Services
Certified translation.
Every delivery carries a signed, dated certificate of accuracy at no extra charge. It is the page an agency, a court, or a funder asks for when a translated document goes into a file that somebody may have to defend later.
The document
What the certificate states.
A certificate of accuracy is a short signed statement bound to the translation it describes. Ours names five things.
- The language pair
- The language translated from and the language translated into.
- The document
- Named by title, with a page count, so the certificate cannot be detached and attached to something else.
- The attestation
- That the translation is a true, complete, and accurate rendering of the source document to the best of the signer's knowledge and ability.
- The review
- That a linguist qualified to work between those languages reviewed the full text against the source.
- Reference, date, signature
- A reference number tying the certificate to the delivered file, the date of issue, and the signature of an authorized representative of the firm.
It runs to one page. It says nothing about the source document, and makes no claim about anything other than the translation attached to it.
Civic Translation Co.
Certificate of Accuracy
I certify that the attached translation of the document identified below, from English into Spanish, is a true, complete, and accurate rendering of the source document to the best of my knowledge and ability.
I further certify that the translation was reviewed by a linguist qualified to translate between these languages, and that I am competent to make this attestation.
- Notice of Public Hearing
- 3
- CT-0000-00
- 00 Month 0000
When it is asked for
Where a certificate gets used.
Whenever a translated document enters a record that someone else will rely on, the office holding that record generally wants an attestation attached to it.
- Court filings and exhibits, where a translated document is offered as part of a record.
- State and federal grant files, where translated outreach has to be evidenced rather than described.
- Eligibility and benefits determinations that rest on a translated form or notice.
- Contract, procurement, and personnel files that an auditor may later open.
- Public-facing material published under a department's language access plan, where the department has to be able to show the text was reviewed by a person before it went out.
What counts as sufficient is set by the body receiving the document, not by us. Courts, consulates, and state departments each keep their own form of words, and some will not accept a certificate that omits a page count or a signature block. Ask the office that will hold the file what it accepts, send us that requirement with the document, and we will match it. The general framework for language access obligations is summarized under language access rules.
Two different things
Certification is not notarization.
The two are routinely confused, including by the office asking for one of them.
Certification is our statement about the translation: that it is accurate, and that a qualified linguist reviewed it. Notarization is a notary public's statement about the signature on that certificate. The notary confirms who signed, and nothing whatever about whether the translation is correct.
Some courts, consulates, and foreign registries require the certifier's signature to be notarized anyway. Where the receiving body requires it, we can arrange notarization of that signature. Say so at intake: it adds a step and a separate fee, and it is far easier to build into the schedule than to add after delivery.
We keep the source document, the delivered translation, and the signed certificate on file against its reference number. If a certificate is misplaced, or a second department needs an original of its own, we can reissue one for the same delivery without retranslating anything. Email contact@civictranslation.com with the reference number printed on the certificate.
Related
- Document translationNotices, forms, applications, outreach materials, and public-facing web copy — translated, reviewed, and returned in the layout you sent.
- Review of existing translationsIndependent review of translations you already hold — including machine output — with a written finding and, where warranted, certification.
- Formatting and layoutText expansion, right-to-left scripts, and CJK line breaking handled so the translated file prints and posts like the source.
Send us a document.
Attach the file, tell us the languages and the date you need it, and you will have a written quote back same business day.