Does a US consulate require a notarized translation?

Key answer

No. State and USCIS require a full English translation with the translator's signed statement of accuracy and competence. No notary or apostille is required.

Breakdown from the official rules

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

For an immigrant visa the State Department requires that documents not in English, or not in the official language of the country where you apply, come with a certified translation in which the translator signs that the translation is accurate and that they are competent to translate.
For USCIS the rule is the same in substance: a full English translation and the translator's certificate of completeness, accuracy and competence (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)). Neither rule requires notarization.
Do not confuse the translation with the document. 22 CFR 42.65 requires a certified copy of the birth record and other records - a document from the issuing authority, not a notarized copy of a translation. Country-specific document rules are in the Reciprocity table on travel.state.gov.
The rules do not forbid AI translation, but a person signs: they state that the translation is accurate and that they are competent in the language. A machine draft that no competent person has checked does not match that statement.

This breakdown is built on published USCIS and State Department rules, linked below; the practical notes are generalized community experience. Reference material, not legal advice.

What the State Department actually requires

The civil documents page for immigrant visas (copy of Jul 4, 2026; travel.state.gov did not open on Sep 30, 2026 because of Cloudflare protection) says that all documents not in English, or in the official language of the country from which you are applying, must come with certified translations, and the translation must include the translator's signed statement that it is accurate and that the translator is competent.

When uploading to CEAC for NVC, the certified translation goes in one file with the original: the native-language document first, then the English translation (civil documents FAQ, copy of Jul 13, 2026).

Some consulates and panel physicians ask for more than the general rule, for example a vaccination certificate translated in a particular form. Those are local instructions: follow them, but do not carry them over to other consulates.

Notary, apostille and translation agencies

Neither the State Department rule nor 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires notarizing a translation or an apostille on it. An agency stamp is not required either: what is required is the translator's signature under the statement of accuracy and competence.

An apostille concerns the document itself, not the translation. Who issues each document and in what form, country by country, is in the Reciprocity table on travel.state.gov.

If a consulate's own instructions explicitly ask for a notarized translation, follow them - but that is that consulate's requirement, not the general rule.

Translating with AI

In August 2026 the chats argued whether officers check translations for machine translation. The rules check not the tool but the result and the signature: if a machine made the draft, the person signing the certificate must know both languages and review the whole translation.

Signing a translation you cannot check means making an inaccurate statement in the packet. Whether you may translate your own documents is covered separately (link below).

What the chats ask

From July to September 2026 there were about 20 questions on translations for the consulate, NVC and USCIS, most of them in the K-1 chat and the general immigration chat: whether a notarized translation is needed for the interview (Jul 15, Jul 26, Aug 24), whether a birth certificate or vaccination record needs an apostille (Jul 15, Jul 20, Sep 3), whether to translate the passport (Jul 25, Jul 27), whether an agency stamp is required (Aug 20), whether to translate from a copy or the original (Sep 13), whether bank letters need translating (Sep 25), and whether everything can be translated with GPT with a translator certificate attached (Jul 23, Aug 22).

The rules give the same answer in every one of these cases: a full translation with the translator's signed statement; a notary or apostille on the translation is not a State Department or USCIS requirement, only a consulate's own instruction where it gives one.

Sources

State Department: Step 7, Collect Civil Documents (copy of Jul 4, 2026)
The site did not open on Sep 30, 2026 (Cloudflare); text checked against a web archive copy.
8 CFR 103.2(b)(3): translations for USCIS (eCFR, checked Sep 30, 2026)
22 CFR 42.65: supporting documents for immigrant visas (eCFR)
State Department: Civil Documents FAQs (copy of Jul 13, 2026)

All questions on: Document translations All questions on: Consulate and interview All questions on: The petition and formatting