Translation Question - Residencia Rentista

[TruchoTango]

I have a very specific question.

I am pursuing the residencia rentista. Some of you have been following my saga.

I got an income verification from my attorney, and his package included a multi-page, monthly statement from my brokerage account.

The attorny got the whole enchilada notarized and apostilled and an acquaintance brought it down to me. I took the documents to the translator. There was some confusion by her assistant and something was lost in communication. I only needed the income verification letter, notary and apostille translated - not the monthly statement. She did all that, plus she translated the multi-page monthly statement.

When I got the price, I was surprised and once we talked, we realized there had been a misunderstanding. It was mostly her fault, so she accepted a lower price of about 800 pesos. She was pretty bummed though.

The financial statement translation is interesting, it is mostly numbers with words like "dividends" and "interest" translated into spanish. But 90% of the stuff is all numbers. Its a monthly statement from a brokerage, after all.

Now, here is my question:

Do I need the financial statement translated?

If so, I owe the lady the 800 pesos. I don't think I need it translated, but I could be wrong.

I ask people to answer only if they have factual knowledge.

I am looking for anyone who pursued residencia rentista and did not have their financial statement translated and was approved. Conversely, I am looking for anyone who did not have their financial statement translated and was sent away to return with translation. Either case would provide me the certainty I am looking for.

Thank you.

 

[Girino]

I can't help you about your translation requirement, but I wanted to defend the translator.

You see a bunch of numbers with little to none translation, a translator sees a layout to reproduce, a series of numbers each different from the other which have to be carefully typed one-by-one because failure to do so could mean your application is rejected, and she puts her stamp and signature to certify that her translation is accurate and she could be prosecuted if the translation is found wrong or misleading on purpose.

How long do you think it takes to do so? Why don't you try to re-type in English the statement for yourself and see that it would probably takes you 2-3 hours of work? All for 800 pesos (50 USD). And you are also held responsible before a court of law!

I think this translator is very cheap, she is working below the minimum fees set by the Colegio de Traductores Publico de BA. She admitted her mistake and gave you a discount. She probably worked half to a full day for 800 pesos. Would you?

I wouldn't.

 

[steveinbsas]

Did you write this:

I got an income verification from my attorney, and his package included a multi-page, monthly statement from my brokerage account...I took the documents to the translator. There was some confusion by her assistant and something was lost in communication. I only needed the income verification letter, notary and apostille translated - not the monthly statement. She did all that, plus she translated the multi-page monthly statement.

When I got the price, I was surprised and once we talked, we realized there had been a misunderstanding. It was mostly her fault, so she accepted a lower price of about 800 pesos. She was pretty bummed though.

The financial statement translation is interesting, it is mostly numbers with words like "dividends" and "interest" translated into spanish. But 90% of the stuff is all numbers. Its a monthly statement from a brokerage, after all.

Now, here is my question:

Do I need the financial statement translated?

If so, I owe the lady the 800 pesos. I don't think I need it translated, but I could be wrong.

About the same translator that you wrote this?

I searched around and found an excellent official translator.

She charged half of what the others wanted. She works out of Recoleta -- Talcahuano y Paraguay to be exact.

She got the work done in 3 days (the others said it would be a matter of weeks).

And she delivered it to me.

I could not have asked for a better experience.

If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll give you the contact info.

If so, please post her name in a new thread with the words "English translator in Recoleta" in the title so others can find her using the search feature without having to ask you for her contact info.

I suggest in your post that you add a notation for others to be clear (in writing) about which documents they give her assistant that should be translated and which one they don't.

Or you could add a suggestion telling others to provide only the documents that they want translated. That makes sense to me.

You were obviously very fortunate to find someone who would do the translations much faster and at a much lower rate than any of the others you contacted. I can imagine any (if not all) of them would have charged you at least $800 pesos more just for expedited service.

If I was in your place I would not hesitate to pay the translator the additional $800 pesos for the translation of the financial statements. If you want to use her (bargain) services in the future, leaving her "pretty bummed" at this point may not lead to that result.

At this point it's obvious (and understandable) that you are looking for one of us to "justify" your not paying for the translation of the financial statements, but even if someone else recently had untranslated financial statements accepted by migraciones that doesn't necessarily mean yours would be.

When I went to migraciones to renew my temporary residency another member of this forum (who I met at Captain Dave's) told me that his renewal had been placed on hold until he returned with a new Argentine police report. The website did not yet include this new requirement. I didn't have one so I left and returned a few days letter with a new report. The gal reviewing my documents never asked for it.

And in all of the years I had temporary residency (visa pensionado), I never provided any bank or brokerage statements, but I had a certified copy of my "irrevocable trust" (with a cover letter from the lawyer who wrote it) and each year I provided an updated letter from an officer at the bank where the monthly checks from the brokerage were deposited.

It will be interesting to see if migraciones accepts an income verification letter from an attorney or a real estate broker (two current visa applications are relying on them). I could be wrong, but I believe that CPA's, licensed investment brokers and bank officers face stricter regulations regarding what they can "certify" in writing than an attorney or real estate broker/agent. I wonder if migraciones makes a similar distinction.

You will only know for certain if migraciones would have accepted the untranslated statements this time when you ask them. Since they require a formal translation for a passport that does not have the words "name" or "date and place of birth" in Spanish, this is not something I would leave to chance.If the answer is yes and you didn't have the translations you would be spending more time and possibly more money to get them than the $800 pesos you got chopped off the amount you "owed" the translator.

I know you are seeking an answer from someone who has submitted bank or financial statements that were accepted by migraciones without translation, but even if it has happened in the past and (it probably has), it doesn't mean you will have the same luck. I didn't have to submit an FBI report when I applied for temporary residency in 2006 but I am sure that I would have to submit one if I applied now. I might also have to provide the bank or brokerage statements (that migraciones never asked me to provide).