Who can certify a translation for USCIS?

Who can certify a translation for USCIS

Anyone competent to translate a document from Portuguese to English can certify it for USCIS. In the United States, there is no translator's license, and no notary is required. That person signs a one-page Certificate of Accuracy stating that the translation is complete and accurate, which is what USCIS asks for under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3). It carries the translator's name and signature, plus the date and their contact details. We show a finished one on our certified translation sample page, and ours carries a QR code that a USCIS officer can scan to confirm it is real and has not been altered.

Whoever certifies your translation, it has to be right. A wrong or incomplete translation usually leads to a translation RFE, which can cost you weeks. Under USCIS policy in effect since August 2026, a filing with missing or deficient required initial evidence can be denied outright without an RFE or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) first. That is why I recommend getting the translation done properly before you file.

Why doing it yourself is the expensive way

Nothing in the rule stops you from signing your own translation, or from having a relative sign it. The catch is not the rule, it is the read. An officer knows the person who signed had a stake in what the document says, so a self-certified translation draws the skeptical look every filing is trying to avoid. And when something looks off, it does not come back with a polite note. Under the current USCIS rules it can come back as a Request for Evidence, or a Notice of Intent to Deny with 30 days or less to answer, or a flat denial with nothing left to fix. Picture explaining to an officer that “pretendo morar nos Estados Unidos” was meant to say “I intend to live in the United States,” but your do-it-yourself version turned it into “I pretend to live in the United States.” One false friend, and the officer is reading what looks like a confession of fraud.

We see this one constantly, and we are usually the people called in to clean it up after the letter arrives. By then the shortcut has become the expensive way. You pay for the professional translation you skipped the first time, you pay again to refile, and the real bill is the months you lose while the clock starts over, sometimes with a lawyer on the meter. Doing it right once is $19 a page. Doing it twice, after a rejection, routinely runs five or ten times that once the delay is counted, and the upvoted comment online that says I did mine myself and it was fine is survivors talking. On a green card or a visa, one weak translation can put the whole case at risk. For a student, a shaky transcript or diploma can stall an admission or a credential evaluation while a deadline that will not move keeps ticking.

You do not need a relative, and you do not need a robot

Do you know how many ChatGPT translations people send us to “just check real quick”? They are terrible. An officer who sees one will laugh in your face. You do not need a relative to do it, and you do not need a robot to do it. Ivy does every translation herself and checks every word. She has done this thousands of times and seen everything, and she signs and guarantees every one. $19 a page, back within 24 hours, with the USCIS acceptance guarantee. Send us a photo, seriously, that is it, and we handle it. Done. Off your plate.

Brazilians: you do not need a juramentada

One thing for the Brazilians reading this. You do not need a tradução juramentada. That is only for documents going to Brazil. The juramentada services will not tell you their stamp is not required here, because their prices are inflated and their turnaround is slow. For USCIS, a certified translation is all you need, and it is cheaper and faster.

The person doing your translation is Ivy, a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil. She signs the Certificate of Accuracy on every order, which is the certification 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires.