Client details are withheld. The client is identified only by first name, and nothing from the messages, call records or any person in them is reproduced here.

Rawan’s message was two words: “Quote please”. Attached were three PDFs, about twenty pages in all, for a UK visa application. Two of the files were named as text conversations and call records between two people. The third was labelled as school messages. The language was Arabic, the certification chosen was Home Office, and the document type was simply “Other”.

Arabic messages and call logs for a UK visa are a very different job from a certificate. There is no fixed layout, no official seal and no standard wording. The questions that matter are what is actually in Arabic, how to keep twenty pages of short messages readable in English, and how to deal with the people in them who are not the client.

Why messages end up in a visa file

Visa applicants often submit messages and call histories as evidence: of a relationship, of contact kept up over time, or of family arrangements such as a child’s schooling. The Home Office reads them for what they show about the people involved. It does not read Arabic, so anything in Arabic needs a certified English translation, and the translation needs to let a caseworker follow the conversation as easily as the original reader would.

We did not need to know which kind of evidence this was in order to scope it, and we did not ask the client to explain her case. What we needed to know was what each file contained.

Not every page is Arabic

Call records are mostly numbers

A call log is largely dates, times, durations and contact labels. Numbers and timestamps do not need translating; they need reproducing accurately. If the contact names in the log are written in Arabic script, those are transliterated. Headings, buttons and labels from the phone’s interface are translated where they appear in Arabic. A call log of several pages may therefore contain very little actual translation, and we told the client so, because she should not pay translation rates for copying digits.

Messages are rarely in one script

Arabic text conversations often mix Arabic script with Arabic written in Latin letters, sometimes with numerals standing in for Arabic sounds, plus English words and emoji. Each needs a decision. Arabic in either script is translated. English already in the message is kept as it is and marked as original English, so the caseworker can see it was not translated. Emoji are described in brackets only where they carry meaning a reader would otherwise miss.

Dialect

Everyday messages are written in spoken dialect, not formal Arabic. The translation renders what the words mean in that dialect, in plain English, without tidying a casual message into formal prose. A message that reads as abrupt or affectionate in Arabic should read that way in English.

Our Arabic to English certified translation service covers this kind of informal material as well as formal certificates.

Keeping twenty pages readable

A screenshot translation that loses track of who said what is useless as evidence. Our approach keeps the structure of each screenshot:

  • each page is numbered to match the original file, so the caseworker can put the two side by side;
  • each message keeps its sender label, date and time in the order shown;
  • the two people in a conversation are labelled consistently throughout, using the names or labels shown on screen;
  • images, voice notes and attachments are noted in brackets, such as “[voice message, 0:42]”, rather than silently dropped;
  • anything cut off or unreadable in the screenshot is marked as illegible, never guessed.

Other people in the messages

The school messages raised a point we always handle carefully. Messages from a school, a teacher or another parent may name people who are not part of the application. A certified translation must translate what is there; we do not remove names from a document we are certifying as complete. But we do not reproduce anything from the client’s files anywhere else, and in writing about the job we have left every person unnamed.

If the client wanted to redact third-party details before submission, the right way to do it is to redact the original first and translate the redacted version, so the translation and the original still match. We explained that option without recommending it either way; what to submit is the applicant’s decision.

How we scoped it

  1. Open all three PDFs and count pages that actually contain Arabic, separately from pages that are mostly numbers or English.
  2. Price translation for Arabic content and reproduction for call-log data, so the quote reflects the real work.
  3. Agree how speakers are labelled before starting, so twenty pages stay consistent.
  4. Translate in page order, keeping timestamps, sender labels and attachments visible.
  5. Certify the translation with the statement, date, translator details and credentials the Home Office expects, supplied as a signed PDF.

Where it stood

The client asked for a quote, and the useful answer was a scope that separated real translation from data reproduction, so the quote reflects the actual work. Nothing had been translated at the enquiry stage. The approach was settled; the work would follow her go-ahead.

For a broader view of what the Home Office expects from any translated document, see our guide to the official UKVI translation requirements.

Advice if you are submitting messages as evidence

  • Export or screenshot conversations in date order, with dates and times visible.
  • Do not crop away the sender names; a translator cannot reconstruct who said what.
  • Include the whole conversation you rely on, not scattered single messages.
  • If you redact anything, redact the original before translation.
  • Ask for a scope that separates Arabic text from numbers and English; you should not pay to translate a phone number.

Questions about translating Arabic messages for a UK visa

Do call logs need translating?

Only the Arabic parts, such as contact names or interface labels. Dates, times and durations are reproduced as they are.

Some of my messages are in English already. Will you translate those?

No. English text is kept and marked as original English so the caseworker can see it.

My messages are written in Arabic using English letters and numbers. Can that be translated?

Yes. Arabic written in Latin letters is still Arabic, and it is translated like Arabic script.

Will the translation correct spelling or tidy the messages?

No. It translates what was written, in the same tone, without improving it.

Can I remove other people’s names first?

That is your decision. If you do, redact the original and have the redacted version translated, so the two match.

If you have Arabic messages or call records for a UK visa file, upload them for a scoped quote and we will show you what actually needs translating.

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Admin

Certified UKVI translator at UKVI Translations. Helping visa applicants, students, families and solicitors get their documents accepted by the Home Office — first time.

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