From Overseas Document Translation in Australia: How It Works

Translation is the one document step that barely notices where you are. Nothing is witnessed, and a clear scan sent from Manila is the same input as one sent from Melbourne. What being overseas changes is whose translation will be accepted. That is decided by whoever receives the document, not by you or the translator.

Key takeaways

• The receiving body decides whose translation it accepts. Establish who it is before you pay anyone.
• For the Department of Home Affairs, a translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator.
• A translation made outside Australia for Home Affairs should show the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications and experience.
• Foreign bodies often want a translation by a sworn translator on their own register, made in their own country.
• The translation can be done remotely. The steps around it, such as certified copies, notarisation and apostilles, often cannot.

Who is receiving the translation?

That one question decides almost everything. Two situations come up.

Going to an Australian body, such as the Department of Home Affairs, a university, a registration authority, a court or a bank. Australian bodies commonly expect a translation by a translator certified by NAATI, the national certification body. NAATI certification is an Australian credential. A competent translation by a sworn translator abroad may be refused. That is not because it is poor, but because the body cannot verify the credential behind it.

Going to a foreign body, such as a ministry, a foreign university or an employer abroad. Many of these want a translation made in their own country, by a sworn or court-appointed translator on their own register. In those systems, the translator acts almost as an officer of the legal system. An Australian translation, however well certified, may not fit.

So two documents that are otherwise identical may need translations made in different places. Establish the direction before you pay anyone.

What does Home Affairs accept?

Home Affairs sets out its translation rule in its document guidance on the immigration website. A document not in English must be accompanied by an English translation. If the translation is done in Australia, it should be by a NAATI-accredited or credentialled translator.

If the translation is done outside Australia, it should be endorsed by the translator with their full name, address, telephone number, and details of their qualifications and experience in the language pair. That makes an overseas translation workable for a visa application, if the translator includes those details. Read the current guidance for your visa, because some programs or officers ask for more.

That rule gives you a real choice while you are overseas. You can use a NAATI translator in Australia, working from scans. Or you can use a qualified local translator who endorses the translation properly. The first is the safer default when you are unsure. The second can make sense for a rare language with few NAATI practitioners.

What about other Australian bodies?

Universities, professional registration bodies, courts and banks each set their own rules. Many simply say "NAATI certified". Some accept an overseas translation with a notarised translator's declaration. A few want the translation made in the country that issued the document. Read the body's published requirement, then ask if it is silent.

If the translated document is itself going to DFAT, DFAT has its own standard. It legalises translations made by a NAATI-certified or recognised translator. The translator's name, signature, NAATI seal, practitioner ID and the date must appear on every page. For NAATI translation in Australia, see document translation.

How do you check a NAATI translator?

NAATI publishes an online directory of its certified and recognised practitioners. You can search it by language and by credential type. Before you send anything, check that the translator holds a current credential in the right direction, for example from Vietnamese into English. A credential into Vietnamese does not cover a translation into English.

A NAATI-certified translation normally carries the translator's NAATI stamp or seal, with a practitioner number. If a provider cannot tell you who will translate your document and what credential they hold, ask again or go elsewhere. The receiving body may check.

What if your language is rare?

For some languages, few or no NAATI-certified translators exist. NAATI has offered a recognised practising credential for languages where it does not test. Search the directory for your language before you assume there is nobody.

If there is still nobody, the Home Affairs rule for overseas translations may be the practical route. Choose a qualified translator where you are, and make sure the endorsement includes every detail Home Affairs lists. For any other Australian body, ask it directly what it accepts for that language. Keep its reply with your application.

Does being overseas help at all?

In one way, yes. Translation is done remotely by default, so you can use an Australian NAATI practitioner as easily as someone local. The choice should follow the acceptance question above, not who is nearest.

Time zones also mean a document can be sent at the end of your day and read at the start of the Australian working day. Whether that shortens anything depends on the translator's workload and the document. Do not plan around a promised time.

What cannot be done remotely?

The translation can. The steps around it often cannot.

• Certified copies. If the receiving body wants a translation of a certified copy, someone must physically certify that copy against the original. See certified copies from overseas.
• Notarising the translator's declaration. That is a notarial act, with the translator attending and proving identity.
• An apostille or legalisation. A government step, done in the country that issued the document, on paper. See apostilles from overseas.

The common overseas mistake is buying a translation and then finding the order was wrong. For example, a document is translated, then has to be certified and apostilled first, and the translation must be redone. Ask the receiving authority for the order before starting.

In what order should things happen?

1. Ask the receiving body who must translate, whether the translation must be notarised, and in what order.
2. Complete any certification or apostille on the original, if the translation must cover them.
3. Scan the finished document, every page and both sides, including stamps and the apostille.
4. Order the translation from the kind of translator the body named.
5. Add notarisation or legalisation of the translation, only if the body asked for it.

How should you send documents from abroad?

• Scan, do not photograph. If you must use a phone, use a scanning app, lay the document flat and capture the whole page, margins included.
• Send every page and both sides. Stamps, seals, endorsements and handwritten notes on the reverse usually have to be translated or described.
• Include every spelling of your name. If your passport spells it differently from your birth certificate, say so first. The translator cannot guess which spelling the body will match. See name mismatches.
• Say what the document is for. A careful translator will say if the translation you are ordering is the wrong kind.

Which situations come up most?

Situation	Usually accepted	Watch for
Foreign document for an Australian visa	NAATI in Australia, or an endorsed overseas translation	The overseas translator's full details
Foreign degree for an Australian university	Usually NAATI	The university's own list
Australian document for a foreign ministry	Often that country's sworn translator	Whether the apostille must be translated too
Translation going to DFAT	NAATI certified or recognised	Seal, ID and date on every page
Foreign court or registry	Its own register of translators	Order of apostille and translation

What does a notary do with a translation?

Usually less than people expect. A notary does not check the translation's accuracy. The notary may witness the translator's sworn declaration that the translation is accurate. Or the notary may certify a copy of the original and bind it with the translation. Be clear which act the receiving body wants. See NAATI translation with a notary.

What does not work?

• A translation by a relative or friend. Receiving bodies want an independent translator, however fluent the relative.
• A machine translation. Useful for understanding your own document, never for an official purpose.
• An overseas translation without the translator's details, for Home Affairs.
• Translating before the apostille, when the body wants the apostille translated too.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A woman in Hanoi is applying for an Australian partner visa. Her birth certificate and household registration are in Vietnamese. She reads the Home Affairs guidance and scans both documents flat, front and back. She sends them to a NAATI translator in Australia, with a note of how her name is spelt in her passport. The translations come back by email, and she uploads the scans and translations together. No notary or apostille is involved.

In short

Being overseas rarely blocks a translation. The receiving body decides whose translation it accepts. For Home Affairs, use NAATI in Australia or an overseas translator who gives full details. Settle the order of certification, apostille and translation before you pay for any of them.

People also search for

• What if my translation is rejected?
• Can I get a translation online in Australia?
• Do I need a NAATI certified translation?
• What is a certified translation in Australia?
• What documents do I need to work overseas?

Overseas and need a translation for Australia? Send us what the receiving body asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.