Calling Taiwan for Clarifications

Today (3/11/2010) I wanted to make a phone call to Taiwan asking for clarification. I went to the CSS website and it says later on after the applicant finishes the online registration, he needs to mail the verified/authenticated diploma & transcript (translation needed), along with other required documents to the agency.

Translation needed? Crap.

When I was in Taiwan, my friend told me he just translated on his own. But I forgot to ask him what the translation is for! I did translate my diploma and I did send it to TECO, thinking that’s what the translation is for. But when the TECO lady called me, she didn’t know what the translation was for. She told me TECO doesn’t provide any translation service and if I wanted TECO to verify/authenticate the translation (that I did myself), TECO couldn’t do it because it had to be a literal translation. It sounds like TECO requires it to be notarized.

So when I read about the “(translation need)” on the CSS website, I got anxious. Was I suppose to have my diploma notarized first before mailing it to TECO? That’s what I wanted to find out.

I called the agency in Taiwan and ask whether the diploma needs to be translated first and then authenticated by TECO or authenticated first then translated.

He told me authenticated first then translated. (whew!) AND he told me I could just translate it myself.

PTL!!! (So, that’s what my friend meant! haha… would have been help to know!)

So I printed out the whole instruction on the CSS website and now I’m waiting for the online registration to open on 4/1/2010. (of course, waiting for my diplomas and transcripts to be authenticated by TECO and mailed over to China too, but that can wait a little bit.)