sidkrose said:
I am going to send that email with it. I do think most visa officers will speak German though, I have never come across someone at an embassy or consulate (either Canadian or German) who didn't speak the language of the country they were posted in. Don't they have to when they're dealing with questions from people who don't speak the language of the country?
The people working at embassies that most of us 'deal with' are often locally hired people. The visa officers are foreign service officers (diplomats), and don't deal with general questions from the public. I would expect most Canadian diplomats posted to Germany can speak German; in countries with less-commonly studied languages, though, I wouldn't count on the visa officer knowing the local language well enough to read it.
Anyhow, any thoughts on whether it's worth sending receipts/invoices that are in German or Czech without an "official" translation? (I will just point out and translate the relevent info, which is usually just the date/address/what was bought etc.) I don't think it will be a problem, but should I try to limit evidence in other language without accredited translations? Again, these are just secondary items like tickets and receipts and invoices.
Everything not in English or French is supposed to be translated. For official documents, the translation is supposed to be certified. Since you got an official letter saying the police certificates didn't need to be translated, you should be safe there. For non-official things, such as most relationship proof, the translations don't have to be done by a certified translator. A friend can do them, or you (though a few embassies state that the translations cannot be done by a family member or you - check your region specific guide). You don't need to limit this type of evidence, but you do need to provide translations of it. Many people on this forum have reported that they did the translations themselves, or got a friend to do it, for the relationship proof, and that this was not a problem. They did this to save money, though, it is not an official policy. But non-translated evidence can be and has been rejected.
