There are generally two types of Certified Translation practices in different countries. First, the countries that require the translator to sign under oath certifying the document is accurate. The second are the countries that require a Sworn Translation.

The term Certified Translation in reality refers to a declaratory statement signed by the translator to confirm that the translated document is true to the original. Certified translation is usually needed for the translation of legal or official documents to be used abroad such as contracts, birth certificates, police registration, passports, and marriage certificates.

Certified Translations -

The translated document will need to be verified by a notary public and these persons are authorised by the government to take oath such as solicitors, magistrate court judges and commissioners of oath. The translator will appear with the translated document in front of the notary public to swear that it is true to the original document. Then the notary public will sign and stamp a seal on the translated document to confirm the declaration given by the translator. This is the common practice in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

However, the customer needs to be clear of one thing, a notary signature ONLY attest that the declaratory statement is signed by the same person who did the translation. It does not prove that the translated content is indeed correct. So it is a good precaution for the customer to make sure that the translator is a registered member with respectable linguist institute to ensure a professional translation service.

Sworn Translations -

In relation to the second category, the oath swearing is not necessary because the translators need to register themselves as a ‘sworn translator’ before they can undertake any translation work on legal documents. The European countries that require sworn translation are France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Turkey.

These countries require the translator to go through certain government accreditation schemes before being able to undertake sworn translation work. The certified translation created by the sworn translator is itself an official document. Hence, the translation work produced by these sworn translators will be recognized by the Court of Justice, Embassy, and other governmental departments as being accurate.

All in all, clients need to first ascertain whether certified is needed in the first place because it does cost more money. If not, a professional translation service will do just fine. Whether to use certified translation or sworn translation will very much depend on which country the translated document is required for. So, consulting the relevant government department for details beforehand will save a lot of unnecessary trouble.