How do you translate a Guatemalan police certificate for a US immigrant visa?
For an immigrant visa, the US Embassy in Guatemala City accepts one Guatemalan police certificate: the Antecedentes del Ministerio Público, a record search by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Not the antecedentes penales or policiales. USCIS and the immigration court ask for a full English translation with the translator’s signed certification. We translate the record in full, with its digital signature, QR code and verification address. It is usually one page: $25, ready within 24 hours after payment.
Which record the embassy accepts
Guatemala has three records with similar names. The Organismo Judicial issues the carencia de antecedentes penales (Organismo Judicial (opens in a new tab)), and the National Civil Police (PNC) issues the antecedentes policiales (Ministerio de Gobernación (opens in a new tab)).
For an immigrant visa, the US Embassy in Guatemala City asks applicants older than 18 for the third one, the Antecedentes del Ministerio Público. The embassy calls it the only police certificate or criminal history document from Guatemala it will accept, valid for two years from issue (U.S. Embassy Guatemala City (opens in a new tab)). The Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) issues it free of charge, on a white sheet with an authentication code at the bottom and an electronic signature. The State Department lists court records as unavailable in Guatemala and points to this record instead; prison records are unavailable too (travel.state.gov (opens in a new tab)).
Requesting it from abroad
Inside Guatemala, you fill in the “Antecedentes de denuncias” form on the Ministerio Público website, then email informacion@mp.gob.gt with a copy of your DPI; the record arrives by email within 48 hours. The website works only from within Guatemala. From abroad, you email the same address from your personal account with a copy of your DPI, or someone else submits the request with your letter of authorization or a registered power of attorney. A foreigner who lived in Guatemala without a DPI asks the same address for a desplegado de denuncias (travel.state.gov (opens in a new tab)).
What the translation includes
We translate the record in full (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)): the office’s heading, the certification text with your name and CUI number, the result of the search, the validity line, the details of the digital signature, the QR code described in brackets and the verification address copied as printed. Names follow your passport; tell us the spelling when you order.
Where the translation goes
- NVC and US consulates: the Department of State doesn’t ask for a translation of a certificate in Spanish if you are applying for your visa in Guatemala or another country where Spanish is an official language. What NVC accepts
- USCIS: for a green card, the Form I-485 instructions ask for certified police and court records of any criminal charges, arrests or convictions, including outside the United States (Form I-485 instructions (opens in a new tab)). What USCIS accepts
- Immigration court: a typed certification with the translator’s address and phone. What the court accepts
Our Spanish documents are translated and certified by a native Spanish speaker. What to file in your case is for you or your attorney to decide.
Sample translation
The sample has the original, the translation and the signed certificate. Personal details are blurred.
Questions
Do you also translate antecedentes penales and antecedentes policiales?
Yes, any of the three Guatemalan records, each in full. Which one to file is for you or your attorney to decide; the embassy’s own list names the Ministerio Público record.
My record came by email as a PDF. Can you translate from that?
Yes. Send us the PDF as you received it. The translation keeps the electronic signature details, describes the QR code and copies the verification address.
How much does it cost?
The record is usually one page: $25. Each additional page in the same order is $20, so three one-page records are $65.
Do I need a notary or an apostille?
USCIS and the immigration court ask for the translator’s signed certification, not a notary, and it’s included. If your record carries an apostille, we translate that too.
How long does it take?
1–4 documents: within 24 hours after payment; faster, within 12 hours (+$15 a page) or 3 hours (+$30 a page, paid between 8 am and 6 pm Pacific time). For 5 or more, we give you the date with the quote.
How we do it
- Full translation
every stamp, signature and handwritten line
- Signed certificate
with the translator’s name, address and phone
- A PDF, ready to file
original, translation and certificate, translation pages numbered
- Price
$25 for the first page up to 250 words, $20 for each additional page, in the same document or another one.
- Turnaround
1–4 documents: within 24 hours after payment; faster, within 12 hours (+$15 a page) or 3 hours (+$30 a page, paid between 8 am and 6 pm Pacific time). For 5 or more, we give you the date with the quote.
This is a summary of what the agency publishes, not legal advice.