Certified Translation Services

Whether the file is going to the Home Office, a university admissions office, a register office or a county court, the document is only half of what you are buying. The other half is the certification attached to it, and a certified translation is judged on that statement rather than on any credential the translator holds. Espresso Translations is an ATC member working to ISO 17100:2015, with a second linguist revising every file, in more than 150 languages. Certified work is £30 per page of up to 250 words, delivered in 24–48 hours, quoted within 1 hour of upload.

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Translation of your documents with standard turnaround times.

Professional translation services with an attached certification of accurary, signed, stamped and on company letter-headed paper. Hard copies can also be requested.

Professional translation services regarded as having formal status by relevant authorities. Hard copies are included. Please indicate the country you need the translation to be sworn in in the Project Brief section.

Translation of your documents with faster turnaround times. Please indicate in the Project Brief section how quickly you would need them.

The conversion of audio or video content into a translated written form. We also offer same-language transcriptions. Please indicate if time-stamps are required and at what intervals in the Project Brief section.

The conversion of video audio into foreign-language subtitles. We also offer same-language subtitles. Delivered as an SRT file as standard. Please indicate in the Project Brief section if a different file type is required.

Voiceover recordings in foreign languages. We can either translate your script into other languages or you can provide a foreign-language script. Please provide speaker preferences (gender, accent etc.) in the Project Brief section.

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Economy: Machine Transcription

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Economy: Machine Voice Over

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What is a certified translation in the UK? It is a translation issued with a signed statement of accuracy giving the translator’s confirmation that the document is true and complete, the date, their full name and signature, and their contact details. British law has no sworn translator and keeps no register of approved ones, so that statement and the company standing behind it are the whole of the certification. Espresso Translations is an ATC member: £30 per page of up to 250 words, in 24–48 hours.

What is a certified translation in the UK?

A complete translation with a signed statement attached to it, and nothing more elaborate than that. The statement declares the work a true and full rendering of the original and carries the date, the translator’s name and signature, and the contact details of the company that produced it. Britain keeps no register of approved translators, accredits nobody and issues no licence, so there is no stamp or seal to obtain and no authority to be listed with. The Association of Translation Companies, of which Espresso Translations is a member, publishes the standard form of wording, and that is the form we use.

What varies between UK authorities is not the translation but the wording each one wants around it. The UK Home Office publishes four points the certification must state. HM Courts and Tribunals Service handles a foreign-language document in the UK courts under the Civil Procedure Rules, where the translation is filed with the original and the witness statement it supports carries a statement of truth of its own. The UK Passport Office, formally HM Passport Office, wants a translation of any foreign certificate sent in with an application. UK ENIC wants the translation alongside the original award when it issues a statement of comparability. A register office taking a notice of marriage wants the translator’s details attached to the birth certificate or the decree. Tell us which body the file is for and the certification is set to what that body publishes.

Digital copies are supplied free of charge within 24–48 hours. Where an appointment or a filing date falls sooner than that, say so on the order and the job is scheduled around it.

Documents usually need certifying at the moment they leave one country’s system and enter Britain’s: a birth certificate issued abroad going to a register office, a foreign degree going to a UK university, a police certificate going to the Home Office with a settlement application, a company record going on file at Companies House. A translation used for official purposes in this country is certified rather than notarised, while documents to be used abroad often have to be legalised as well, which is a separate step and a separate charge.

Companies House takes a document written in another language only when a certified translation arrives with it, under the Companies Act 2006. Mortgage lenders, professional regulators, employers running right-to-work checks, UK government departments and other official UK bodies each ask for the same thing in slightly different words, which is why the certification is written for the named organisation rather than issued blank. Certified translations are required wherever a document issued in a foreign country has to be relied on here.

Certified translations are accompanied by a certificate of translation accuracy on company letterhead: the signed statement giving the translator’s name, contact details and the date, and vouching for the accuracy of the translation. Every visible element of the source is carried across — stamps, seals, handwritten entries, marginal notes and anything printed on the reverse — because an untranslated stamp is the most common reason a caseworker comes back with a question.

Send the documents through the form and an itemised quote comes back within 1 hour. Legal, academic, medical and business files run the same way: the certified translation team works with native linguists of the target language, a second linguist revises under ISO 17100:2015, and the signed statement goes on at the end. Espresso Translations is a professional translation company and an ATC member, so the certificate names the linguist and the company answerable for the work.

Certified, notarised or sworn — which one does a British body ask for?

Almost always the first. Certified is the UK standard and covers Home Office applications, court filings, university admissions and register office business. Notarisation is a separate purchase, made when a body outside the UK asks for it. Sworn translation is not a British format at all. Buying the wrong one costs time as well as money, so the three are worth reading apart before you order.

Certified translation: the UK standard

The Home Office publishes the wording most often quoted, and it is short. A translation supporting a visa, settlement or citizenship application must carry the translator’s confirmation that it is a true translation of the original, the date of the translation, the translator’s full name and signature, and their contact details. No licence, no registration and no membership of any body is called for. Espresso Translations issues that statement with every certified file, and the linguist who did the work is the person named on it. Birth certificates, passports and marriage certificate translations are usually back within 24 hours.

Notarised translation: the extra layer, and who asks for it

A notarised translation adds a notary public, who witnesses the translator’s signature and confirms their identity. The notary says nothing about the quality of the translation, which surprises most people the first time they hear it. British bodies rarely ask for notarisation; foreign consulates, overseas universities and courts abroad often do. Where one is needed, we arrange it through a notary alongside the certified translation rather than sending you to find one.

Sworn translation: a continental format, not a British one

A sworn translation is produced by a translator who has taken an oath before a court or a ministry in a civil-law country — France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil — after which their signature carries legal weight in itself. No such appointment exists in UK law, so nobody in Britain can make one, and no British body will ask you for one. Where your paperwork is travelling the other way, to a court or authority in one of those countries, the sworn translation is made in that jurisdiction and we arrange it there.

Which documents do we certify for UK use?

Our certified document translation services cover personal, academic, financial and legal papers, and we provide certified document translations for each of the categories below. They are what British bodies ask for most often; anything outside them is quoted the same way, at the same price per page.

Home Office and UKVI applications

You need a certified translation for a visa, settlement, Indefinite Leave to Remain or British citizenship application: every non-English document has to be translated and certified. The four points the Home Office lists go onto the statement as a matter of course, and the translator who produced the file is named on it so a caseworker can verify the work independently. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and passports are normally returned within 24 hours, with same-day handling where a biometric appointment is imminent.

Birth certificates and civil records

A foreign birth certificate is the single document most often certified for British use: for a visa application, for a citizenship claim, for giving notice of marriage at a register office, for a passport application. Documents such as birth certificates carry registration numbers, handwritten entries, stamps, seals and signatures, and each of those is reproduced as it stands, whichever country issued the paper. A birth certificate translation does not need notarising for UK purposes — the signed statement is what the registrar is looking for — and it is normally ready within 24–48 hours.

Degrees, transcripts and UK ENIC

Degree certificates, diplomas, transcripts and school reports are certified for university admission, for professional registration and for UK ENIC, which issues statements of comparability for overseas qualifications and wants the translation alongside the original award. Grades, course titles and the institution’s details are carried across as written. A certified translation reproduces a mark; it does not convert one into a British classification, and a translator who offered to do so would be altering the document. Use our certified university degree translation and certified school report translation services.

Bank statements and financial records

Bank statements, payslips, tax records and company filings are certified for visa applications, for mortgage lenders, for university funding and for company formation. Account numbers, transaction lines, dates and amounts are reproduced exactly as they appear, because a figure that does not match the source is the quickest route to a query from a caseworker or an underwriter. Espresso Translation offers certified bank statement translation and financial documents translation at £30 per page, normally returned within 48 hours.

Police certificates and criminal record checks

Several settlement and visa categories require a police certificate from each country you have lived in, and ACRO issues the equivalent UK certificate for people applying to authorities abroad. Adoption proceedings, university admissions and some employment checks ask for the same paperwork. Certifying a translation of one is no different from any other document: the signed statement of accuracy goes on after a second linguist has revised the translation work under ISO 17100:2015.

Criminal record papers are handled under confidentiality agreements, and an FCDO apostille can be arranged where the certificate is going overseas. Order a certified criminal record translation through the online form.

What is in the pack you receive?

A fully certified file is a signed PDF holding two things: the translated document and the statement of accuracy that certifies it. The translation must be complete before the statement means anything, and missing certification details, an incomplete translation and omitted stamps are the three reasons a British caseworker comes back to an applicant — all three avoidable at the point the file is prepared.

The translated document, laid out like the original

The layout follows the source: tables where the original has tables, seals and stamps described where they sit, handwritten entries transcribed and marked as handwriting, and an illegible element labelled illegible rather than guessed at. Anything on the reverse of the sheet is translated too. Somebody holding the two documents side by side should be able to match them line for line without reading the source language.

The signed statement of accuracy

The statement names the translator, gives their contact details and the date, and declares that the translation is a true and complete rendering of the original. It sits on company letterhead, so the agency is identifiable as well as the individual — which is exactly what a body checking the document independently needs. Hard copies are posted on request.

How does a job run, from upload to delivery?

Four steps, with one project manager on the file from start to finish. Most certified work is back within 24–48 hours of the original reaching us.

Step 1: Upload

Attach the document to the online form in whatever format you have — PDF, JPEG, PNG, Word or a photograph taken on your phone. A price appears immediately and the written quote follows within 1 hour. Photograph all four edges of the sheet: a cropped corner usually holds a stamp or a registration number that has to be translated with everything else.

Step 2: Assignment

The file goes to a linguist working into their own native language who knows the document type — a legal linguist for court papers and contracts, an academic one for transcripts and awards, a financial one for statements and tax records. They produce a complete, reliable translation that follows the original’s layout rather than re-setting it.

Step 3: Revision and certification

A second linguist compares the translation against the source. That is the revision step ISO 17100:2015 requires, and the reason one pair of eyes is never the last pair: it is the step the translation industry relies on for high quality translations rather than fluent-looking ones. The statement of accuracy is then drawn up in the ATC’s standard form, naming the linguist who did the work and the company answerable for it.

Step 4: Delivery

The signed PDF arrives in your inbox inside the agreed window, usually 24–48 hours and same day where a deadline leaves no room. Posted hard copies are available, and notarisation or an apostille is added at this stage when the destination calls for one.

What does a certified translation cost in the UK, and how long does it take?

£30 per page, a page being up to 250 words, whatever the document is. Standard non-certified translation is priced per word instead, from £0.10. The figure covers the translation, the signed statement of accuracy on letterhead and delivery by email, with no separate certification charge bolted on at the end.

Turnaround is 24–48 hours from the moment the original reaches us. Where an appointment or a filing date falls sooner, a fast turnaround can be arranged on request and the file is scheduled around the date. The quote comes back within 1 hour of upload, itemised, and the figure in it is the figure you pay. Notarisation, apostilles and posted hard copies are priced separately and listed on the same quote.

What does the Home Office require in a translation?

UK Visas and Immigration applies one rule to every document not written in English or Welsh: it must be accompanied by a full translation that can be independently verified. Independent verification is the whole point of the exercise — the certification exists so a caseworker can trace the translation back to a named person and a contactable company.

The four things the certification must state

A confirmation from the translator that it is a true and accurate translation of the original document; the date of the translation; the translator’s full name and signature; and the translator’s contact details. No licence, registration or professional membership is called for, and no approved list of translators is maintained. What the rule does insist on is independence: an applicant cannot certify their own translation, and a bilingual friend or relative preparing it raises the same objection.

What slows an application down

Missing content, nearly always. Every stamp, seal, signature, handwritten note and illegible element has to appear in the English version or be marked “Official Stamp”, “Handwritten” or “Illegible”. After that come an incomplete certification — no date, no signature, no contact details — and a self-translated document. Each of those brings a request for further information, and the application sits still until it is answered.

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When do you need a notary or an FCDO apostille?

Only when something beyond the UK is involved. A translation required for official or legal purposes inside Britain stands on its own once it is certified.

Notarisation

A UK notary public witnesses the translator’s signature and confirms their identity, producing a bundle that a foreign consulate or an overseas court can work with. The notary attests to the signature in front of them, not to the translation, and it is worth being clear about that before paying for one.

The apostille, and what it actually certifies

An apostille is issued by the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It certifies the signature or seal on a UK public document so that another country party to the Hague Convention will recognise where the paper came from. It is a separate step with its own timetable, and it says nothing at all about translation quality. Espresso Translations arranges Apostille services together with the certified translation when a document is going abroad; the requirements and the costs of each route are set out on our Notarised Translation page.

Why is there no sworn translator in the UK?

Because Britain never created the office. In a civil-law country a translator swears an oath before a court or a ministry and their signature then carries legal weight of its own. In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland no such appointment exists, so the weight sits instead on the signed statement of accuracy and on the identifiable company behind it. Anyone advertising a sworn translator in the UK is describing a status British law does not grant.

Where a document is going to a judicial or government body in a civil-law country, the sworn translation is produced in that jurisdiction and we arrange it there: traduction assermentée in France, traduzione giurata in Italy, traducción jurada in Spain. Those are booked around a court’s diary rather than ours, so allow 7 to 14 working days. Requirements country by country are listed on our Sworn Translation Services page.

Who can translate documents for a UK visa, and who can certify them?

Anyone competent may translate a document for a UK visa, and any competent professional translator or translation company may certify it, because the UK operates no register and grants no licence. There is no such thing as a UK-certified translation in the sense of a state-issued one: a translation is certified by a professional who signs their name to it, and a translation agency may certify through an authorised officer instead. The one person who cannot is the applicant, or a relative acting on their behalf, because the certification exists to let a caseworker check the work independently. That puts the weight on the buyer — a certification is worth what the name and the company on it are worth. Espresso Translations is an ATC member and certifies in the ATC’s standard form, with the linguist named and the company contactable.

The documents most often certified here are personal — passports, birth, marriage and death certificates, decrees absolute, academic awards — and corporate: court papers, contracts, and company records going on file at Companies House, which takes a document in another language only when a certified translation arrives with it.

How do I get a document translated officially in the UK?

An official translation, in British usage, is a certified one: a complete translation with a signed statement of accuracy attached to it. Send a scan or a photograph of the original through the form; an itemised quote comes back within 1 hour, and on approval the file goes to a linguist working into their own native language, is revised by a second linguist under ISO 17100:2015, and comes back as a signed PDF with the statement of accuracy attached. Espresso Translations certifies official and government documents for UK use, drawing on more than 2,000 linguists. Translations produced for government agencies, courts and universities go through that same two-stage process. The signed statement is prepared to the wording the receiving body publishes; whether that body is then satisfied is its own decision, and no translation company can promise otherwise.

Can a certified translation be done online?

Yes, from beginning to end. Espresso Translations keeps a London office, and the certified translation services London clients order run exactly as they do for clients in Leeds, Belfast or abroad: scans or photographs go through the form, the signed PDF comes back by email, and a posted hard copy follows if you want one. Nothing about certifying a translation requires a visit to an office.

What is a certified translation?

A complete translation of an official document, given to you with a signed statement in which the translator confirms it is true and complete and gives their name, signature, date and contact details. In the UK that statement is the certification; there is no stamp, seal or oath beyond it, and the translation of a document issued abroad is certified the same way whichever country issued it.

Does the Home Office need a notarised translation?

No. The published requirement is a certified translation that can be independently verified, and that is the type of translation to order. Notarisation adds a witness to the translator’s signature and is bought when an overseas body asks for it, not for a UK application.

Can I translate my own documents?

No. The verification has to be independent, so an applicant certifying their own work defeats the purpose of it. The same objection applies to a bilingual friend or relative preparing the translation on your behalf.

Is machine translation allowed?

No. A person has to put their name and signature to the statement of accuracy, and no engine can do that. Output from Google Translate or any other machine is not certifiable, however fluent it looks on the screen.

Do stamps and seals have to be translated?

Yes, along with anything printed on the reverse of the sheet: stamps marked “Official Stamp”, seals, handwritten notes and marginal text. Omissions of this kind are the commonest reason a caseworker asks for further evidence.

How much does a document translator cost in the UK?

£30 per page of up to 250 words, including the statement of accuracy on letterhead and delivery by email. Standard non-certified translation is priced per word, from £0.10. Britain appoints no official translator and publishes no official rate, so what you are paying for is the translation plus the certification and nothing else; the itemised quote comes back within 1 hour of upload.

How quickly can you turn one around?

Usually 24–48 hours. A single birth or marriage certificate is often ready inside a day. Same-day work can be arranged where an appointment or a filing date leaves no room at all.

What if the Home Office queries my translation?

Where the query concerns the certification we prepared — a detail missing from the statement, a formatting point — we correct it and reissue the signed PDF. Where it concerns the underlying document rather than the translation of it, we will say so plainly instead of selling you a second translation that would not answer the question.