Translating Hijri and Non-Gregorian Dates at Park

By Becca Matson 

Date accuracy matters in immigration filings. Birth certificates, educational diplomas, and employment records all form the foundation of a petition. When dates on these documents are altered or reformatted during translation, risks emerge. USCIS regulations require that translations be “accurate and complete.” Therefore, translations must reflect what is written in the original document, including how dates are formatted and presented. 

When translating documents from countries that use the Islamic Hijri calendar, including Saudi Arabia, much of the Gulf region, and various Muslim-majority nations, translation vendors face a critical challenge: how to handle dates that don’t conform to the Gregorian calendar system used as the US standard. 

While some translation services may take shortcuts (i.e. converting Hijri dates to approximate Gregorian equivalents or reformatting dates to match U.S. conventions), the Park team takes a more detailed approach to accurately reflect source documents.  

The Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar of approximately 354 days, meaning it does not align with the solar Gregorian calendar. Conversion requires precise calculation, and even small errors can result in discrepancies and raise red flags. Reformatted dates may not match the source document, casting doubt on the translation’s accuracy. When a translator converts a Hijri date to a Gregorian equivalent without notation, or reformats dates to match American conventions, they are arguably providing something other than what the source document contains. 

However, Park’s translation team is trained to recognize and handle non-Gregorian dates. Our translators do not convert, reformat, or standardize dates, unless the source itself provides multiple date formats. When our team identifies Hijri dates, they reproduce them exactly as presented in the source document, maintaining their original format. We include a clear translator note to signal the dates that follow the Hijri calendar. If a document contains both Hijri and Gregorian dates, we translate them exactly as they appear, without attempting to standardize them. 

Park’s translators proactively identify and flag date-related issues before the translation is delivered. When documents contain non-Gregorian dates, mixed calendar systems, ambiguous date formats, or dates that may require clarification, our team brings these issues to our client’s attention through detailed translator notes. By flagging date issues early and providing clear documentation, our clients have the information and time to make strategic choices before the case is presented to USCIS.