sworn Translation
Sworn translation services
EuroMinds Linguistics provides sworn translation or certified translation services for legal and official documents as well as legalisation
A sworn or certified translation has to be signed, stamped and dated by a sworn translator (who is accredited by the Court of Justice) to certify that it is a true translation of the original text. A certified translation carries the same legal validity as the source document.
Official authorities and academic institutions generally require sworn or certified translations to guarantee that the translation is a true version of the original document. When you require translation of documents such as diplomas, birth or marriage certificates, divorce papers, passports or driving licenses, you might need a certified or sworn translation or even a legalised translation for international use.
A sworn translation is typically provided as a hard copy.
We can provide sworn translations and legalised translations in most European countries.
In the UK, the concept of sworn translators does not exist. In this case, the translation needs to be notarised by a Notary Public.
Legalisation / Apostille
Belgium
A legalisation and / or apostille might be required for documents which will be used internationally in countries working in compliance with The Hague Convention.
A legalised translation is a sworn or certified translation which additionally gets signed and stamped by the Court of Justice, where the translator is sworn, in order to authenticate the translator’s signature.
If you require an apostille, the sworn and legalised translations would also need to receive a certificate (apostille) issued by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Germany
If your sworn translation needs to be used abroad, it has to be either legalised or provided with an apostille. The apostille authenticates the signature of the sworn or certified translator. An apostille is valid in all countries which are members of The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (sometimes also called The Apostille Convention or Apostille Treaty). If the country in which you want to use the sworn translation is not a member of The Hague Convention, the document will need to be legalised.
UK
A sworn translation is a translation carried out by a sworn translator, i.e. a translator who is sworn in front of a court. Sworn translators exist in many European countries, however, this system does not exist in the UK. If you need a sworn translation, the translation will need to be notarised by a public notary, who confirms the identity of the translator or translation agency. A notarised translation is often needed, when a document is translated from English into another language and has to be used overseas for the information of another government, authorities or legal bodies.
In the UK, a lot of organisations accept certified translations. We can provide certified translations. A certified translation is a translation with a certification by the translation agency or the translator to certify that the translation is, to the best of the agency’s or translator’s knowledge, a true and faithful rendering of the original text. This is the least formal type of legalisation and usually sufficient for non-governmental organisations such as schools or hospitals. Even if you need a document such as a marriage or birth certificate translated from another language into English for use in the UK, a certified translation is enough.
An apostille is a document which authenticates the signatures and can be used in any country which is a member of The Hague Convention. In the UK, apostilles can be issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
All your documents will be handled confidentially.