Yes. Universal Language Solutions Ltd can certify and notarise your translations for use in legal proceedings or to send to the UK Border Agency. If we correct documents translated by another company, we can provide you with a certificate of accuracy, and notarise it if it is required for use abroad (required only in certain instances).

No. We do not need to handle your original documents. For legal, academic and professional purposes, we only need to certify the translation as authorities in those sectors expect.

No. All we require is a clear legible copy of the document(s) in order to certify the translation. It is important that you submit a reasonably good quality copy.

In the UK, the sworn translation is purely theoretical whereas it is typically the principal term used overseas for official translations. The UK equivalent is simply referred to as a ‘Certified Translation’ and this is what the main UK authorities and institutions will require as part of an application.

In our experience the standard certification will satisfy organisations such as the Home Office, consulates, insurance companies, academic and educational institutions, UK NARIC, UK employers, banks and the Passport Agency. However, if you have any doubts that the certified translation of your document will be accepted, we suggest that you contact the relevant authority or organisation to ensure that this is what they require.

Translated documents for submission to UK courts are usually certified before a solicitor and documents for use abroad are sometimes required to be certified by a notary public.

You may also need to get certain documents legalised by the Foreign Office.

We can normally prepare your translations within 1-2 business days for translation and certification. You will need to allow another 1-2 days for postage. A next-day delivery service is also available where documents are required urgently. An urgent rate will apply where an express service is required. We provide a time estimate when we supply a quote for the service.

You can send the document to us by uploading it using our Free Quotation form, by email or by post. There are very few occasions when we will need to see the original document and we will let you know if this is the case. Usually a scanned copy sent by email is enough. You can upload documents in Word format (.doc or .docx), PDF format, Open Office format (.odt), as Rich Text (.rtf), or as scanned images – .JPG format. Please make sure that absolutely ALL parts of the document(s) are included as we translate everything that appears in the document(s). If there are any parts that are illegible or amended, for example, we will state that in the translated document.

The basic requirement in the UK is that a declaration must state that the translation has been made by a qualified translator, and that it is accurate. It should be attached to the translated document. This declaration can be signed by the translator or a representative of the translation company. For court purposes this declaration must be signed in the presence of a solicitor. For translations that will be sent abroad, it may be necessary to have the declaration signed in the presence of a notary public, depending on the purpose of the translation and the country where it will be used. In some countries, such as Brazil, translators undergo a selective examination process or are appointed by a court or government authority to be recognised as “sworn translators”. In such cases, a translation by a sworn translator is an official document in its own right and no further certification or legalisation is usually required for official use in that country.

No. The organisation that deals with this procedure is UK NARIC. We can only provide a certified translation, which must then be submitted to UK NARIC.

No. We are obliged to translate the document exactly as it is. If there are mistakes in the original document, you should contact the issuing authority directly and ask them to amend the document and reissue a corrected version.

The standard page, in the case of our certified translations, contains approximately 320 words of source text (from the original document). An incomplete standard page shall be rounded up to the nearest half page.

Example:
The source text contains 250 words – payment for one standard page is due.
The source text contains 450 characters – payment for 1.5 standard pages is due