Notarised Translation for Birth Certificate in UK

This surprises people. The notary does not read your language and does not mark the translation.

What the notary checks is who signed the page. They see the translator's identity and their signature, then add their own signature and stamp to say it is genuine.

So the accuracy comes from us, and the extra weight comes from the notary. A foreign office trusts that stamp because a notary is a legal officer here.

No. A certified translation is what they want, and that is the end of it.

We say this plainly because a lot of people tick the notary box on a visa or passport order without needing to. It costs more, takes longer, and the caseworker will not treat it any differently.

If somebody has told you otherwise, ask them to put it in writing and send it to us. In nearly every case it turns out to be a misunderstanding.

The notary comes first. The order matters and getting it wrong means paying twice.

An apostille is a government stamp for papers going abroad. The government only stamps a signature it already knows, and a notary's signature is one of those. A plain translator's signature is not.

So the run is: translate, notarise, then apostille. Tell us if an apostille is coming and we will set the whole chain up in the right order.

Translation starts at £25 a page. The notary is charged on top, because a notary is a separate legal officer with their own fee.

You get one figure covering all of it:

• The translation
• The signed certificate of accuracy
• The notary's signature and stamp
• UK postage

Nothing is added later. If an apostille is needed too, we price that at the same time so you see the full cost in one go.

The translation itself is usually 24 to 48 hours. The notary adds a day or two on top, because the pages have to go in front of a real person to be signed.

An apostille takes longer again and is out of our hands, as that part sits with a government office.

Tell us your deadline when you send the photo. We will say straight away whether it can be done, and we will not take the order if the answer is no.

From the work that comes through our door, these are the regulars:

• The Iraqi, Ecuadorean, Portuguese, Polish, Italian and Philippine offices in London
• Town halls in Italy, Poland, Germany and Portugal adding a UK birth or marriage to their records
• French offices handling a carte de séjour
• Citizenship claims for Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain and Ecuador

Each one words its request a little differently. Send us what they sent you and we match it rather than guessing.

Yes, and most notary work goes that way. Your UK birth certificate turns into Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish or Arabic so an office abroad can read it.

It makes sense when you think about it. A UK paper is already in English, so nobody here needs it translated. It is the office in the other country that cannot read it.

No. A clear photo or scan is all we need and your original stays with you.

Take the picture in daylight, fit all four corners in, and do both sides. Stamps and notes are often on the back, and an office that sees writing on your original which is missing from the translation will send it back.

A few embassies do want to see the original alongside the translation. Keeping it safe with you is exactly why we do not ask for it.

Yes. Give us the address when you order and it goes there rather than to you.

We post anywhere in the UK and abroad, which matters when the office is in Rome, Warsaw or Lisbon rather than London. UK postage is inside the price you were quoted, and tracked delivery costs a little extra with the number passed on to you.

You also get a scan by email, so you can check every page before the paper set leaves us.