How do you get a certified translation of a Russian bank statement for USCIS?

What the translation includes

We translate the whole statement, every page, as USCIS requires (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)). A summary doesn’t count (USCIS Policy Manual (opens in a new tab)). The translation has:

• the header: the bank’s name and address and the statement date;
• the account details: the account holder, the account number, the currency and the bank’s identification codes;
• the period the statement covers;
• every transaction for the period: the dates, the description and the amount credited or debited;
• the opening and closing balances and the totals of credits and debits;
• the bank’s stamp, described in square brackets together with its text, and a bank employee’s signature, marked [Signature].

The transaction table stays a table, with the same columns and rows in the same order, so each transaction can be checked against the original. The translation opens with a note on what the square brackets mean.

A receipt for a single payment from a bank app is a different document: bank app receipt translation.

Amounts, dates and names

Amounts, currencies and dates stay as they are in the statement; we don’t convert amounts to dollars. We translate transaction descriptions, such as a transfer by phone number or a payment for goods and services. Shop and company names that the statement already gives in Latin letters stay as they are. If the text on a stamp can’t be read, the translation marks it [illegible] instead of guessing.

We spell names as they appear in your international passport. Include the spelling in your request, and we’ll use it in every document in your order.

Where USCIS rules mention shared finances

In the Form I-⁠130 instructions for a marriage petition, among the documents that may prove a bona fide marriage, USCIS names documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources (Form I-⁠130 instructions (opens in a new tab)).

Whether your statement fits your case is for you or your attorney to decide.

Statements and source-⁠of-⁠funds documents for EB-⁠5

Among the evidence that you have invested or are actively investing the capital, the instructions for the EB-⁠5 investor petitions (Forms I-⁠526 (opens in a new tab) and I-⁠526E (opens in a new tab)) list bank statements showing amounts deposited into the U.S. business accounts of the enterprise you invest in (8 CFR 204.6(j)(2) (opens in a new tab)).

You also need to show that the money was obtained lawfully. For that, the rule names, as applicable:

• foreign business registration records;
• tax returns filed in or outside the United States within the past five years;
• evidence of other sources of the money;
• certified copies of court judgments and records of civil, criminal and administrative cases against you, in or outside the United States, from the past 15 years (8 CFR 204.6(j)(3) (opens in a new tab)).

The Form I-⁠526 and I-⁠526E instructions name the same documents but ask for tax returns from the past seven years. If the money was a gift, the instructions ask for evidence from the donor that the money was obtained lawfully. If you borrowed it from anyone other than a bank, they ask for the same evidence from the lender. In both cases the evidence should also show that the money was given or lent in good faith, not to get around the limits on permitted sources of capital (Form I-⁠526 instructions (opens in a new tab), Form I-⁠526E instructions (opens in a new tab)).

We translate bank statements, tax returns, registry extracts and gift, loan and sale agreements in full. Account numbers, amounts and dates stay as they are in the original, so the path of the money can be checked across all the documents.

Which of these documents to file is for you or your attorney to decide; we translate what you send.

Where the translation goes

• USCIS: a full translation and the translator’s signed certificate. What USCIS accepts
• Immigration court: a typed certificate with the translator’s address and phone. What the court accepts

What to file in your case is for you or your attorney to decide.