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Translating the Documents in a Colombian Asylum File

Colombian asylum files combine Registraduría civil records with denuncias, Fiscalía documents and protection measures. This page is about translating them, not about assessing a claim.

The Registraduría, and the NUIP

Colombian civil records come from the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. A registro civil de nacimiento carries an indicative serial and, on modern records, the NUIP — the unique personal identification number that later becomes the cédula number. Those identifiers are reproduced exactly, because they are how the rest of a file ties together.

Older records are notarial or parish-registered and look quite different from a current Registraduría printout. Both are genuine. See our Colombian birth certificate page and our Colombian police record page.

Denuncias, Fiscalía and protection measures

What recurs in these files is the paperwork of having reported something:

• Denuncias filed with the Fiscalía or the police, and the case number assigned
• Fiscalía documents, and decisions to open or close an investigation
• Protection measures, and documents from the Unidad Nacional de Protección
• Registration as a victim, and documents from the Unidad de Víctimas
• Medical and forensic reports, including Medicina Legal
• Union, party, community council or organisation documents
• Declarations from relatives and colleagues

Two surnames, and institution names

Colombians carry two surnames and both are part of the legal name; dropping the second is how a person stops matching their own file. Institution names are kept in Spanish with an explanation rather than translated into a US equivalent that does not exist — the Fiscalía is not a district attorney's office and calling it one misdescribes the document.

See our Spanish page.

Translated as written, because credibility is the issue

An asylum file is judged largely on whether the account holds together. That makes a translation unusually consequential, and it makes the temptation to improve things actively dangerous. A vague sentence rendered precisely, a torn line reconstructed from context, a threat translated more fluently than it was written — each of those creates a discrepancy between the document and the testimony that was never in the record.

So: everything legible is translated, at the register it was written in. Anything genuinely illegible is marked illegible rather than guessed at. Nothing is softened and nothing is heightened. Where a document is damaged, partial or a photograph of a photocopy, the translation says so plainly — which is worth far more to the person reading the file than a clean-looking rendering of something nobody can actually read.

One packet, both forums

An affirmative application goes to USCIS under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3). A defensive one is filed with the immigration court, where 8 CFR 1003.33 and the EOIR practice manual also want the translator's name, address and telephone number attached. Our certification carries both, on letterhead and page-numbered, so the same translation serves either — see what it states. Where one certification needs to cover a bundle of exhibits, it will list them.

Files here name people who may still be at risk. Everything is translated by professional human translators and handled confidentially — never pasted into a public machine-translation tool. What we do not do is advise on the claim, tell you what evidence to gather or assess whether a document helps you. That is your attorney's work, and this is the point in a case to have one.

How it works

Upload a photo or a scan of your document, pick the language pair and check out online. You never have to mail originals: a legible copy is all we need.

A professional human translator, never machine translation, translates the document word for word and mirrors the layout of the original. Every certified translation ships with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy that meets the requirements of USCIS, courts and universities.

Your translation is delivered digitally, usually within 24 hours for documents of one to three pages, and same-day delivery is available. If anything needs adjusting, we revise it.

Certified vs. standard translation

A certified translation is a word-for-word translation accompanied by a signed statement attesting to its accuracy and completeness. It is what official bodies require: USCIS, courts, universities and government agencies. Certified translations are $24.95 per page, where a page is up to 250 words.

A standard translation is for business or personal use where certification is not needed, such as CVs, client intake forms or marketing material, and is billed at the same $24.95 per page of up to 250 words.

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