Are you in the UK looking for a certified translation of your documents but don’t know what the thing is? This post is meant to educate you about certified translations, and how you can get it without falling for the trap where agencies serve mediocre translations masqueraded as certified translations only to find, in the end, that they’re not valid.
This is how our translators like to define certified translation …
“Certified translation is a translation officially stamped and signed by the accredited translation agency, issued with a ‘Statement of Truth’, declaring that the translation is complete, accurate and a true representation of the original document. In short, a certified translation is a translation the accuracy of which is certified.”
Individuals who’re from non-English speaking countries living in the United Kingdom and planning to apply for documents like passports in their home country often require certified translations of birth certificate, marriage certificate, academic qualifications, etc. while applying for, say, a passport, from English to the language of the country in question.
So what certified translations would entail if you’re presently living in the UK but applying for a passport in the country of your origin is that you will have to get documents obviously in English translated to the native language of your home country.
Or simply that you were on a vacation to some non-English speaking country and got married. As you come back to the United Kingdom you will need to produce before officials the marriage certificate in the official language of the country, which is English. As a certified document translator based in the UK, Locate Translate steps in to provide fast and tailored certified translation service to meet your needs.
? Request Now: Certified English Translations of your Non-English Documents
Why Do Translations Have To Be ‘Certified’ Anyway?
When you come from a non-English speaking country to the United Kingdom, in all likelihood you’ve to submit documents to the authorities to process your application. From the Home Office to NHS to Courts of Law, all sorts of institutions get involved when processing immigration applications.
Only documents that are written in English are accepted though, necessitating translation from your native language to English of your documents. Owing to the importance these documents carry, just translation won’t suffice to allow acceptance of translated documents for official purposes.
They’ve to be certified as well. That’s why certified translation is so imperative for the official translation of documents. How we at Locate Translate do so is by issuing a ‘Statement of Truth’ which bears our stamp and signature, along with the translated document. That you can present before any Court of Law, Home Office, NHS, or any official institution you can think of in the United Kingdom, our translation is recognized by them all.
? Click Now: Best Way to Get Official Translation of Documents?
Not just in the UK, our certified translations are valid all over the world. Additionally, we don’t just offer certified translation services to individuals from the UK alone. No matter which part of the world you come from, our certified translations are tailored to meet the needs of individuals and businesses located internationally.
What Does ‘Statement Of Truth’ State?
An important component of certified translations we carry out is the statement of truth that we issue to certify translations. The purpose of issuing such a statement or certificate is to certify the accuracy of translated documents.
When we issue ‘Statement of Truth’ it will state and carry the following information:
- That the translated document is the accurate, complete and true representation or translation of the original document.
- The date the translation was carried out.
- Translator’s or representative of the agency’s full name and contact details along with a stamp and signature.
So, in a nutshell, you might want to know what is a certified translation, which we will try to answer next.
What Is A Certified Translation? Do You Need One?
Simply put, a certified translation is an officially recognised translation of a wide variety of documents, ranging from birth to marriage certificates to academic transcripts, accompanied by the signed, stamped and dated ‘Statement of Truth’ issued by the language service provider.
The purpose that certified translations serve is to enable individuals to produce before officials or authorities, such as Courts and Home Offices, acceptably translated documents.
As a registered and authorised translation agency, Locate Translate delivers quality and competitively priced certified translation services in 30+ language pairs.
? Request a FREE QUOTE on Certified Translations Now!
Besides, we tailor our translation services to cater to specific requirements of the country you’re needing documentation for. With us as your language solutions partner, we’re committed to delivering translated documents that boast accuracy and reliability and are fit for use in formal procedures without hesitation.
Moreover, as an individual, you may not be aware of requirements specified by authorities of the country in question, but as a UK-based language service provider [LSP], we’re better equipped to provide you valuable advice when it comes to specifics of certified translations.
That said, the next big question is do you need a certified translation? If ‘Yes’ when do you need one?
You need certified translations when dealing with legal documents, such as birth, marriage and academic/qualification certificates, if you’re an individual/person, requesting translation on personal behalf.
But, if you’re looking for business translations of contracts and company incorporation documents, most certainly, you need certified translation services.
Most of the time, certified translations happen to be utterly confusing for clients who have no idea what type of certified translation they might need, whether it’s sworn, notarised or legalised (Apostille) translations.
That brings us to the next topic, types of certified translations.
Different Types Of Certified Translations?
The different types of certified translations we usually come across and need, include:
- Standard Certified Translation
- Notarized Translation
- Sworn Translation
- Apostille Translation
Let’s take each type one by one, beginning with Standard Certified Translation.
Standard Certified Translation
One of the prominent certified translations in the UK, a standard certified translation is by far the most self-sufficient one to serve all legal purposes in the United Kingdom.
The full legal use it guarantees makes it a widely available service.
Need help with document translation? Write to us for certified translations now!
? hello@locatetranslate.co.uk
What happens in standard certified translation is that the translation agency in the UK officially signs and stamps the translation, and furnishes alongside the translation copy a cover letter, containing all the details and serves as the ‘Proof of Accuracy’.
Notarized Translation
Though similar in many ways to standard certified translation, Notarized translation has one crucial difference, which you need to keep in mind. The difference is that Notarized translation is stamped and signed in the presence of a public notary or solicitor.
The notary will also sign and provide an official seal to ascertain the legality of the translated documents.
Sworn Translations
Sworn translation is different from other types of certified translations in that it requires a linguist’s testimony. The linguist or translator who undertakes the translation will have to testify to the accuracy of translation before a public notary or solicitor.
Shortest to say, the linguist is required to provide testimony, assuring that he/she truthfully translated the original document in full. Often, governments outside the United Kingdom seek Sworn translations from individuals and businesses.
Apostille Translation
If you’re submitting documents overseas, what you might need is an Apostille translation, which, in practice though the same as Notarized translation, has one serious difference that you should know.
The difference is that translated documents are sent over for validation to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Apostille translation is common in Hague Convention-abiding countries.
When Do You Need A Certified Translation?
To answer in simple terms, you will need certified translations if you’re a foreigner – immigrant, student, defendant or prosecutor – and have to present foreign language documents to an immigration service agency, a regulatory authority, a court of law, or for that matter, an educational institution.
Within certified translations also, requirements vary from one country to another, one institution to another. Some will ask for certified as well as notarized translation. Others require the Just the inclusion translator’s professional qualifications may suffice in other cases.
Where Can Certified Translations Be Used?
Suffice it to say here that certified translations are imperative for legal purposes. That means you will need it when processing for immigration, submitting college applications, business filings and dealings.
Many real-life situations necessitate certified translations. A wide variety of documents need a certified translation, including standard certificates, official papers, legal documents, business and commercial papers, personal certificates, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, to name a few.
From the above discussion it’s already clear that you certainly need a certified translation, but what we’re dealing with now is when do you need it?
People from all walks of life – students, businesses, professionals, immigrants – when do I need a certified translation of documents?
Reasons to officially certify your translations before it’s authorized as a legal document are many. Foremost of which is its use for legal purposes. Therefore, whenever you need documents for legal purposes you will need certified translation.
Let’s suppose for a minute you’ve emigrated to the United Kingdom from India and have a son who was born here. Obviously, his birth certificate, issued in the UK, is in the official language of England that is English.
Let’s assume you wanted to apply for the Indian passport for your son, which entails presenting before officials the birth certificate in the native language of your home country [Hindi in the case of India]. For this, you couldn’t just translate the birth certificate from English to Hindi all by yourself and expect officials to accept it as a valid document.
Instead, what you need in such cases is certified translation carried out by a reliable translation agency. Similarly, the contracts and patents require authorisation through official translation.
Certified Translations for Legal Paperwork
Let’s consider the case of legal paperwork.
In the domain of law, you come across documented files of court hearings or trials. For such legal paperwork, a certified translation is imperative.
Therefore, for the sort of legal paperwork, such as trial transcripts, evidence, court hearings (recorded or documented) in another language, certified English translations of any non-English documents is necessary, especially if the documents are to be used for official purposes, court proceedings in the present case.
Official use of the legal documents counted above is tied to the certified translations of such documents.
Certified Translations for Immigration
The second most common situation where the certified translation is imperative is that of immigration.
If you’re about to apply for a permit for a temporary visit to a foreign country or seek permission to migrate permanently, know that the first thing required of you is certified translations of documents.
The thing is immigration bureau of the country you want to migrate to will ask for documents. However, documents that are in a language other than the official language of the country you’re emigrating to are required to be translated into the language native to the country.
Not just translated but certified as well.
Individuals moving to foreign countries need a full and certified official translation of documents not written in English.
Even the visual appearance of original and translated documents should perfectly match when performing certified translations.
To say the least, a certified translated document should be the exact clone of the original one! But, of course, in the language official to the country, you’re planning the migration to.
Certified Translations of your Qualifications
First and foremost, get all your non-English documents, such as qualification certificates, transcripts, diplomas, etc. translated and certified by a reliable agency like Locate Translate.
You will need it when applying to study in the UK, for example. Doesn’t matter where you come from or what subjects do you want to study when applying for admission to a foreign university.
As long as you’ve your non-English documents accurately translated into English, or the language native to the country you’re applying for admission to the university, you will face no problem securing it.
Can I Translate and Certify My Own Documents?
Many people have this question that can they translate and certify their own documents given that they’re fluent speakers in both the source and target language.
Just because you know a language or two does not qualify you to translate the documents and then certify them on your own, despite you being, as you claim, a polyglot! This is not the way certified translations work!
Documents due to be presented before officials or public authorities have to bear the seal, stamp and signature of an accredited translation agency registered with the government, which Locate Translate is.
So, don’t do it on your own lest you risk losing the legality of your documents. Much better would be to get in touch with a reliable translation agency like Locate Translate to do the job of officially translating your documents for you.
? We understand you’re busy preparing to leave for a foreign university, or if you’re an immigrant, busy getting documentation done to better your prospects in the United Kingdom and that’s why we’ve created a hands-off, fully managed translation service: Certified Translations UK.
Let us handle the burden of translating your documents while you do what matters the most to you!
Certified Translations In 4 Steps
The process of certified translations doesn’t have to be complicated when at Locate Translate we’ve streamlined it into 4 easy-to-follow steps.
→ Firstly request a QUICK QUOTE from us by visiting site and filling one of our contact forms, or emailing us your documents [to be translated] directly at hello@locatetranslate.co.uk.
→ One of our Account Managers – by the way, we assign each project a dedicated Account Manager to further streamline the process and bring efficiency to the communication between our agency and our clients – will get back to you with a QUOTE within 30 minutes.
→ Once we get the go-ahead from you and both agree to the terms we set for each other, we will begin the translation and certification process.
→ The finished translation will be delivered to you within the agreed deadline with unmatched speed, quality, and pricing that is competitive.
Commonly Used Documents That Require Certified Translations
A wide array of documents need certified translation to and from English when presenting to the English and non-English authorities, respectively. In case you’re wondering what are some of the common documents that require certified translations, here’s a list:
- Birth Certificate
- Death Certificate
- Marriage Certificate
- Divorce Certificate
- Academic Transcripts, Diplomas, Certificates
- Driver’s License
- Adopting Papers
- Insurance Documents
- Medical Reports
- Immigration Documents
- Transcripts of Court Trials & Proceedings
- Documents Required for Visa Applications
- Legal Documents for Court Cases
- Criminal Record Checks for Recruitment
- Patent Filings
- Contracts
- Bank Statements & Reports
A Practical Example to Understand Certified Translation?
A student named Mark graduated from a Russian university and now wants to enrol at one of England’s top universities for higher studies.
To be able to enrol for higher studies in England, Mark would have to do the certified translation from French into English of all his documents.
Mark got in touch with Locate Translate and received in no time a certified translation of all his French documents to English. Once Mark completes his higher studies in English and prepares to return to Russia, he will again need a certified translation of his documents, but this time from English to French.
But this time he knows where to go for quality and affordable certified translation services and will happily turn to Locate Translate that offers certified translation in 30+ languages.
Is Translation Agency Must for Certified Translations?
If you need certified translation services, it certainly is a good idea to deploy the expertise of a translation agency in the field of certified translations. Going your way might prove disastrous in the long run and take the wind out of your case!
Particularly, in situations where so much is at stake, including when immigrating to another country, launching your company in a foreign country, or applying for a foreign college/university, where rules and regulations are often stringent and need expert guidance.
Think of trial evidence. Can you deal with such complicated yet delicate paperwork on your own without legal and linguistic consul? I don’t think so! Therefore, you must bring onboard a reputed translation agency to help you with certified translations of documents.
IS Certified Translation Always Necessary?
No, the certified translation isn’t necessary always and in all circumstances. If you need to have some document translated for a personal purpose, a normal translation without having to certify it would suffice.
Suppose, you want family letters translated into another language, this doesn’t require certification of any sort. After all, you’re not sending personal letters to government authorities.
However, for official purposes, the certified translation is an absolute must whether you’re in the UK or anywhere else in the world.
Choose Locate Translate for Certified Translation Services and enjoy peace of mind. We will do the hard thing while you do other things high on priority for you!
We issue authenticity certificates signed on our letterhead paper with your translated document and follow ISO quality procedures and processes. Get assured accurate translations every time you work with us. Email us for fast and competitively priced certified translations at hello@locatetranslate.co.uk or give us a call at +44 208 609 4852
Join Our Newsletter
We’re committed to your privacy. Locate Translate uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our privacy policy.