Frequently Asked Questions

Our quotes are based on four criteria: · Language Pair – From which language into which language? · Volume – How many words does your project contain? · Deadline – How urgent is your project? · Certification – Do you require a certified translation? (This is a requirement in legal documents, correspondence, courts of law, wills & probates, bank statements or other financial documents) If you’re unsure, feel free to simply phone or send us your document in a Word, a text file or PDF format and we’ll establish the best quote for you. ______________________________ 1) Language Pair An experienced Spanish linguist translating into English is easier to find than say, a Finnish linguist able to translate to or from Dagbani (one of the languages in Ghana) for instance: the language pair will have an impact on the price of the translation. 2) Volume The volume, or length of the document is calculated per word, not per page. Otherwise, clients would send a lot of tiny words on a very big page! Be suspicious of agencies proposing you a cost per page, there may be some surprise somewhere along the line... Of course, a longer document will cost you more. If you are not too sure of the word count of your document, feel free to send us a copy of your document and we will calculate this for your translation. 3) Deadline How urgent your translation is will of course impact on the final price, especially if the volume, or length of your source document is important. 4) Certified, legalised, notarised or not? If you need to have your translation certified, or notarised, this will also have an impact on the price as we need the translator to be certified in his/ her own name: ProLanguage does not 'certify' documents, we use very experienced, qualified, registered linguists who will certify the specific document they translated. It does not cost much more, and there is no price for your peace of mind. For more details about certified, legalised, notarised translations, please check this FAQ. We strongly recommend your translation to be certified for all legal or medical documents, of course.

It's important your translation is fit for purpose. Always double-check what you require exactly with your solicitor or with the authority requesting those documents. Certified, Sworn, Notarised, Apostilled,...we can anyway provide all of those, of course. What are the differences? Certified Translation: A Certified Translation is done by a registered, often chartered professional, member of an internationally recognised association of translators, linguists or interpreters. (S)He will certify, in his/her own name, the impeccable quality of the translation on a specific cover page / page 00 and in a dated, signed, stamp at the footer of every page. Do not accept anything less from anyone, whatever they say. It's the simplest and least formal type of legalised translation. It is generally necessary for documents like birth / death / marriage certificates, academic qualifications, bank statements or utility bills, power of attorney, contracts, insurance reports, and the translations of most legal documents, among others. Certified Translations (sometimes called “Official Translations”) are usually sufficient with non-government type organisations, such as hospitals, universities, businesses, and is suitable for most legal documents. Our certified translations will be delivered to you: 1- electronically, featuring a stamp /footer on every numbered page with visible signature, stamp, date, professional reference and registration number of the translator who provided the translation. 2- as a hard copy / paper copy of the same document, featuring a physical signature, stamped, dated and with the professional accreditation details of the Certified Translator, delivered directly to your door. ...so the electronic copy can be used, cc-ed to various parties while you keep the original for your records. Sworn Translation A Sworn Translation in many countries refers to a translation carried out by a “sworn translator”, i.e. a professional featured on an official register: ...in the UK no such state register exists. When translations need to be sworn in the UK, it refers instead to the translation/translator being verified by the court, by a public notary or solicitor with the (usually certified) translator swearing (on the Bible!) having provided the best translation possible and a proof of his/her identity. The point is to identify the translator and his qualifications, so that they are accountable. The organisation of a sworn (sworn / notarised / legalised) translation is thus a bit more time-consuming, and implies further costs, of course. Notarised Translation: A Notarised Translation is a translation that has been legally certified by a professional, certified translator, signing a declaration to certify its accuracy. This certification is then authenticated by a notary public in the presence of the certified translator to ensure the document is legally accepted in the UK. Legalised Translation: A Legalised Translation is the same thing but can be authenticated and countersigned by a solicitor (rather than a notary public) to ensure the document is legally accepted in the UK. Apostilled Translation: An Apostilled Translation in the UK is a certified and notarised translation that is accompanied by an official Apostille Certificate issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The translation has been certified by the certified translator and a public notary and the document was authenticated with an apostille stamp. This stamp is issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and confirms that all signatures, seals and stamps on the document are valid. This can be used for official purposes in countries that are members of the Hague Convention. Dispatching to the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) for legalisation/apostille, organising the physical meeting of the Certified Translator and the notary, and receiving the Apostilled document[s] back from the Foreign Office implies this type of translation cannot be delivered overnight. Let us know your deadlines, and we will do our best to propose you suitable options.

A sworn translation in many countries refers to a translation carried out by a “sworn translator”, i.e. a professional featured on an official register: ...in the UK no such state register exists. When translations need to be sworn in the UK, it refers instead to the translation/translator being verified by the court, by a public notary or solicitor with the (usually certified) translator swearing (on the Bible!) having provided the best translation possible and a proof of his/her identity. The point is to identify the translator and his qualifications, so that they are accountable. The organisation of a sworn translation is thus a bit more time-consuming, and implies further costs, of course.

A certified translation is done by a registered, often chartered professional, member of an internationally recognised associations of translators, linguists or interpreters. (S)He will certify, in his/her own name, the impeccable quality of the translation on a specific cover page / page 00 and in a dated, signed, stamp at the footer of every page. Do not accept anything less from anyone, whatever they say. It's the simplest and least formal type of legalised translation. It is generally necessary for documents like birth / death / marriage certificates, academic qualifications, bank statements or utility bills, power of attorney, contracts, insurance reports, and the translations of most legal documents, among others. Certified translations (sometimes called “Official Translations”) are usually sufficient with non-government type organisations, such as hospitals, universities, businesses, and is suitable for most legal documents. Our certified translations will be delivered to you: 1- electronically featuring a stamp /footer on every numbered page with visible signature, stamp, date, professional reference and registration number of the translator who provided the translation. 2- as a hard copy / paper copy of the same document, feat. a physical signature, stamped, dated and feat. the professional accreditation details of the Certified Translator, delivered directly to your door. ...so the electronic copy can be used, cc-ed to various parties while you keep the original for your records.

A Legalised Translation is the same thing as a Notary Translation but can be authenticated and countersigned by a solicitor (rather than by a notary public) to ensure the document is legally accepted in the UK. The organisation of a Legalised Translation is thus a bit more time-consuming, and implies further costs, of course.

A Notarised Translation is a translation that has been legally certified by a professional, certified translator, signing a declaration to certify its accuracy. This certification is then authenticated by a notary public in the presence of the certified translator to ensure the document is legally accepted in the UK. The organisation of a Notarised translation is thus a bit more time-consuming, and implies further costs, of course.

An Apostilled Translation in the UK is a certified and notarised translation that is accompanied by an official Apostille Certificate issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The translation has been certified by the certified translator and a public notary and the document was authenticated with an apostille stamp. This stamp is issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and confirms that all signatures, seals and stamps on the document are valid. This can be used for official purposes in countries that are members of the Hague Convention. Dispatching to the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) for legalisation/apostille, organising the physical meeting of the Certified Translator and the notary, and receiving the Apostilled document[s] back from the Foreign Office implies this type of translation cannot be delivered overnight. Let us know your deadlines, and we will do our best to propose you suitable options.

We can help for all of those. A legal translation or legalised translation, also called notariZed (or notariSed in British English!) is a translation made by professional, registered, certified translators, who will be required to swear an oath to the translation's accuracy and which is signed by an official notary public. A 'Legal translation' means this same procedure is not done by a notary but by another authority. This procedure provides validity which may be necessary when government agencies or other (often official) organisations (such as the Home Office, Passport Office, Immigration Services, and Courts among others) require them. Notarised / Legal / legalised translations make documents valid and acceptable internationally by local authorities. We collaborate with an excellent notary solicitor who's a treasure of knowledge when it comes to the intricacies of notarised documents. The procedure can be taking a bit of time (translating, getting the certified translator swearing the validity and exactitude of the translation to the notary, getting documents sent to the FCO...) so let us know as soon as possible what you need and when you need it for so we can organise this accordingly. Do not hesitate to call us, it will save precious time and we can tell you how to proceed so you have your perfect translation ready on time.

Of course. A notarised -or notarized- translation (also called 'legal translation' or 'legalised translation') is a translation made by professional, registered, certified translators, who will be required to swear an oath to the translation's accuracy and which is signed by an official notary public. This procedure provides validity which may be necessary when government agencies or other (often official) organisations (such as the Home Office, Passport Office, Immigration Services, and Courts among others) require them. Notarised translations make documents valid and acceptable internationally by local authorities. We collaborate with an excellent notary solicitor (http://www.FJFNotary.com) who's a treasure of knowledge when it comes to the intricacies of notarised documents. The procedure can be taking a bit of time (translating, getting the certified translator swearing the validity and exactitude of the translation to the notary, getting documents sent to the FCO...) so let us know as soon as possible what you need and when you need it for so we can organise this accordingly. Do not hesitate to call us, it will save precious time and we can tell you how to proceed so you have your perfect translation ready on time.

Of course. A certified translation of bank statements is a translation of your financial documents that has been reviewed and verified by a professional translator who is authorised to provide certified translations. This type of translation is typically required by international accountants, mortgage advisers or financial authorities (e.g. the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), among others) to ensure that your financial information is accurately translated and can be used for official purposes. This includes certified translations of balance sheets, which are important financial documents that provide a snapshot of a company's financial health at a specific point in time. If you need a certified translation of your bank statements or other financial documents, ProLanguage can help. Our team of professional, certified, translators is experienced in providing accurate and reliable translations that meet the requirements of international financial organisations. Contact us today to learn more about our certified translation services.

Probably no. Imagine you’re buying a car. There’s always a chance of finding a better deal, but you run the risk of buying something that doesn’t perform as well. Or even something that does not perform at all. We do our best to accommodate your budget and offer you some of the most competitive prices in the industry, as you can see from numerous testimonials on this website. If you have found a cheaper quote, be aware that there are less than reputable companies who charge very low prices and then provide you with automated translations (by putting your document through apps like Google Translate) and ask you to pay in advance. By the time you realise you have a poor translation, or a document not suited for purpose, it's too late.

No. All of our translators are qualified and experienced native-speakers who translate INTO their own language and not vice-versa. If a country has two official languages, like Belgium, we will find you a native, French-Speaking Wallonian OR a native Flemish speaker – one for the specific language required to ensure that the translation is perfect. We don’t cut any corners.

Your confidentiality is paramount for us. Our linguists and translators are required to sign an ASTA - Assignment Specific Translation Agreement featuring strict GDPR compliance and confidentiality clauses for each project they are working on. Translators are only provided your source material after signing this agreement and following your go-ahead, if you wish to proceed. Rest assured all material sent to us is treated as confidential.

Of course not. All our translators are professional, qualified, full-time translators providing full translations they prepared and edited from A to Z to make sure the translation reads well and gives you full satisfaction.

We’ve been running our translation agency as a business since 2009 and have an extensive network of tried and tested native language translators available for your project. We ensure a perfect collaboration with only the best translators and to date, we have a 100% success rate on our certified documents. No document we provided a certified translation for was ever rejected by a court or refused by an embassy or consulate. And we are very proud of it!

Of course. We will have to transcribe the content of your audio recording from your audio file first, then we will translate it, and certify it, if need be. Transcription can be a bit time consuming of course, depending on the length of the audio but we have done this in multiple cases (witness statements, presentations, seminars, interviews..) so documents could be used by journalists, in court, in litigation, or in criminal cases, for example. We can also proceed to the extraction and transcription of the audio content, leave you to amend, emend or edit the content (ex: for an interview or a witness statement) and then proceed to the translation in the language of your choice.

Of course, we will be able to help and translate it for you. We will be able to analyse your source document, organise the word-count, prepare a quote for you, even if you are not too certain about the exact source language. Feel free to email us and we will be happy to help.

Yes we do, systematically. Our certified translations feature: a cover page to certify the quality and exactitude of the translation name / details of the source document the professional references of the specific certified translator who translated your document, ensuring full traceability of the document a signed, dated, stamped, footer on every page Some agencies might consider it's a bit excessive, we don't: ensuring a complete, perfect, document means your translation will be fit for purpose. It is usually sent to you as a non-editable Pdf file and it can be sent or printed as well. You may need the hard, hand-signed, paper copy (FCO / FSA / some mortgage advisers, some consulates or some bank clerks can be really difficult if they want to) though the (printed/) electronic copy is in theory far enough. So, to give you full peace of mind we also deliver a hard copy, hand-signed, stamped and dated of the electronic version you received, for your records: the legislation might change, someone might be difficult and request the documents with a 'real' signature, ..this way you are fully covered, once and for all. It's included in the price, anyway, for our peace of mind too. In over 10 years we never had a certified document refused by a client or any authority, so we are certain this is the best way to proceed. Satisfaction of our clients is paramount.