When do you need a translation of medical records for USCIS?

Where USCIS instructions mention medical records

• Immigration medical exam (Form I-⁠693). If you have medical records, including vaccination records, take them to your first appointment with the civil surgeon. The civil surgeon completes the form and gives it to you in a sealed envelope (Form I-⁠693 instructions (opens in a new tab)). Vaccination records have their own page: vaccination record translation.
• Disability exception for the citizenship test (Form N-⁠648). To ask for an exception to the English and civics tests, you file Form N-⁠648 with your N-⁠400 (Form N-⁠400 instructions (opens in a new tab)). A licensed medical professional who examined you completes and certifies it. They may attach supporting medical diagnostic reports or records, but attachments don’t replace the answers on the form (Form N-⁠648 instructions (opens in a new tab)).
• Waiver of inadmissibility (Form I-⁠601). For a waiver based on a physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior, you submit a complete medical history and a report on the disorder, your current condition, the prognosis and recommended treatment; it is referred to the U.S. Public Health Service. For an extreme hardship waiver, health is one of the factors, and evidence may include medical documentation and evaluations by medical professionals. The instructions add that medical assertions should be supported by a medical professional’s statement (Form I-⁠601 instructions (opens in a new tab)).
• Provisional waiver (Form I-⁠601A). The list of extreme hardship evidence again includes medical documentation or evaluations by medical professionals (Form I-⁠601A instructions (opens in a new tab)).
• Orphan petition (Form I-⁠600). If the child’s birth certificate isn’t available, secondary proof of age and identity can include medical records (Form I-⁠600 instructions (opens in a new tab)).

Each of these instructions carries the same rule: a document in a foreign language comes with a full English translation and the translator’s certification that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)). A summary of a record doesn’t count (USCIS Policy Manual (opens in a new tab)).

What the translation includes

• the clinic or hospital letterhead, the patient’s details and the dates of admission, visits and discharge;
• complaints, history, examination findings and diagnoses, with any diagnosis codes as written;
• lab and imaging results as tables, with the same units and reference ranges;
• prescriptions and treatment, with doses as written;
• the doctor’s name, signature and stamp, and the institution’s seal.

We use standard English medical terms. Doctors’ handwriting is routine for us; a word that can’t be read is marked [illegible], never guessed. We spell your name as in your passport.

Where it goes

• USCIS: each record with its translation and certification, filed as the form’s instructions say. What USCIS accepts
• Immigration court: a typed certification with the translator’s address and phone. What the court accepts

Russian documents are translated and certified by our Russian translator. Ukrainian, Spanish, Romanian and Bulgarian documents are translated and certified by a native speaker of that language, under their own name.

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