Proof of Relationship: Is English translation necessary?

[lady01]

Good day to everyone!

Just wanted to ask if it's required to translate written proof of relationship, i.e. emails, chat logs, letters, etc., in English? We have a lot of chat and email logs and a big portion of them is not written in English. Sometimes we email/chat each other in our native tongue and English combined, so the officer would only be able to understand some sentences/words in the conversation that were expressed in English.

It's a bulk of chat logs and emails for us, so I wonder if there's a need for English translation of our exchanges?

Thanks for your response, in advance! Appreciate it!

 

[Fencesitter]

Considering that the official languages of Canada are English and French, I wouldn't expect the VO to translate foreign languages. Imagine how time consuming that would be...so yes, translate chats, e-mails, and other documents not in English or French. Not sure, but I think you need certified translations. If you are simply translating a few words, you can probably get away with doing it yourself...but not for whole documents.

FS

 

[ihabkal]

if you are applying from within Canada, you need an ALTO translator, they will not accept any other translations from outside Canada.
They charged me $30 to translate a 1 page police clearance that had a few words.

 

[BCgirl2012]

Hi lady01

I agree with Fencesitter. The other purpose of including chats and emails, is to show the way you comunicate. Now, I agree it might be too much to translate all of the pages. How about going through your messages, and highlighting the more important discussions that the VO must absolutely be able to understand and translating those?
It's always a difficult choice: how much of the communication to include. I guess it also depends on what other sorts of supporting documents you are providing for your case.

Just my 2 cents

 

[lady01]

Hi lady01

I agree with Fencesitter. The other purpose of including chats and emails, is to show the way you comunicate. Now, I agree it might be too much to translate all of the pages. How about going through your messages, and highlighting the more important discussions that the VO must absolutely be able to understand and translating those?
It's always a difficult choice: how much of the communication to include. I guess it also depends on what other sorts of supporting documents you are providing for your case.

Just my 2 cents

Thank you very much for the tip. I might go with choosing a portion of the conversation then translate them myself. We always exchange our "I love you's" often in any conversation and in English, so I'm hoping the VO would get the idea. (Excuse me for the cheesiness.)

As for any legal document that's not transcribed in English, I would go with getting certified translations.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

 

[thanh245]

I think i have read in these forums ppl are saying that emails,text messages, you can have a friend translate it, or even do it yourself.I translated 40 pages of text messages myself and highlighted significant events. I think you dont need a certifed translator for such things.Just for those listed in the checklist, you definately need one.cheers.

 

[Fencesitter]

I think you may be right, but in my opinion, why take any risks? Since nothing is clearly stated in regards to e-mails or chats, I'd go with certified translations of the most important exchanges.

Also, it's worth mentioning that you should continue to document everything even after your app has been received in CIC-M. From this point on, I'd suggest communicating in English only. My wife and I don't e-mail or chat very often because we have lived together since 2006...so instead, whenever we go out with friends or family, we take lots of pictures. When our son got his Canadian passport, we took pictures inside the Consulate (which I was surprised the allowed us to do!). We also signed the guest book and took pictures of that as well. Keep documenting your relationship so that in the unlikely event they request an interview, you have more current proof of relationship stuff. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case will be...

FS

 

[lady01]

Thanks again for the feedback everyone. It's good that in most of our significant emails, we tend to write in English with just a few native words inserted in between. I will do take note to continue documenting our conversations afterwards.

 

[Perkles]

This seems quite excessive to require translations of entire chat logs (from Skype). I have a few early emails where my wife and I wrote in english, but that is the exception.

Translations, certification of those translations would literally cost thousands of dollars. Surely the main reason they want these logs is not to pry into every detail of your relationship, but to establish when contact was made.

I can understand being cautious, but when it costs upwards of $70 CDN to translate and certify documents, surely they must not expect ALL the logs to be translated? I'd rather take my chances with a few mailed letters and phone call logs.

Is there really nothing written about the requirements of translation for these chat logs?

Thanks.

 

[Fencesitter]

I haven't seen anything directly related to chat logs or e-mails, but it does state in the guide to have documents translated that are not in English or French. I'd rather pay a bit of money now to avoid any potential delays later on...

Probably best to call CIC and ask...

FS

 

[canadianwoman]

They definitely want anything not in French or English to be translated. Untranslated relationship evidence such as emails and chat logs might get past a visa officer, but if it goes to appeal they will certainly not be accepted as evidence.

However, to get all this 'extra' evidence officially translated by a certified translator would cost a forture, so what people on the forums usually do is this: for secondary relationship evidence such as chat logs, IMs, and emails only, they get such things unofficially translated. They do it themselves, or get a friend to do it.
This is not really what CIC says to do, so there is some risk. At least get the unofficial translator (if it is not you or a family member) to prepare an affidavit stating that the translations are a true translation of the original. Lots of people on this forum have done this, and no one has reported any problems yet.

You can also select only a few chats or emails, spanning the length of your relationship. This will lower the translation cost. Then state you have more if the VO wants to see them.

You can also just show your email box with all emails from your partner in one file. This shows the date and heading of the email. This shows the VO how often you email; translating the topics shouldn't take much time or money.