Chicago Asylum Office
Certified Translation for the USCIS Chicago Asylum Office
Eagle Translate prepares certified translations of foreign language documents for filings handled by the USCIS Chicago Asylum Office in Chicago, IL. USCIS asylum office at 181 W. Madison Street, Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60602. Serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Idaho and Wisconsin. By appointment only, Monday through Friday; it does not accept walk-in requests or provide in-person information services. We are an independent translation company and are not affiliated with USCIS or with any government agency. A certified translation costs $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, with no separate certification fee, and is delivered in 2 to 3 business days as a PDF holding the complete translation and a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
Pricing
Exact prices, shown before you pay
Standard
$19.95 per page
3 to 5 business days
A professional translation with digital delivery.
Certified
$24.95 per page
2 to 3 business days
A certified translation accepted for official use.
Premium
$39.95 per page
1 to 2 business days
A certified translation, translated first.
One page is up to 250 words.
Filing locally
Filing at the USCIS Chicago Asylum Office
Your certified translation is delivered as a PDF you file yourself, so it works with every office below. Nothing needs to be picked up and there is no local counter to visit, because the whole service is online.
USCIS field offices
- Chicago Asylum Office, Chicago, IL. USCIS asylum office at 181 W. Madison Street, Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60602. Serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Idaho and Wisconsin. By appointment only, Monday through Friday; it does not accept walk-in requests or provide in-person information services.
Immigration courts
- Chicago Immigration Court, Chicago. Listed on the EOIR immigration court directory as the immigration court for Chicago.
Consulates
- Consulate General of Spain in Chicago, Chicago. 180 North Michigan Ave, Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60601, per the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs site.
- Consulate General of France in Chicago, Chicago. Listed among the consulates general of France in the United States on the official French diplomatic site.
- Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chicago, Chicago. 676 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3200, Chicago, IL 60611, per the German missions site.
- Consulate General of Italy in Chicago, Chicago. Confirmed on the Embassy of Italy in Washington consular network page.
- Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chicago, Chicago. Confirmed on the official Netherlands Worldwide list of Dutch missions in the United States. It is the only Dutch consulate general among these three cities.
- Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, Chicago. Long-established consulate general serving one of the largest Mexican-origin communities outside the Southwest.
- Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago, Chicago. Long-established consulate general relevant to Portuguese speakers in the Midwest.
- Consulate General of the Republic of Türkiye in Chicago, Chicago. Long-established Turkish consulate general serving the Midwest.
State rules
Apostilles and notarization in Illinois
Apostilles in Illinois are issued by the Illinois Secretary of State Index Department. It issues apostilles for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention and Certificates of Authority for countries that are not, with the same fee and requirements for both.
The fee is 2 dollars per apostille or certificate, and each document requires its own separate apostille or certificate. Mail requests take 7 to 14 business days; in-person requests are usually processed while you wait.
Before authentication, documents must be certified by a government official or notarized by an Illinois Notary Public. For transcripts and diplomas, the school's records official must certify and sign the record in the presence of a notary who then notarizes that statement.
Requests can be mailed to the Index Department at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 100, Chicago, or made in person at the Springfield office (2701 S. Dirksen Parkway), the Chicago office, and select DMV+ locations in Chicago, Aurora, Champaign, Lake Zurich, and Melrose Park.
The Secretary of State states it does not provide translation services and that a document needing translation must be translated and notarized before applying for authentication. Illinois does not require a county-level certification step before the state apostille.
USCIS itself does not require notarized translations for Illinois filings. It requires a certified translation, meaning the translator signs a statement attesting that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate.
Notarization still matters in Illinois for the apostille chain: the Secretary of State requires a translated document to be notarized before it can be authenticated for use abroad.
Illinois law authorizes electronic and remote notarization under rules administered by the Illinois Secretary of State.
Documents
Documents commonly translated for the Chicago Asylum Office
Spanish is the most common language other than English in Chicago. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data show roughly a quarter of city residents speak Spanish at home.
Chicago's Mexican-American community, historically centered in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, is among the largest in the United States outside the Southwest, alongside a large Puerto Rican community.
Chicago has deep German and Italian heritage communities dating to the nineteenth century, and both countries maintain consulates general in the city today.
How it works
Order online from anywhere in Illinois
Step 1
Upload and get an instant quote
Send us your document, choose your languages, and see your price right away.
Step 2
A professional translator translates it
A qualified professional translator translates your document.
Step 3
Reviewed for accuracy and certified
Your translation is reviewed for accuracy and certified with a signed certificate of accuracy.
Step 4
Receive your certified translation
You receive your certified translation, ready for official use.
$24.95 per page, certified, delivered in 2 to 3 business days.
Questions
Questions about translations for the Chicago Asylum Office
- Does every foreign language document in an asylum filing need an English translation?
- Yes. Federal regulation requires a full English translation for any foreign language document submitted to USCIS, and for any foreign language document offered by a party in immigration court proceedings.
- Does the certification have to be notarized?
- Notarization is not named in the USCIS regulation, in the immigration court regulation, or in the sample certificate EOIR publishes. What is required is a signed statement of competence, completeness, and accuracy, with the translator's identifying details.
- Does a summary translation count?
- No. Both authorities call for a full English translation of the document rather than a summary or a partial rendering.
- Will a translation from Eagle Translate be accepted here?
- Every certified translation we deliver carries the translator's signed statement that the translation is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent to translate, which is the certification 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires for a foreign language document filed with USCIS. The officer reviewing your file decides on your evidence, and we do not speak for USCIS.
- Do I file the original document as well as the translation?
- Keep the original. A certified translation is filed alongside the foreign language document rather than in place of it, and it is common to be asked for both. The certificate names the source document it belongs to, so the two can be matched to each other.
- What happens to stamps, seals, and signatures?
- They are not dropped. Stamps, seals, signatures, and reference codes are described in bracketed form at the position they hold in the original, and the page structure is preserved, so a reviewer can set the translation beside the source document and follow it line by line.
- How is terminology from another country's legal system handled?
- A term with no exact United States equivalent is rendered to carry the meaning it has in the system that issued it, rather than swapped for an American term that would change what the document says. Where a term needs explaining, the explanation sits in brackets beside it instead of replacing it.
- A document has been asked for at short notice. How quickly can it be done?
- Certified delivery is 2 to 3 business days. Through 31 December 2026 the upgrade to Premium 1 to 2 business days delivery is applied automatically at the Certified price, so the faster option costs the same as the standard one.
- What does the certificate attest to?
- It attests to the accuracy of the translation. It states in those words that it does not attest to the authenticity of the source document or to the truth of its contents. That boundary is what makes it a certification a reviewer can rely on rather than a claim about your evidence.
A translation error is ours to fix
If your certified translation is rejected because of a translation error we made, we correct it at no charge, and if the corrected translation is rejected again for that same error we refund what you paid for it. Our Refund Policy sets out the conditions and what it does not cover. Your documents are encrypted and kept confidential from start to finish.
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