Translation has its own vocabulary. Here's a plain-English guide to the terms you'll see when ordering translations or working with immigration documents.
Subheadline: Translation has its own vocabulary. Here’s a plain-English guide to the terms you’ll see when ordering translations or working with immigration documents.
Apostille
A form of international document authentication recognized by countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention. An apostille verifies the authenticity of an official document (or a notarized document) for use in another member country. Different from notarization — an apostille is issued by a designated government authority (typically the Secretary of State’s office).
ATA (American Translators Association)
The largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States. ATA membership indicates professional commitment to the field. Corpus Localization is an ATA Corporate Member.
Certificate of Accuracy
A signed statement from the translator (or translation company) certifying that a translation is complete, accurate, and that the translator is competent to translate between the languages. Required by USCIS for all certified translations. Also called a certification letter, translator’s declaration, or certification statement.
Certified Translation
A translation accompanied by a certificate of accuracy. This is what USCIS, courts, universities, and other official bodies require when you submit foreign-language documents. The “certified” refers to the certificate — not a credential held by the translator.
Credential Evaluation
The process of assessing foreign academic credentials for their U.S. equivalency. Organizations like WES (World Education Services) and ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) provide this service and require certified English translations of foreign academic documents.
Interpretation
The oral (spoken) conversion of language — as opposed to translation, which deals with written text. Interpretation can be consecutive (speaker pauses for the interpreter), simultaneous (interpreter speaks at the same time), or over the phone/video.
Localization
Adapting content (websites, software, marketing materials) for a specific locale or market — going beyond word-for-word translation to account for cultural norms, date formats, currencies, idioms, and local conventions.
Notarized Translation
A certified translation where the translator’s signature on the certificate of accuracy has been witnessed and stamped by a notary public. The notary verifies the signer’s identity — not the translation’s accuracy. USCIS does not require notarization, but some courts and agencies do.
Notary Public
A state-appointed official authorized to witness signatures, administer oaths, and certify documents. In the context of translation, a notary witnesses the translator’s signature on the certificate of accuracy. A notary is NOT a translator.
Professional Translation
Non-certified translation performed by a qualified translator. Used for business documents, marketing materials, correspondence, and other content that doesn’t require a certificate of accuracy. Typically priced per word rather than per page.
RFE (Request for Evidence)
A notice from USCIS requesting additional evidence or documentation for a pending application. Translations may trigger an RFE if the certificate of accuracy is missing, incomplete, or non-compliant.
Source Language
The original language of the document being translated. For example, if you’re translating a Spanish birth certificate into English, Spanish is the source language.
Target Language
The language the document is being translated into. For example, if you’re translating a Spanish birth certificate into English, English is the target language.
Translation Memory (TM)
A database of previously translated text segments. Used by professional translators and translation companies to ensure consistency across large projects and reduce costs for repeat content. More relevant for enterprise/volume clients.
USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)
The federal agency that administers the U.S. immigration system, including processing visa petitions, green card applications, naturalization, and other immigration benefits. USCIS requires certified English translations of all foreign-language documents.
Vital Records
Official government documents recording major life events — birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and divorce decrees. These are the most commonly translated documents for immigration purposes.
WES (World Education Services)
A non-profit credential evaluation organization that assesses international academic credentials for their U.S. and Canadian equivalencies. WES requires certified English translations of all non-English academic documents.
8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)
The specific federal regulation that governs USCIS translation requirements. It states that any foreign-language document submitted to USCIS must be accompanied by a certified English translation. This is the rule that makes certified translation necessary for immigration cases.
Translation terminology can be confusing. If you’re not sure what you need, just reach out — we’ll tell you in plain English.
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