Translation of Legal and Court documents
Docsbase offers a range of Certified Translation, Apostille, Consular Legalisation, and related services from our main offices in the UK, Ireland, the US, and Switzerland. We also maintain a worldwide network of skilled translators and localisation experts to whom we can turn in special cases.
We are very often called upon to have legal documents apostilled or made usable by overseas governments, or to have overseas documents translated, certified, and legalised for use in the UK and Europe.
What is Certified Translation?
Certified translation is a big part of document legalisation, but it is a separate process. Legalisation is about giving another country the assurances they need to accept an overseas document for official use. Certified translation is about making sure that officials in another country can understand the content of those documents completely, and going through eh right processes so that they know they can trust the skill and honesty of the translation.
Each country (and sometimes each embassy) has its own systems and set of standards for certified translation, and we have become experts at giving them exactly what they need to accept and process those documents quickly. For example, sometimes a certified translation can only be accepted if it is conducted after the original document has been apostilled or otherwise legalised for use in the country in question. In other cases, a document and its certified translation can be apostilled or legalised as a single combined document. When this is possible, this is the course we take – it saves time and money for everyone.
Why is Certified Translation So Important to the Immigration Process?
The immigration and work visa process varies dramatically from one country to another, and of course different countries often use very different languages for their official documents and records.
These documents might be in an array of different languages, or even in regional dialects of major languages which an unskilled translator might not understand. Immigration officials cannot make use of these documents unless they can understand the content, as well as trusting the authenticity of the original.
That is what certified translation achieves. It makes sure that government, immigration or legal officials can trust the translated content of your documents without question. Our specialised legal and immigration documents team understands both the official and un-official requirements that the people processing your case use to decide whether or not to accept a certified translation, and do everything possible to make sure your documents are accepted quickly.
When Might I Need Certified Translation of Legal or Immigration Documents?
There are a number of scenarios where you might have to supply certified translations of overseas documents.
Many people travel abroad to launch a start-up, open a business or to live in a country offering a better life for them and their family. To do so, they must often apply for the right kind of visa. Visa applications can be complex, can take a long time to process, and in some circumstances can even be competitive – there may only be so many of a particular class of visas that can be offered in a single year.
If you are seeking a visa to live or work in the UK or Ireland, for example, you will need to provide quite a bit of paperwork from your home country. You may also have to provide similar records from other countries in which you have lived or worked.
If you seek to have an overseas court or legal case decision recognised by the UK or Irish courts, or if you wish to present documents created overseas for evidence in a UK case, you may also need to have these documents processed so that they can be recognised and used locally. The same is true if you wish to enforce the terms of a will, a document granting power of attorney or formal consent in a jurisdiction other than where it was originally created.
Docsbase can provide certified translations of all such documents, as well as providing a range of related visa or document legalisation services.
What Types of Legal and Immigration Documents are Commonly Translated?
We are regularly called upon to deliver certified translations of:
- Purchase Agreements
- Loan Agreements
- Mortgage Contracts
- Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
- Offers of Employment
- Contracts of Employment
- Commercial Contracts
- Court Decisions Relating to Divorce
- Court Agreements Relating to Parental Custody
- Certificates of marriage
- Certificates of Adoption
How Does Docsbase Actually Conduct Certified Translation?
The exact process of certified translation varies, depending on the nation in which the documents need to be used. Countries like France, Slovakia, Spain and require officially recognised translators to prepare translations of any documents which are to be recognised by their courts or government agencies. Often, such a sworn translator can self-certify their work, and no further legalisation is necessary. In other cases, the translation and the original document must still be notarised and apostilled or legalised through that government’s embassy or MOFA.
In countries like the UK there is no one single standard for what constitutes an acceptable certified translation. Sometimes documents or their translations are rejected for minor clerical errors, for example. We understand all of the different standards, and can make sure that all of your documents are certified and legalised to the standards of the body tat will be using them.
This is why the expertise Docsbase brings to the table is so important when having legal or immigration documents translated. Our team has a deep understanding of the policies and standards these documents have to achieve. They have developed close working relationships with many of the officials making these decisions as well. This lets us provide you with fast, reliable service that no one else in the industry can match.
