Practical immigration guide
Certified translation of a Spanish vaccination record for USCIS
When you need your vaccination card in English, what the civil surgeon looks for, and how a card full of dates and abbreviations is translated without losing a dose.
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A vaccination card is mostly dates, abbreviations and stamps. A good translation can save you from repeating shots you already had. A poor one can make a dose disappear.
When you need it in English
The I-693 medical exam. Applicants for adjustment of status usually have to complete the medical exam with a civil surgeon designated by USCIS. The I-693 instructions ask you to bring your vaccination records to that appointment. The civil surgeon checks them against the vaccines required, and a vaccine that isn’t documented may have to be given again.
Schools, universities and doctors. A school registering your child, a university or a pediatrician also need to read the card. The same translation works for all of them.
What we translate
Each vaccine and each date. The full table, row by row. Every dose keeps its date, even when the same vaccine appears several times.
The original names, with the U.S. equivalent. Pentavalente, SRP, VOP, DPT. We keep the original term and add what an English-speaking reader will recognize, such as MMR for SRP. We don’t merge, reorder or remove doses.
The date format. Latin American cards write day, month and year. We keep the order of the original and indicate it clearly, so 05/06/2015 isn’t read as May 6 when it was June 5. This is the error that most often makes a dose look like it was given at the wrong age.
Stamps, signatures and lot numbers. The health center stamp and the vaccinator’s signature next to each dose show that it was given. We describe them in brackets and copy the lot numbers when they appear.
Where these cards cause trouble
Handwritten cards. The writing is often hard to read. We translate what can be read and mark the rest as illegible. We never complete a date by assumption.
More than one card. Many people have a childhood card, a newer one, and a sheet from a later campaign. Send them all. Each one may have doses the others don’t.
Digital certificates. Some countries issue a printed record from a national system. It’s translated like the card, including the verification code and the issuing authority.
Clinical records. If your doses are recorded in a medical history and not on a card, that history can also be translated. Send us the pages where the vaccines appear.
Before you send it to us
Photograph or scan every page of the card, including the cover with your name and date of birth. Use good light and avoid shadows over the handwriting. If you have more than one card, send them together so the translation covers your full history.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a certified translation of my vaccination card for the I-693 exam?
The I-693 instructions ask you to bring your vaccination records to the civil surgeon. The civil surgeon is the one who reads them and decides which doses count. If the card is in Spanish, a certified English translation lets them read it without guessing. Ask the office what they prefer to receive before the appointment.
The card doesn't use the same vaccine names as in the U.S. Is that a problem?
No. Latin American cards often use names such as pentavalente, SRP or VOP. We keep the original name and add the English equivalent the reader will recognize, without changing what was given. Whether each dose counts is up to the civil surgeon, not the translator.
Some doses are handwritten and hard to read. What do you do?
We translate everything that can be read. If a date or a vaccine name can't be read with certainty, we mark it as [illegible] instead of guessing, because an invented date is worse than a missing one.
Official source
Review the applicable federal requirement directly at 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3) on eCFR .
About this document: USCIS.
Fidelis Certified Translations is an independent translation service and is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by USCIS or any U.S. government agency. Final acceptance of any document rests solely with the receiving agency or institution.