Translation of emails, messages, letters, keepsakes...and photos

[Perkles]

I realize that when you submit proof of your relationship/marriage, if there are things not in english, they should be. However, this does represent a significant hurdle.

I plan on submitting many pieces of proof. Not all of it will be in english. I have some letters that were written in english with certain words here and there in another language, but 99% is in english.

I was going to include the wedding invite (photocopy), but it's not in english other than the dates and our names.

Could they decide to send back my application if they find untranslated letters, emails? I'm just not sure how picky they are. I would think the timeline would be the imporant thing, that there is consistent and frequent contact. I have about a dozen english emails; would this be enough to satisfy them?

Translating a year's worth of Skype messages is both expensive and unrealistic. But if I include pages of it (some in english, some not), would they outright reject my application? Has this happened to any of you? I would like to think that they would look at it as proof of contact, even if it's not in english.

Basically, what will they do if they see any untranslated papers of proof? Simply notify me (meaning a delay) or outright send the application back (unlikely, I'd think).

Also:
I have more photos than they could ever want. Can I sign the backs of them to describe who are in the photos? Is that necessary? I'd think so but I don't want to write on them (the back, of course) as I read that any ink marks would invalidate a photo.

Advice? Thanks very much.

 

[tavora]

I plan on submitting many pieces of proof. Not all of it will be in english. I have some letters that were written in english with certain words here and there in another language, but 99% is in english.

I was going to include the wedding invite (photocopy), but it's not in english other than the dates and our names.

Could they decide to send back my application if they find untranslated letters, emails? I'm just not sure how picky they are. I would think the timeline would be the imporant thing, that there is consistent and frequent contact. I have about a dozen english emails; would this be enough to satisfy them?

Translating a year's worth of Skype messages is both expensive and unrealistic. But if I include pages of it (some in english, some not), would they outright reject my application? Has this happened to any of you? I would like to think that they would look at it as proof of contact, even if it's not in english.

Basically, what will they do if they see any untranslated papers of proof? Simply notify me (meaning a delay) or outright send the application back (unlikely, I'd think).

Also:
I have more photos than they could ever want. Can I sign the backs of them to describe who are in the photos? Is that necessary? I'd think so but I don't want to write on them (the back, of course) as I read that any ink marks would invalidate a photo.

To answer your first question -- I don't think you need to translate a year's worth of chat logs, but realistically, if your correspondence is not in English or French, I wouldn't expect that the VO would translate it themselves. If you send something that is mostly English (say 90%+) , and it gives the general idea of the conversation, that should be fine.

For the photos, if you have loose photos (rather than ones that are scanned and labelled - say if you arranged them in Microsoft Word), you would need to label them somehow. I don't think writing on the back of the photo invalidates it -- I think the VO is more concerned with the actual picture itself being unobscured by labels.

 

[canadianwoman]

... I have some letters that were written in english with certain words here and there in another language, but 99% is in english.

These should be OK as is.

I was going to include the wedding invite (photocopy), but it's not in english other than the dates and our names.

This is good evidence. I would include it. Get it translated by a friend, or just do it yourself. Official documents should be translated by a certified translator; so should everything else, in an ideal world, but the expense is so much that many people get the unofficial relationship proof translated by a friend or do it themselves. There is some risk, but many people on the forum have done so and have gotten through.

Could they decide to send back my application if they find untranslated letters, emails?

They won't send the application back, and they won't refuse because of this. At worst, they will just ignore any untranslated evidence. So make sure you have at least some things in English or French, because if there is insufficient evidence that they can actually read, they can refuse.
Also keep in mind that if it goes to an appeal, the judge will certainly not accept anything untranslated.

I have about a dozen english emails; would this be enough to satisfy them?

It might be, if you have a relationship with no red flags. I'd send these, and then a printout of your inbox showing all the emails sent to your partner. Translating just the topic headings shouldn't be too difficult.

Translating a year's worth of Skype messages is both expensive and unrealistic. But if I include pages of it (some in english, some not), would they outright reject my application?

They don't want a year's worth of Skype messages in any language. A selection is enough, or screen shots.

Basically, what will they do if they see any untranslated papers of proof? Simply notify me (meaning a delay) or outright send the application back (unlikely, I'd think).

They will ignore the evidence, usually. Sometimes (very rarely) the visa officer will in fact look at it, if he/she knows the language. People have mentioned this happening in Brazil.

I have more photos than they could ever want. Can I sign the backs of them to describe who are in the photos? Is that necessary? I'd think so but I don't want to write on them (the back, of course) as I read that any ink marks would invalidate a photo.

It is OK to write on the back. Ink marks don't matter for relationship photos; they might only cause problems with the passport and visa photos.

To sum up: get a sampling of your correspondence translated. Some people do one email a month from the whole length of your relationship. Then show your inbox and your partner's inbox showing all the emails. Translate the headings (you could probably get away with not doing that.)