Which documents need to be translated for Form I-⁠730?

What the I-⁠730 instructions ask of a translation

Form I-⁠730 is filed by a refugee or an asylee for a spouse or an unmarried child under 21. The Form I-⁠730 instructions (opens in a new tab) (edition 01/20/25, p. 4) have the same translation rule as other USCIS forms: a document in a foreign language comes with a full English translation, and the translator certifies that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from that language into English. The instructions recommend adding the translator’s printed name, the date and contact information; our certification always has them.

The general USCIS rule is in 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab). For what it means in practice, see What USCIS accepts.

Documents for a spouse

Page 4 of the instructions lists, for a spouse:

• the marriage certificate;
• the spouse’s birth certificate;
• proof that any earlier marriage of either spouse ended, such as a divorce certificate, a court decision or a death certificate;
• proof of a legal name change, if a name changed.

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

How we translate them: marriage and divorce certificates, birth certificate.

Documents for a child

For a child, the instructions list the child’s birth certificate. For a stepchild, also the marriage certificate of the stepparent and the child’s parent. For an adopted child, the adoption decree.

Children’s birth certificates from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine name both parents, sometimes with the parents’ nationality and a note about a later change of surname. We translate every field and every note on the back.

Old and bilingual certificates

Relatives’ documents are often Soviet: issued decades ago, filled in by hand, on forms with field labels in Russian and Belarusian or Russian and Ukrainian. We translate every field, the empty ones too, and every stamp. A word that can’t be read is marked [illegible] instead of guessed. See Belarusian documents and handwritten Soviet documents.

The same names in every document

An I-⁠730 package connects people through several documents: the petitioner’s, the relative’s, sometimes a child’s. The same name must read the same in all of them. We spell names the way you give them from international passports and keep that spelling across the order. If someone has no international passport, we agree on the spelling with you before we translate.

Price

$25 for the first page of up to 250 words and $20 for each additional page, in the same document or another one. If the marriage certificate, the spouse’s birth certificate and a child’s birth certificate are one page each, the total is $65. Send photos of the documents, and we’ll give you the exact price.