When a Birth Certificate Is Full of Seals, a Hologram, and Barcodes

What We Received

A client submitted a Dominican birth certificate — an Acta Inextensa de Nacimiento — for a [Spanish birth certificate translation for USCIS](/translate/spanish-birth-certificate). The single page is covered in non-text security features — a hologram, seals, and barcodes.

The hologram sits at the top left. The round Central Electoral Board seal overlaps the lower text. Two barcodes and a faint clerk audit line run along the foot.

The board's overseas civil registry office in New Jersey issued the document, not an office in the Dominican Republic itself.

How We Handled It

We translated every text element into English and described every non-text element in brackets. The round seal became '[SEAL: Central Electoral Board — New Jersey Office]', with its wording rendered in English rather than left in Spanish.

The two barcodes were marked '[Barcode]' at the positions where they appear. The faint audit line at the foot — a clerk's name with a date and time — was transcribed where legible.

The holographic seal has no text, so we marked it '[Holographic security seal]' at the top left. Part of the round seal's lower wording was worn, so we marked that portion partially legible rather than guessing. We then recorded these decisions in a Translator's Note.

Expert Note

"The numeric dates on this Dominican birth certificate use the DD/MM/YYYY (day/month/year) format; the written-out dates have been translated into English, and the parenthetical numeric dates are reproduced exactly as in the original. A holographic security seal in the upper-left corner is marked '[Holographic security seal]'. The round seal bears the legend 'Junta Central Electoral' (Central Electoral Board) and names its New Jersey office; its text has been rendered in English, and the portion of the lower wording that is worn is noted as partially legible. The two barcodes and the faint printed audit line at the foot of the page have each been noted at their positions."

Mateo GarcíaSenior Immigration Translation Specialist

The Outcome

The certified translation was delivered to the client for their USCIS filing. Every seal, the hologram, both barcodes, and the faint audit line were accounted for in the translation.

We apply the same approach to Dominican civil documents issued by the board’s overseas offices: translate all seal and stamp text into English, and represent every non-text feature so nothing on the page is left unexplained.