What is meant by Certified Translation Services?
In general, there is a confusion between a certified translation and a translation with a certificate. Translation of the document with a certificate is a general practice which shall be processed by any translator or a translation agency, whereas certified translation consists of the translated document along with a true certificate declaration copy delivered by a professional certified translator or a translation company confirming that the translation is a complete and accurate of the original or source text.
Common translations were handled by a translator with a degree or past experience, at some cases machine translation or AI translations were used for translating a document. These kinds of translations will not be accepted for official purposes. The certified translators are different from ordinary translators, a certified translator will posses a certification from professional associations like MTA, ITBM, NAATI and from other professional translation organisations or portals.
The true certification proves that the document was translated by a professional and a certified translator. Certified translations were very essential for official documents like Legal, Medical, Educational and many more. Based on the requirement the certifications may differ, a professional translation company shall guide with correct certifications based on the client’s requirement.
Why Certified Translation Services Are Essential for Official Documents?
Official documents include documents from educational institutions, Legal documents from courts, medical documents from hospitals or research centres. These official documents need to be certified for various reasons. If in case a student needs to study abroad, needs to transfer deeds or for any legal documentation, in order to receive treatment from international hospitals we need to certify the documents based on the organisation requirements.
Apart from the above documents, you might also need the certification translations for:
- Business contracts
- Marriage certificates
- Birth certificates
- Death certificate
- Personnel documents and many more.
The Embassy, immigration departments and government bodies will approve the documents only if the official documents were translated and certified by a professional translation agency.
A certified translation is a translation accompanied by a true certification translation agency attesting to its accuracy and completeness. This certification statement serves as a guarantee that the translation is a true and faithful representation of the original document.
In order to verify the true certification, make sure that the certificate include the below elements:
- Translator's qualifications: The translator’s professional qualifications and experience such as certifications or degrees should be included in the certification along with their language of expertise and subject matter.
- Affirmation of accuracy: The translation agency must affirm that the translation is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge and ability.
- Document Identification: The true certification document should state the document names, language pair and any other unique numbers or statements to confirm that the document is the translation of the original
- Translator's Qualification: The translation certification should consist of the translator’s full name, their Signature and the date of completion and certification of the document.
- Certification Acceptance: Certified translation services are mainly to ensure that the legal translations, government bodies, medical participants and other official bodies accept the translations. So, it’s necessary to identify a qualified translator and certified translation agency for certified translation processes.
Who Can Offer Certified Translation services?
Not all translators provide certified translations; only a professional certified translation agency can provide certified translations:
- Professional translation agency offers certified translations based on the requirements
- Translation agencies have relevant translator qualifications to be a certified translator
- Translation agencies provide true certificate along with certified translation
- Malaysian translation associations, NAATI or ITBM will seal and attest the translation to certify the documents.
- Embassies will provide attestations to certify the translation and original documents.
- Malaysian Universities also provide seal for document certification and verifications.
Are Certified Translation Services and Notarisations same?
Many will confuse between certified translations and notarisations. For new business persons at Malaysia, they need to translate their documents to Malay for official purpose. These documents have to be translated and certified by a professional translation service provider. These translations shall be used for Market promotions, partnerships and internal purpose. These translations will be certified from the Translation company; in addition, it can be certified from Malaysian Translation Association based on the requirement.
Whereas if any legal document has to be translated, it has to be translated by a sworn legal translator. In order to use the translation for Government purpose or for legal matters, the translation has to be legally Notarised based on the necessity. Upon completion of the translation, an official stamp and signature applied by a Notary Public to a document to verify its authenticity and legal validity.
Sometimes, Apostille may be required by the governments for International legal process, it’s different from notary attestation, it’s an official government certificate issued by the country of origin mainly used at embassies or consulates.
To get accurate results, make sure to check with the concern department for the requirement and needs for the translation. It’s also important to contact a professional and certified translation partner with extensive knowledge. Choosing a right service means you’re choosing a partner dedicated to your success.