Usually needs a certificate of accuracy
Birth certificate
The commonest single document in this office, and the one with the most ways to go wrong.
Usually about one page — an estimate, not a count
Civil records
Marriage certificate
One sheet, and the names on it are rarely the names on everything else.
The ordinary part
Who asks for a marriage certificate, and what we need from you
Two questions, answered the same way every time, and they are the two that decide whether the job can start today or has to wait for a second photograph.
Who asks for it
Spousal petitions, a name change, a joint account, a residence application.
A description of what offices have usually wanted, which is a different thing from a rule. Nobody here is in a position to say what your own matter requires, and the page explaining why is on this site.
What to send
The whole certificate, plus any later annotation — a divorce or an annulment is often recorded on the marriage record rather than separately.
The part people find out late
What goes wrong with a marriage certificate
Everything above this is the ordinary business of a translation office and could be written about almost any document in the catalogue. This paragraph could not, and it is the reason this is a page rather than a row in a list.
Whether a woman's surname changed, and to what, is a question with a different answer in every country on this list. We translate what the document says and do not tidy it into the American convention, because an officer comparing the certificate with the passport needs to see the difference rather than have it smoothed away.
That is the whole of it. If it describes what you are holding, it is worth knowing before the work is paid for rather than afterwards; if it does not, nothing else on this page changes. Either way it is not a thing anybody can settle from a description, which is why a quote follows a reading and an estimate does not.
Length and certification
How long it usually is, and what usually goes with it
Both of these are descriptions rather than rules, and the first of them is a guess: most run to about one page, but that is a figure to plan around and not a figure to pay from.
Length
A page on this rate card is 250 words rather than a sheet of paper, so a dense sheet can be two pages and a sparse one can be half of one. That is why the figure above is written as a guess and why nothing is priced from it.
- The estimator counts from the number you give it, never from the figure above
- A quote follows somebody reading the document, and it is the one to rely on
- Stamps, seals, marginal notes and anything handwritten are part of the length
Certification
Usually needs a certificate of accuracy.
- Certified translation — what a certificate of accuracy actually says
- Notarised translation — a notary attests who signed, and nothing else
- Apostille — issued by a Secretary of State, prepared and lodged by us
What a certificate covers. A certified translation says something about the translation and nothing whatever about the original. We do not verify that a document is genuine, and no certificate, notarial act or apostille from anybody does either — an apostille authenticates a signature and a seal.
An estimate and a quote are different objects. An estimate is arithmetic on what you typed. It is not an offer, it does not bind anybody, and it will move if the document turns out to be longer, in worse condition or a different thing from what it was described as. The quote that follows somebody reading it is the one to rely on.
Other civil records
Same group, same reader at the other end, and each one has a paragraph like the one above.
Usually needs a certificate of accuracy
Divorce decree
A judgment, so it is longer than people expect and the operative part is at the end.
Usually about four pages — an estimate, not a count
Usually needs a certificate of accuracy
Death certificate
Usually one sheet, usually urgent, and usually wanted by more than one office at once.
Usually about one page — an estimate, not a count
Usually needs a certificate of accuracy
Adoption record
A file rather than a document, and every page of it matters.
Usually about six pages — an estimate, not a count
Send us the document
A photograph of every page of a marriage certificate is enough to quote from, and it is quicker than describing what you are holding.