How do you translate a Ukrainian archive certificate for USCIS?
When a Ukrainian civil record is more than 75 years old, or a closed employer’s records have gone to an archive, the confirmation comes from a state archive: an archive certificate (arkhivna dovidka), a copy or an extract, or a notice that no record was found. We translate Ukrainian archive certificates in full: the letterhead, the reference numbers, the text, the director’s signature and the seal, with the translator’s signed certification that USCIS asks for. An archive certificate is usually one page: $25, ready within 24 hours after payment.
Which records end up in an archive
Ukrainian civil registry books and parish registers stay with the civil registry offices for 75 years after an entry is made. After that they go to the state archive of the oblast for permanent keeping. For a birth, marriage or death registered more than 75 years ago, you write to that archive (State Archival Service of Ukraine (opens in a new tab)).
Personnel files work the same way: an employer keeps them for 75 years; when it closes, they pass to a higher-level body if there is one, and the oblast state archive can tell you where they are kept. An archive certificate of work history covers only the periods that the archive’s documents show (State Archival Service of Ukraine (opens in a new tab)).
What an archive certificate confirms
The archive service answers requests about civil status registration, citizenship, education, work history and pay, military service and World War II records, among others. A request names the person, the subject and the years; the archive answers within 30 days and can extend this to 45 days if it lets you know (State Archival Service of Ukraine (opens in a new tab)). The answer may be an archive certificate, a copy or an extract.
When the answer is “no record found”
Some Ukrainian civil records were destroyed during World War II. Local authorities may issue a certificate confirming this, which can take several months, and records from areas once part of Ukraine may have been moved to neighboring countries (U.S. Department of State (opens in a new tab)).
That kind of answer has a place in a petition. When an official document isn’t available, the Form I-130 instructions ask for a document from the civil authority certifying that, plus secondary evidence such as religious, school or census records (Form I-130 instructions (opens in a new tab)).
Our sample is such a notice: a regional state archive reports that a 1914 birth record wasn’t found in a search of the registers for three years, 1913 to 1915, which survive only in part.
Names
Your name follows your passport. For relatives named in old records, we use Ukraine’s official transliteration (Resolution No. 55 of 2010 (opens in a new tab)). Tell us the spellings when you order, and they will match across your documents.
Where the translation goes
- USCIS: the translation and certification filed with a copy of the archive certificate (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) (opens in a new tab)). What USCIS accepts
- NVC and US consulates: the Department of State doesn’t ask for a translation of an archive certificate in Ukrainian if you are applying for your visa in Ukraine. What NVC accepts
- Immigration court: a typed certification with the translator’s address and phone. What the court accepts
Our Ukrainian documents are translated and certified by a native Ukrainian speaker. What to file in your case is for you or your attorney to decide.
Sample translations
6 samplesEach sample has the original, the translation and the signed certificate. Personal details are blurred.
Ukrainian archive notice: no birth record foundOpen, 2 pages
Ukrainian certificate of termination of citizenshipOpen, 2 pages
Ukrainian birth certificateOpen, 3 pages
Ukrainian marriage certificateOpen, 3 pages
Ukrainian police clearance certificateOpen, 3 pages
Ukrainian birth certificate (duplicate, 2011)Open, 3 pages
Questions
The archive wrote to the civil registry office, not to me. Is that the right document?
We translate the letter you have, whoever it is addressed to. Our sample is exactly that: a regional archive answering a Kyiv civil registry office. Which documents go into your case is up to you or your attorney.
How much does it cost?
An archive certificate is usually one page: $25. Each additional page in the same order is $20, so a certificate and two other 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. Ukraine’s State Archival Service apostilles documents issued by state archives; if yours has an apostille, we translate it 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.