Key Takeaways
- Lebanese and other Levantine documents use their own month names, and a misread month changes the meaning of a date.
- When a scan is faint, send reference documents and your own notes; they help the translator confirm hard-to-read entries.
- Check every date on a delivered translation against the original, field by field.
- Report an error with the field, the wrong value and the right one, ideally with the original word.
- Revisions are free for 30 days after delivery, and a single-field correction can come back the same day.
In September, a customer asked us to translate his Lebanese birth certificate from Arabic into English for a USCIS filing. The scan was hard to read: the handwriting was faint, and he sent his passport, a family registration sheet and his own field-by-field notes to help. He paid on a Saturday morning against a Monday deadline, and the certified, notarized translation reached him on Sunday evening, about a day early. On Monday morning he spotted one error: the document’s date showed January, where the Arabic said September. Our team acknowledged it within about two hours and sent the corrected file shortly after noon.
Key Takeaways
- Lebanese and other Levantine documents use their own month names, and a misread month changes the meaning of a date.
- When a scan is faint, send reference documents and your own notes; they help the translator confirm hard-to-read entries.
- Check every date on a delivered translation against the original, field by field.
- Report an error with the field, the wrong value and the right one, ideally with the original word.
- Revisions are free for 30 days after delivery, and a single-field correction can come back the same day.
The Situation
The first contact was a short live chat on a Tuesday. The customer asked about translating a birth certificate from Arabic to English and confirmed it was for USCIS. He did not have the document yet; it was coming from Lebanon, and he expected it by Thursday. Our consultant sent an upload link so he could submit it when it arrived. Explore our arabic translation for details.
Early on Saturday he uploaded three files: the birth certificate, a family registration sheet and his passport. He explained that he wanted only the birth certificate translated and had added the others for reference “because the hand writing scanned copy is very light in color.” His email went further, with a typed list of every field on the certificate and what he read in each, and an offer: “Please let me know if you need help reading it.” He asked for a PDF only, by the middle of the following week.
Our file assessment team rated the scan as difficult and noted that some words were not clear. That is common with older handwritten civil records, and it is exactly where a translator’s own reading, checked against the customer’s references, matters most in Arabic to English translation.
How We Handled It
Quote, payment and a relaxed deadline
Our consultant sent the quote on Saturday morning, explaining that standard delivery for one page is one business day. The customer paid within about fifteen minutes and wrote, “1 business day is fine with me so Tuesday morning is fine.” Our team set the delivery commitment at 5 PM EST on Monday, earlier than he had asked.
Reading a faint certificate with references in hand
The certificate followed the standard Lebanese layout: the newborn’s details, place and date of birth, the parents, the witnesses, the local mukhtar’s certification, and the registration entries made at the civil records office. The customer’s notes and the family registration sheet were on file as references for entries where the handwriting faded, and his passport showed how his name is written in Latin letters.
Delivered on Sunday evening
The translation reached him at 6:21 PM on Sunday, about thirty-one hours after payment and nearly a full day before the deadline. The delivery included the translated certificate and a notarized certificate of translation, both as PDFs.
One month name, reported and fixed
At 6:53 on Monday morning the customer replied. “All is correct but the date of the document,” he wrote. The translation showed the document’s date in January; the original said September, and he typed the Arabic month name, Aylul, to show where the difference was.
Our consultant answered at 9 AM, thanked him for his attention to detail, and confirmed the correct date in writing so there would be no doubt about the change. The translator corrected the field, and the revised translation went out at 12:11 PM, a little over five hours after his message. Explore our certified birth certificate translation for details.
The Result
The customer received a certified English translation of his Lebanese birth certificate, with a notarized certificate of translation, ready for his USCIS filing, and the one date corrected the same day he reported it. He replied half an hour after the revised file arrived, “Thanks you,” and the order was closed.
Why Arabic Month Names Trip Up Translations
Arabic does not have one set of month names. In Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine, the Gregorian months carry older names inherited from the region’s Syriac calendar. Egypt and much of North Africa generally use names adapted from the European months instead. A translator must read the month as the document’s own region uses it.
The Levantine names are worth knowing if you hold a document from the region:
- Kanun al-Thani: January
- Shbat: February
- Adhar: March
- Nisan: April
- Ayyar: May
- Haziran: June
- Tammuz: July
- Ab: August
- Aylul: September
- Tishreen al-Awwal and Tishreen al-Thani: October and November
- Kanun al-Awwal: December
On a handwritten certificate, a month can also be written as a number, a name, or both, and different fields may use different forms. A careful review compares every date with the original, which is what caught the error in this story.
What a Certified Translation of a Lebanese Birth Certificate Includes
A complete English translation of a Lebanese birth record covers:
- Every printed field label and its entry, including fields left blank
- The newborn’s name, sex, place and date of birth, in the spelling you confirm
- Both parents’ names and details as the record states them
- The witnesses and the mukhtar’s certification, with seals described
- The register details and the entries made at the civil records office
- All dates converted accurately, whether written as names or numbers
It is paired with a signed certificate of translation stating the work is complete and accurate. Our birth certificate translation in New York covers civil records from Lebanon and many other countries.
What USCIS Asks For in a Translation
USCIS asks that any document in a foreign language come with a full English translation, and that the translator certify the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from the language into English. That certification is the core of a USCIS certified translation. Explore our USCIS document translation story for details.
The rule calls for a certified translation; it does not call for notarization, though some customers add it, as this customer did. A full translation means everything on the page, including stamps, handwritten notes and marginal entries, not a summary. Keep the translation with a copy of the original when you file, and make sure the names match your other forms. The decision on any filing rests with USCIS.
Checking Dates Before You File
Most errors in civil-record translations are small and land in one of a few places. Before you submit, go through this list:
- Compare each date on the translation with the original, including the date of issue.
- Check that month names were read for the right region.
- Confirm names match your passport exactly, letter for letter.
- Make sure every seal, stamp and signature is either translated or described.
- Read the place names against your family records or ID.
If something is off, tell us the field, what it says, and what it should say. In this story the customer quoted the Arabic month, which made the correction quick. Corrections are usually returned in 24 to 48 hours, and simple ones often sooner.
Arabic Documents and New York Families
New York’s Arabic-speaking communities are spread across the city: Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, Steinway Street in Astoria, Atlantic Avenue near Brooklyn Heights, and neighborhoods in Paterson and Jersey City across the Hudson. Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Yemeni and Palestinian families bring us birth and marriage certificates, family registration extracts and diplomas, many for immigration filings.
Most of these orders run online, as this one did, with the PDF delivered by email. When you need printed copies or want to bring an original in, our office is at 224 W 35th St #5 #1206, New York, NY 10001, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, a short walk from Penn Station, Herald Square and Port Authority. Read more about Arabic translation in New York, or see how a Farsi birth certificate was translated for USCIS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you translate a handwritten Lebanese birth certificate?
Yes. Our human translators work with handwritten Arabic civil records, including faint or older scans. Reference documents help: in this story the customer sent his passport, a family registration sheet and a typed list of the fields, which gave the translator references for entries that were hard to read on the scan.
How fast can a one-page Arabic certificate be translated?
The exact time is confirmed in your quote. In this story the quote gave one business day as the standard delivery for one page, the customer paid on Saturday morning, the deadline was set for Monday at 5 PM, and the translation arrived on Sunday evening. Same-day delivery is available for single-page certificates when a filing cannot wait. Explore our translation errors in official documents for details.
Does USCIS require a notarized translation?
USCIS asks for a full English translation certified by the translator as complete and accurate, with a statement of their competence. Notarization is not part of that rule, but some customers add it for their own records or other offices. Notarization means a notary witnesses the translator’s signature on the certificate; it does not certify the translation’s content.
What happens if I find a mistake in my translation?
Tell us which field is wrong and what it should say. Revisions are free for 30 days after delivery. In this story the customer reported that a month had been read as January instead of September, our consultant confirmed the correct date in writing, and the revised file went out a little over five hours later.
Should I send other documents along with the one I need translated?
If the original is faint or handwritten, yes. A passport, ID card or family registration extract helps the translator confirm names, places and dates. Say clearly which document you want translated, as this customer did, so the others are used for reference only and are not added to the order.
Will I get a PDF or a printed copy?
Both are available. A PDF may be all you need when you file online, which includes the translation and the certificate of translation. A printed, mailed copy can be added when an office asks for paper. In this story the customer asked for a PDF only, and everything was delivered by email.
Need an Arabic Certificate Translated for USCIS?
Send a clear scan of every page, any reference documents, and the spelling of each name as it appears on your passport. Get a free quote or call 1-800-230-7918. Vanan Services has served customers since 2009 and is rated 4.9 stars from 970+ Google reviews.
This story is based on a real Vanan Services order. Names, dates and other identifying details have been removed to protect our customer’s privacy.
