before you book
Your Questions About Birth Certificate Translation For UKVI Answered
These are the questions we get asked week after week. They come from real emails, not from a list someone made up. If yours is not here, just ask us when you send the file.
Can you translate my birth certificate for HM Passport Office too?
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Yes, and passport files are the second biggest thing we handle after visas. One point catches families out constantly: registries in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal hand out a multilingual extract and call it an international version, but the passport office has refused these, because a form with printed field labels is not a translation of the entries written on it. Send us whatever you were given and we will write the whole thing out properly.
Do you charge extra for the apostille attached to my certificate?
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Only if you want it done. Many Hague apostilles are already bilingual, so plenty of offices accept the certificate on its own. Where the receiving office asks for the whole set, the apostille counts as one further page and we will quote it both ways so the choice stays with you.
Which other UK bodies do you translate birth certificates for?
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Register offices before a wedding, universities and colleges at enrolment, employers running a DBS check, the DVLA, solicitors, and foreign consulates here in Britain when a birth is being recorded in another country. The wording on the certification sheet is adjusted to suit whoever is reading it, so tell us the office when you order and the right version comes back the first time.
My certificate was issued as a digital PDF with a code. Is that usable?
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Yes, and we handle these every week. Spanish, Peruvian, Portuguese and Greek registries now issue electronically signed records carrying a verification reference, and we reproduce that reference and the signature block so the receiving office can look the original up online. There is no need to order a paper copy first.
What happens if the father's details are blank on the record?
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Nothing at all. Plenty of countries issue certificates that name only one parent, or list none of them on the short version. We reproduce the document as it was registered and never fill an empty field, because inventing content is precisely what makes a translation unusable.
Should I order a printed copy or is a PDF enough?
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Online portals and university systems take an upload without any problem. Passport applications, registrars and DVLA counters are safer on paper with a wet signature, so those go out by post. Name the office when you enquire and we will tell you which one applies.
Can I reuse the same translation for a later application?
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Usually yes, as long as the original has not been reissued and the receiving office sets no age limit. Work done for a passport commonly goes on to support a nationality file years later. Some embassies want something dated within three or six months, and we reissue at a reduced rate in that situation.
What if the office queries or rejects my translated document?
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Send us the exact wording they used and we will act on it the same day. If the fault sits with us it is corrected and reissued free. Requirements do shift, so where an office now wants an extra line or a different formatting choice, we add it rather than charging you for a fresh order.
