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Certified Translation for a T Visa
The T visa is for victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, sex or labor trafficking, who are in the United States because of it. The victim files Form I-914 with USCIS, with a detailed, signed personal statement in their own words and any credible evidence of the trafficking; the family members the victim wants to include are added with Supplement A, and a declaration from law enforcement (Supplement B) is optional. Much of the evidence can come from another country, in the victim's language: recruitment materials and contracts, correspondence from the trafficker, pay records, identity and family documents. Each one in another language needs a complete English translation, with the translator's certification that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate it (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)).
USCIS decides
Form I-914 with the personal statement; a Supplement A for each family member to be included; the law enforcement declaration is optional.
In the victim's own words
The personal statement must be detailed, signed and in the applicant's own words. Our translation renders everything it says, as it was written.
Evidence from anywhere
Recruitment materials, contracts, correspondence from the trafficker, pay stubs and logbooks, including from before the arrival in the United States.
At a glance
| T visa | |
|---|---|
| Who files | The victim, on Form I-914, while in the United States or at a port of entry, with a Supplement A for each family member the victim wants to include and, if the victim is inadmissible, Form I-192 for a waiver. Supplement B, a declaration signed by a law enforcement agency, is optional and carries no special weight. |
| Who decides | USCIS alone, through officers trained in trauma-informed work; it does not usually interview applicants whose file is enough to approve. Up to 5,000 principal applicants a year can be granted T status. |
| What has to be shown | Being or having been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; physical presence in the United States on account of the trafficking; compliance with any reasonable request for help from law enforcement, unless the victim was under 18 when at least one act of trafficking occurred or cannot comply because of trauma; and extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm upon removal (8 CFR 214.202). |
| Usually in another language | The personal statement, when the victim writes it in another language; recruitment materials, advertisements, contracts, pay stubs and logbooks; correspondence from the trafficker; statements from witnesses or other victims; news articles from the home country; identity and family documents. |
| Translation rule | Every document with text in another language needs a complete English translation, with the translator's certification that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate it (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)). |
| Page count | Grows with the evidence of the scheme: a statement of several pages, contracts and pay records, and correspondence. Each document filed is translated in full. |
Documents that usually need translating
Which documents go into the application is your decision, or your attorney's or accredited representative's; we translate what is chosen, completely, with every stamp, seal and handwritten note. In T visa applications, the documents in another language are usually these:
- The personal statement: required, detailed, signed and in the applicant's own words. It describes the trafficking and, as far as the applicant can, when it happened, how long it lasted, how it ended, the events and who was responsible. It also covers how their presence in the United States relates to the trafficking, the harm they fear if removed, and their cooperation with law enforcement, or why the age or trauma exception applies. One written in another language needs a full English translation of everything it says, as it was written: nothing shortened, rewritten or polished (personal declaration translation).
- The trafficking: trial transcripts, court documents and police reports; news articles; affidavits from case managers, therapists, medical professionals, witnesses or other victims; correspondence or other documentation from the trafficker; documents of the scheme such as recruitment materials, advertisements, pay stubs, logbooks or contracts; and photographs (8 CFR 214.206). Those in another language, as documents from another country often are, need a translation.
- Age and trauma: for a victim who was under 18 when the trafficking occurred, an official copy of the birth certificate, a passport or a certified medical opinion; for the trauma exception, evidence of the trauma, such as the victim's own statement about it, a statement from a qualified professional, or medical or psychological records.
- Family members (Supplement A): credible documentation of each relationship, such as birth and marriage certificates, the divorce decree or death certificate that ended an earlier marriage, and adoption decrees. A victim 21 or older can add a spouse and unmarried children under 21; a younger victim can also add parents and unmarried siblings under 18. At any age, a victim can also add a parent, an unmarried sibling under 18, or the adult or minor child of a family member included in the application who faces a present danger of retaliation because the victim escaped or cooperated with law enforcement; the evidence of that danger can come from the United States or any country where they face it.
- A waiver (Form I-192): for a conviction anywhere in the world, the official record of each conviction and all court dispositions, often from another country.
Who reads the translations
USCIS reads the application and everything filed with it, and any answer to a Request for Evidence; the rule for every translation is 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3). USCIS weighs whether the evidence is consistent within each document and across the file, so names, dates and places are rendered as each original gives them, never corrected to match another document: a name in another alphabet is transliterated the same way throughout, and dates are written so they cannot be misread.
Federal law bars DHS, the Justice Department and the State Department from disclosing information about a T applicant, with limited exceptions (8 U.S.C. 1367), and the applicant can give a safe mailing address on the application. That law binds the government; at eVerbary, only the staff on the order and the translator assigned to it can open the documents, which are stored in the United States (security).
How many pages to expect
One sheet of the original is one page, whatever its word count; a sheet printed on both sides is two pages, a two-sided ID card is one, and blank pages do not count. A statement can run to several pages, and so can a contract or a chain of correspondence; each one filed is translated in full.
Most orders are delivered within a few hours, and one to three pages within 24 hours at most; expedited delivery takes about half the time.
Official sources
Every requirement on this page was checked against these sources on November 5, 2026.
- 8 CFR 214.202, eligibility for T-1 nonimmigrant status (ecfr.gov)
- 8 CFR 214.204, application (ecfr.gov)
- 8 CFR 214.206, victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons (ecfr.gov)
- 8 CFR 214.208, compliance with any reasonable request for assistance (ecfr.gov)
- 8 CFR 214.211, application for eligible family members (ecfr.gov)
- Policy Manual, Volume 3, Part B, victims of trafficking (uscis.gov)
- Victims of Human Trafficking: T Nonimmigrant Status (uscis.gov)
- I-914, Application for T Nonimmigrant Status (uscis.gov)
- Form I-914 instructions, edition 09/14/26 (uscis.gov)
- I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant (uscis.gov)
- 8 U.S.C. 1367, penalties for disclosure of information (govinfo.gov)
- Mandatory Electronic Filing (e-Filing), interim final rule, 91 FR 51924 (August 11, 2026) (govinfo.gov)
- 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), translations (ecfr.gov)
Frequently asked questions
Is the law enforcement declaration required?
No. Supplement B is optional evidence and carries no special weight; other evidence, such as police reports, court documents or affidavits, can show the cooperation. What is required, unless the victim was under 18 or cannot because of trauma, is to have reported the trafficking to law enforcement and complied with reasonable requests (8 CFR 214.208). Supplement B is an English form, completed by the agency.
Do messages from the trafficker need translating?
Each one filed in another language does, in full and as it was written. Which ones to file is your decision, or your representative's.
Can a machine translation be filed?
DHS has looked at accepting translations made by automated translation tools and concluded, in August 2026, that they do not currently translate accurately and reliably enough to meet its requirements (91 FR 51941). Every eVerbary translation is done by a professional human translator and checked against the original by a second person on our team before delivery.
Do the translations need to be notarized?
Not for USCIS: 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) asks for the translator's certification, not a notary. If another office asks for notarization, it is $34.90 per order.
Have the documents in front of you?
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