birth certificates usually come in short and long forms. Before submitting the document  for a quote, check whether the long form is required. U.S. birth certificates are state, rather than Federal documents, so they vary from State to State.

 i) Argentine birth certificates tend to be handwritten. Some handwriting can be difficult to read, so client assistance is required.

 j) Birth certificates often come with incorrect data, such as misspellings of parents, grandparents and place names. We have also seen mistaken genders and dates. We cannot make any corrections: authorities check the information in originals and may reject the translation if it does not match the original.

k) Birth certificates from Haiti may also come in different formats. Some are handwritten in hard-to-read cursive, more modern ones are typewritten. Clarification from the client is often required.

 l) Birth certificates from several other countries often come in handwritten format, including Peru, Uruguay, Italy, Portugal, Colombia

 m) Birth certificates from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria come in both Arabic and French. We do the translation (and certify) from French.