Asylum and cancellation cases before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) are won on evidence, and most of that evidence arrives in Spanish: police complaints (denuncias), medical and psychological reports, threatening messages, news clippings, affidavits from relatives still in the home country. The Immigration Court Practice Manual (Chapter 3.3) requires every foreign-language document to be filed with an English translation and a certificate of translation signed by the translator. An exhibit without that certificate can be given little weight or excluded.
What the certificate of translation must contain
The translator certifies that they are competent to translate from Spanish to English and that the translation is true, complete and accurate. Name, signature, date and contact information go on the certificate. No notary is required, and the translator does not need to be court-appointed. What the court does look at is whether the translation is complete: partial or summarized translations are the most common reason an exhibit is challenged by DHS counsel.
Documents we translate most for EOIR filings
- Police reports and complaints (denuncias, actas de denuncia), including stamps, file numbers and the officer’s handwritten notes.
- Medical and psychological records: hospital discharge summaries, forensic medical certificates, therapy evaluations.
- Threatening messages: WhatsApp and text screenshots, letters, social-media posts — translated with the exact register, including slang and abbreviations.
- Death certificates and news articles documenting harm to family members or similarly situated people.
- Affidavits and sworn statements from witnesses abroad.
- Country-condition evidence in Spanish: NGO reports, government bulletins, local press.
Six practices that keep exhibits in
- Translate everything on the page. Headers, seals, marginalia, the back of the page and illegible passages marked as [illegible]. Nothing summarized.
- Keep the original layout recognizable. The judge and the government attorney should be able to line up the translation with the original line by line.
- Use one certificate format for the whole exhibit list. Consistent numbering and consistent certification pages make the record easier to read and harder to attack.
- Match names and dates against the I-589 and the respondent’s ID. A different spelling of a surname across exhibits invites credibility questions.
- Preserve register in threats and testimony. A threat translated too politely loses the evidentiary point; a literal translation with a translator’s note is the safer choice.
- Plan around the filing deadline. Evidence generally must be filed and served on DHS by the deadline set by the court (often 15 days before the individual hearing). Send the batch early enough to allow for a review pass.
Volume and deadlines
Asylum evidence packets run from 30 to 300+ pages. We quote per page (1 page = 1 sheet, no word counting), deliver in batches on a schedule confirmed upfront, and provide a single certificate of translation per document or per exhibit set, whichever the attorney prefers. Firms with recurring court dates get a standing account and one monthly invoice. For the certification language itself, see what USCIS and EOIR actually require.
Immigration law firm? We set up firm accounts with consistent certification, 24–48 h turnaround and consolidated monthly invoicing. Certified translation services for law firms →
