Question about "Sworn" Translations

[wshelby 0]

My fiancee has had her German police record translated and stamped by a professional, court-certified translator. We have now noticed that the wording on the checklist says “"translations must be sworn to before a Notary Public or Commissioner of Oaths". She called the Embassy to check this, and the person at the helpline just said that they need to be translated by a “competent translator”. These two guidelines seem to be worlds apart – one says that only a competent translator is required; the other source (the checklist) says the translation must be “sworn to”. Does anyone know if the “sworn to” requirement is covered by getting the document translated and stamped by a a Publicly Appointed and Sworn Translator (who is by default authorized to certify translations, thus they have their stamp and are sworn in in court), or if the translator also has to take the certified translation to a notary public and swear that it is a true translation (even though they have already certified this themselves using their stamp)?

(The notary public /commissioner of oaths obviously could not certify a translation himself/herself unless he/she had a translator's qualification and spoke both languages.)

Thanks very much for any information on this!

[Mononoke28 134]

No, translations don't have to be notarized they just have to be certified. Anyone can translate it as long as they certify that they are fluent in both languages and by certifying it means that they will write "I (name) certify that I'm fluent in (languages), etc."

Diana

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My fiancee has had her German police record translated and stamped by a professional, court-certified translator. We have now noticed that the wording on the checklist says “"translations must be sworn to before a Notary Public or Commissioner of Oaths". She called the Embassy to check this, and the person at the helpline just said that they need to be translated by a “competent translator”. These two guidelines seem to be worlds apart – one says that only a competent translator is required; the other source (the checklist) says the translation must be “sworn to”. Does anyone know if the “sworn to” requirement is covered by getting the document translated and stamped by a a Publicly Appointed and Sworn Translator (who is by default authorized to certify translations, thus they have their stamp and are sworn in in court), or if the translator also has to take the certified translation to a notary public and swear that it is a true translation (even though they have already certified this themselves using their stamp)?

(The notary public /commissioner of oaths obviously could not certify a translation himself/herself unless he/she had a translator's qualification and spoke both languages.)

Thanks very much for any information on this!

Yes, they need to be notarized. They can be translated by anyone, really. Have the translator add at the end of the translation the words...

"I certify that this is a true and correct translation of the (name of document)"

and sign it in front of a notary and have it witnessed. The notary is only witnessing that the translator is swearing a statement that it is correct, they do not need to be able to read it. A person, now matter how well he/she is qualified and what their duties are cannot witness their own signature.

[Mononoke28 134]

According to the US Embassy in London, they only have to be translated, not notarized:

Instructions for Immigrant Visa Applicants Applying for a Visa in London

Translations

All documents not in English must be accompanied by certified English translations. The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that state that the translation is accurate, and the translator is competent to translate.

It's the same thing in Bogotá and the NVC where they send all CR1/IR1 documents to the US embassies. They never require the translations to be notarized.

Diana