RFE issued for Marriage certificate in local Lang

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whoareyou

Registered Users (C)
My husband(h-4) got an RFE for Marriage certificate in foreign language. My original marriage certificate is in English. INS says that submit the original marriage certificate in foreign language of your country. you submitted a translation.

My question is: should i tell INS that there is no certificate in foreign language and that the original one is in English. When I enquired back in Delhi about this, they said that there can't be 2 original and that the registrar officer refused to give in foreign language. What should I do? If I get a translation of english to foreign language on a stamp paper thru a notary then the date will be of 2002 while i was married in 1999 and that may create a confusion.
Please help. Thanks
 
INS needs to be educated......i really dont believe this RFE ...

I presume you should educate INS here and tell them that the local language for issuance of such legal documents is ENGLISH and none else. I presume that should take care, but check with your lawyer too.
 
This is utterly idiotic!!!

whoareyou,

I just can not believe this!! When a doc is in a foreign language, INS can ask for a translation (in english). But, when the original is in english, to ask for it to be in a foreign language, seems like a cruel joke played by INS!

Anyway, enough of my ranting ...

I believe a letter from you and your lawyer explaining that the submitted document is "THE ORIGINAL" and it is (was) issued only in ENGLISH, should suffice! However, see if you can get the registrar's office, back in India, to issue a letter stating that the marriage certificates are issued in English only. Given how our bureaucratic government agencies work in India, it might take a long time to get a letter such as this. But, you could send a letter (by you and your lawyer) to INS, as mentioned above and in parallel try for a letter from India.

In any case, DO NOT get a translation from English to a foreign language as INS will again look for a translation for that!!! Stick to your guns and claim that this is THE original certificate and there is nothing else!

Hope this helps

-Palaniappan Rajaram
 
Must be INS mistake...

I wonder why so many other married I-485 applicants never got this kind of RFE. Mostly, every one from India submits the same Registration of Marriage certificate and it is issued in English since the British rule I guess.

Sometimes, INS issues irrelevant RFEs (Visit: http://www.murthy.com/UDbizar.html ). Probably you should submit an explanatory letter, and submit other proofs of marriage (like pages from passport, marriage-invitation if you have it still, affidavits from elders, ..).

Best wishes,

Jigesh

Disclaimer: Personal non-legal point of view only.
 
i too get the same RFE

Whoareyou,

I also got the same RFE. Could you please tell me about your plans? What are you going to do? I live in UP and they told me that they can't issue a marriage certificate in Hindi as the original is in English and there can't be 2 originals. Would the translation of English to Hindi work? Let me know of your plan of action.
Thanks.

Mitrdost1
 
I think you should just write to them that

the English one is the original birth cert Maybe a few lines to educate them that in most of India official work is done in English. Sometimes it is neccessary to give a history lesson
 
My two cents.

This is one of the strange cases I’ve seen here so far. Normally they ask for English translation for a document written in a foreign language. Why they want to see a document in a foreign language that they won’t understand ? My guess is they may want to check the authenticity.

Here is one think you can do. Get an affidavit from at least two people who were attended the function and get signature from them in front of public notary stating that the copy is original form, no alternation (blah..blah.. blah), and they were attended the function etc. I know it’s going to be difficult get a ‘second original’ copy from India and therefore sticking with original one and convincing INS would be the easiest thing you can do on this. Hope for the best and good luck!
 
I guess if the Certificate is in English, the registrar stamp will have English as well as the Local Language. My Marriage Certficate is this way. Is this not the case with everyone...?

I don't know what matters INS to issue RFEs for marriage Certificates?
 
Send the Original

If U sent a copy of the Marriage certificate, than I sufggest U send the original to them, with a letter explaining that the original certificate is in English and U do not need a translated document.

This will work for sure.

Make sure to have the Originals sent back to you.
 
thanks guys

Thanks guys for your suggestion but my folks in India got the letter from registrar office in Hindi. They have already posted the original to me. As soon as I get it, i will send it to INS.

Mitrdost1, you should also be able to get it from the registrar office of your city/town. I got it in Delhi and so you can too.
 
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