To translate or not to translate....

[DeFilippis78]

Ok, Im hearing some say we can do it ourselves or have a friend do it and I hear others saying absolutely not, get a pro. Im going to Philly. Any tips?

[JPMessina44]

I was always under the impression that it needed to be professionally done, and Newark Consulate seemed to feel that way as well (however, and not being mean, but the person on the phone wasn't the friendliest and seemed "disinterested" in speaking with me.)

I also asked the question on here, and the outcome was that it did not need to be professionally done. My post was having my co-worker translate for me and we thought that was fine.

If you ask the consulate, id be curious as to what they tell you.....

[DeFilippis78]

Ive heard that philly has stopped taking all phone calls and emails assuming its for an appointment. If they ever do answer my question its a total of maybe 3 word answers,lol!

[ForzaItaliaPgh]

Ciao DeFilippis,

Gotta love Philly, huh?

I asked the cittadinanza office about 6 months ago if I had to do a professional translator. They sent me a list of several translators, but didn't really say it had to be one of them.

I emailed about all of them, after the one closest to me was going to charge around $1000 to do. In the end, I was happy with my choice, but it was still expensive.

I'm claiming through my GGF and to have everything translated cost me $460. The translator also added his official seal to the docs, but I don't know if that matters or not.

If you are interested, I'll pm you the contact info.

[Squigy]

I think I'm going to be crazy and carefully translate mine myself. Cause, I mean with 18-20 documents, it's better to just try. I mean, if it's not good enough, I can always have them translated professionally, right?

It stinks because at $500 dollars for all the documents and apostilles, I thought this was going to be much cheaper than I expected.

[JPMessina44]

I would definitely give it a try yourself. I will be having my co-worker translate all of my documents for me (he's not a pro but was born in Italy.) I think as long as it is accurate, you should be fine.

However, if it is a divorce document or a lot of legal jargon, I would recommend a professional.

Birth, marriage and death are all pretty straightforward. (do not use babelfish, or the free online translation companies though)

[DeFilippis78]

Are you using a template and if so which one? I need a Jersey template for birth, marriage and death

[JPMessina44]

The translation should mimic how the english version of the birth looks. I.e. if there are spaces, the translated document should reflect the spaces as well.

Date

City Of Birth

Date of Birth, etc etc etc