Step-by-Step Guidance on Notarized Translation Revised

Many people have already encountered the definitions “document notarization” and “apostille”, but few of them have a clear understanding of the subject. Let us provide you with some clarifications on the above-mentioned topics.

In fact, a notarized translation gives the document legal force. The procedure of the notarized translation of documents is quite simple:

1. A translator performs the translation following certain rules and requirements, e.g. titles should be translated or transliterated in full, the cover page should contain the proper note “Translation from (source language) to (target language)”, etc. The translator must additionally have a diploma of professional higher education with the professional qualification “Translator” and required language abilities.

2. After that, the translator personally assures the completed translation at a notary office. Officially, during the notarized translation, the notary doesn’t certify the translation itself, but rather he authorizes authenticity of the signature of the translator who performed it. The notary makes copies of his documents and records the diploma number. The translation and the original document are sewn together, and the reverse side of the last page is stamped and signed by the notary.

 

According to Wikipedia, apostille (Apostille, fr.) is an international unified certification. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. Simply stated, it is also the process authenticating a legal document in a way that a foreign country’s legal system will recognize it with full legal effect.

The 1961 Hague Conference or the Apostille Treaty legalized foreign public documents by adopting a stamp of square or rectangular shape. The apostille itself is a stamp that certifies validity of the documents and gives them legal force in foreign countries.

Thus, the apostille doesn’t relate to the translation itself. Only the original documentation is apostilled and given legal effect in other countries. If necessary, this should be followed by the translation of the original texts into the target language and then endorsement with the apostille and notarial certification.