How do you translate a Mexican INE card (credencial para votar) into English?
The INE card (credencial para votar) is the Mexican voter card, and in Mexico it also serves as official identification. We translate both sides in full: the name, address, clave de elector, CURP, dates and validity, and on the back the CIC and OCR numbers and the machine-readable zone. An INE card is one page: $25, ready within 24 hours after payment.
What the card shows
The National Electoral Institute (Instituto Nacional Electoral, INE) lists every field of the current model in its guide to the credencial (opens in a new tab). The translation has all of them.
Front: name, address, voter key (clave de elector), CURP, date of birth, geo-electoral identification, year of registration and issue number, validity (vigencia), sex or gender identity, Indigenous or Afro-Mexican self-identification, the photo and the digitized signature.
Back: a barcode, boxes for marking a vote, a services QR code, the signature of the INE Executive Secretary, the card’s CIC number, a 13-digit OCR number and the machine-readable zone. Codes and the photo are marked in brackets, and the machine-readable zone is copied character by character.
Which cards are valid
INE says several models are valid at the same time, and each card is valid for ten years from issue. Older types such as “03”, “06”, “12”, “15” and “18” are no longer valid (INE guide (opens in a new tab)). Older cards carry the name Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE), and the California DMV lists the 2013 IFE card next to the 2014 INE card.
The model issued from June 2026 adds gender identity, Indigenous or Afro-Mexican self-identification and high-density QR codes you can check with INE’s app (INE (opens in a new tab)). INE’s guide marks the address as optional. If your card has no address or a field is empty, the translation shows that too.
Mexicans in the US can apply for the card at a Mexican consulate (U.S. Department of State (opens in a new tab)), and a card issued abroad is translated the same way.
Where it’s used as ID in the US
- California DMV: for a driver’s license under AB 60, an IFE (2013) or INE (2014) card is proof of identity on its own, and the DMV verifies it electronically with Mexico (AB 60 guide (opens in a new tab)). The guide asks for a translation only of a marriage license, a divorce decree or a foreign driver’s license. What the DMV accepts
- USCIS: the Form I-821D (DACA) instructions accept a national identity document from your country of origin with your photo as proof of identity (I-821D instructions (opens in a new tab)). A document in Spanish filed with USCIS goes with a full English translation and the translator’s certification (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)). What USCIS 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 translations
5 samplesEach sample has the original, the translation and the signed certificate. Personal details are blurred.
Questions
My INE card has expired. Can you still translate it?
Yes. We translate the card as it is, and the translation shows the validity printed on it. Whether an expired card is enough is up to the office that asks for it: the DACA form instructions, for example, say expired identity documents are acceptable.
How much does it cost?
An INE card, front and back, is one page: $25. Each additional page in the same order is $20, so three one-page documents are $65.
Do I need a notary or an apostille?
Not for USCIS: it asks for the translator’s signed certification, and it’s included.
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.