A complete English translation of your foreign divorce decree or certificate, with the translator's certification of accuracy and competence, to show USCIS that a previous marriage legally ended.
A divorce decree translation for USCIS proves something the form asks quite directly: that any previous marriage has legally ended. For a spousal I-130 or a K-1 fiancé(e) petition, that proof is needed for every prior marriage of both partners, and if the decree isn't in English it needs a full certified translation. VisaDocTranslation prepares one for $20.39 per page, delivered by the next working day.
The decree usually sits next to a marriage certificate in the same file, and the two are read together. We translate court judgments, civil registry divorce certificates and annotated marriage records with the same care, and quietly.
United States
Accepted for
Yes, if it's in a language other than English. USCIS requires a full English translation with the translator's certification that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from that language into English, and summary translations of court judgments are not accepted.
Divorce judgments are long documents. They often recite the parties' details, the history of the marriage, the court's reasoning, arrangements for children and property, and the formal operative part at the end. It's tempting to translate only the page that says the marriage is dissolved, but USCIS policy doesn't allow summary translations, so the whole judgment is translated.
The good news is that court documents tend to be typed and clearly structured, which keeps the work precise. The less good news is that courts are rarely brief, so the page count on a full judgment can be higher than you expect. You'll see it on the quote before you pay.
Whenever a petitioner or beneficiary was married before and the case depends on a current marriage or a plan to marry. The I-130 instructions ask for proof that all prior marriages of both spouses ended, and the K-1 petition (Form I-129F) asks for the same for both partners.
Proof of termination can be a final divorce decree, an annulment decree or a death certificate of a former spouse. It also comes up on Form I-485 when adjustment is based on marriage, and on Form N-400, where your marital history is part of the application. For consular cases, the National Visa Center collects it as a civil document.
It matters for a simple reason: a new marriage is only valid if the old one had ended first. The dates on the decree are therefore compared with the date of the new marriage, so we translate dates exactly as they appear, including the date the judgment became final if the document records it.
It varies by country, and the State Department's reciprocity schedule lists the accepted document for each. It's usually a final court decree, a civil registry divorce certificate, or a marriage record annotated with the divorce. Whatever form it takes, it should show that the divorce is final.
Many civil-law countries mark finality separately: a stamp or note confirming the judgment can no longer be appealed, or a separate certificate saying so. In Brazil, divorce is commonly evidenced by the marriage certificate with the divorce recorded as an annotation (averbação). In Japan and Korea, the divorce appears in the family register or family relation certificates. In some countries a religious divorce must also be registered with a civil or local authority before it's recognized.
If your file has a decree but not the finality note, check the reciprocity schedule or ask your attorney before filing. We translate what you send, including every annotation and finality stamp, so the officer can see the full legal picture.
Translate the document you're submitting, in full. If your country issues a short divorce certificate and the reciprocity schedule accepts it, that may be all you need. If you're submitting the court judgment, every page of it needs translating.
Some applicants have both a lengthy judgment and a one-page certificate. Where the schedule accepts the certificate, submitting just that, with its certified translation, keeps the file lean and the cost down. Where the court decree is the accepted document, a partial translation would fall foul of the full-translation rule, so it isn't worth the risk.
If you're not sure which you have, upload both on the quote form and tell us what they are; we'll confirm the page count before you commit. Older or handwritten decrees are fine too: our note on handwritten and old documents explains how we handle faded stamps and difficult script.
$20.39 per page with delivery by the next working day, or $40.08 per page for rush delivery within 8 hours. The signed certification is included.
A divorce certificate is often a single page; a full court judgment can be several. Either way the price is per page and you see the total before paying. Every document includes 2 free revisions.
USCIS doesn't require notarization. If a US state court or another institution asks for a notarized translation, add notarization at checkout for $26.45 per document; it's for US use only and uses standard delivery. If the case also needs translated police certificates or birth certificates, upload them together. More on the US rules is on our USCIS translation page.
Yes, if it isn't in English. Form I-129F asks for proof that any prior marriages of both partners have legally ended, and any foreign-language decree needs a full certified English translation.
If those sections are part of the document you submit, yes. USCIS requires a full translation, not a summary, so every page of the judgment is translated.
A death certificate of the former spouse is the usual proof that the earlier marriage ended. If it isn't in English, it needs a certified translation in the same way, and we can translate it for you.
In some countries an annotated marriage record is the standard proof of divorce. Check the State Department's reciprocity schedule for your country. We translate the annotation along with the rest of the certificate.
No. A certified translation with the translator's signed statement of accuracy and competence is enough for USCIS. Notarization is optional for other US institutions that ask for it.
The regulation doesn't name who may translate, but a translation by a party to the divorce invites questions about impartiality. An independent professional translation avoids that.
Standard delivery is by the next working day at $20.39 per page, and rush delivery is within 8 hours at $40.08 per page. Long judgments are still quoted per page before you pay.
Every document includes 2 free revisions. Send us the officer's request and we'll update the translation and issue a new certified PDF.
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