Accurate Certified Passport Translations That You Can Rely On Personal | Professional | Precise
Passports are one of the most important personal documents and often need to be translated for various official procedures for immigration-related purposes.
They are highly sensitive, as they contain critical personal information about the bearer, so particular care must be taken when translating them.
Dixon Associates has over 50 years of experience translating passports, and our team of expert translators will ensure that your translation meets the legal requirements of the country and purpose for which you need it.
Certified translation of your passport in just 1–2 working days.
Prices start from £65.00–£85.00, depending on the language pair.
Why do I Need to Translate a Passport?
Passport translations are most commonly needed for immigration purposes, as well as various other official procedures, including:
Applying for work or education abroad
Applying for your first passport in a new country
Applying for a visa
Applying for a new citizenship
Proving your nationality and/or identity when registering a birth, death or marriage
Certifying a Translation of a Passport
Passport translations for governmental authorities often need to be notarised, and frequently need to be legalised/apostilled, in order to be accepted by the receiving organisation or authority. For some less formal purposes, such as work or study applications, certification might be sufficient.
Only translators and translation companies who are members of a recognised industry body may certify translations. Dixon Associates is a member of both the Association of Translation Companies (ATC) and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), so you will see our stamps from both of these bodies on all our certified translations (except ‘sworn’ translations, due to their specific requirements). This stamp is an official seal of accuracy and quality and is recognised by all major organisations.
We will work with you to ensure that we understand and meet the certification requirements of the authority or organisation to which you will be submitting the translation.
Types of Certification
Certified Translation is our standard level of certification and is generally accepted by most organisations.
The translation is stamped with our ATC stamp and accompanied by a verification letter bearing our ATC stamp and ITI seal.
This letter contains a declaration in the target language confirming that the translation is a true and accurate representation of the original document, and that the translator is suitably qualified and experienced.
Certified translation typically takes around 1–2 working days, and next-day delivery is usually possible on request.
Notarisation provides a higher level of guarantee to the recipient of the translation.
This is achieved by a notary public verifying that the signature and stamps on the translation and verification letter are genuine.
Notarisation is most often needed if the translation is to be submitted to government agencies or legal bodies such as courts.
Notarisation typically adds an extra working day on top of standard certified translation, so takes around 2–3 working days in total.
Apostille (also known as legalisation) is the highest level of certification typically available in the UK. It involves sending the translated document to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, who provide an apostille certificate confirming that the signature(s) and stamp(s) on the original document (and, if requested, our translation) are genuine.
Apostille is typically required if you plan to use your documents outside the UK in countries that are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention. A list of countries can be found here.
Apostille/legalisation is the most time-consuming form of certification, mostly due to postage. This generally takes around a week after the translation is completed, so the whole process is generally completed in around 7–10 working days.
Sworn translation only exists in certain countries, and in the UK it does not.
Precisely what this involves varies between jurisdictions, but typically involves the translation being officially ‘sworn in’ by a local court.
Alternatively, in some jurisdictions, the translator needs to present their translation to a solicitor/lawyer and ‘swear’ that it is accurate.
Sworn translation is only needed (and, indeed, only possible) in countries where the concept exists and when specifically requested by the organisation to which you are submitting the translation.
In areas where the concept does not exist, notarisation provides an equivalent level of guarantee.
To find out more about how we can help you, speak to one of the team today by phone on +44 (0)1952 288 230 or by email to info@dixon-associates.co.uk
