A certified translator is the professional in charge of translating documents that need to be backed by law. These kind of translations aren’t required for every document you need to translate.

Do you need your documents to be translated, but don’t know if you’ll need a certified translation? So, when is it necessary to hire a certified translator? Keep reading to find out.

For the people who are looking for translation services, the profile of a certified translator or official translator isn’t widely known, or even confusing.

Certified translations

Legal documents, whether public or private, are the ones that require a certified translation. These documents are valid because certified translators are endorsed by the Government of their own country. So, not all translators can take up these assignments.

What’s the difference between a certified and a normal translation?

A normal translation is a faithful transcription into the target language the client requested. Also, the document should be similar to the original in format. Although they are of high quality, they are not sealed or endorsed so they don’t have official validity.

A document translated by a certified translator has the professional’s seal, signature and certification to validate the document to public or private organizations that require this type of translation.

Which documents require a certified translation?

Any document can be certified. However, not every document needs to be certified. Usually birth certificates, passports, corporate agreements, marriage certificates, degree certificates, testaments, among other legal documents required a certified translation.

When do you need the services of a certified translator?

This service is necessary if the documents to be translated must be submitted to a Government agency, if they are required for judicial proceedings, or an embassy proceeding. The translator’s seal guarantees that the document from abroad has been translated without fraudulent intent or errors.

For example, foreign import/export companies, whose language isn’t your own, will request some legal documents to proceed with the administrative procedures. Those translated documents need to be endorsed by the Government of the country that issues them..

Nevertheless, if you still have doubts about certified translations and don’t know if your documents need this certification, the best thing to do is check the specific requirements the process needs, or to go directly to the agency to avoid any mistake during the process.