Certified translations, also known as sworn translations, are translations where the translators (a professional or LSP with proven translation experience) swear or certify that their translation is an accurate representation of the original document written in another language.

Documents that need certification can be of any type: e-mails for a court case, a school transcript, birth certificates for citizenship reasons, bank accounts, articles of association, etc. Generally speaking, any document written in a foreign language and requested by a public body, requires a certified or sworn translation.

You may be wondering why I make a difference between a certified translator and a sworn translator. Is there really a difference between certified and sworn translations? In reality, no. Both refer to basically the same thing, but in civil law countries, such as Spain and France, they are known as sworn translators (they literally swear to the accuracy of the translation) and in common law countries, such as the US and the UK, they are called certified translators (they certify the accuracy of the translation). They carry out the same function, but in countries like Spain and other civil law countries they are named by the state, whilst in the UK and other common law countries they aren’t. If you want more information on what is an “official translation” in Spain, just follow the embedded link to the Spanish government’s official website.

We work with sworn and certified translators to get you the translation you need. Send us a message and we will guide you through the process of getting you your official sworn translation.