NAATI or Non-Certified Translation and When Each One Is Right

If the translation is going to an Australian government body, above all the Department of Home Affairs, use a NAATI-certified translator. If it is only for your own understanding, a non-certified translation is fine and costs far less. If it is going overseas, NAATI may be the wrong question: the receiving country decides whose translation it accepts.

Key takeaways

• A non-certified translation may be accurate, but nobody the receiver can hold responsible has vouched for it. It suits your own understanding, never an official submission.
• A NAATI-certified translation carries the translator's statement, stamp and practitioner number, checkable against NAATI's directory, for a particular language direction.
• For Home Affairs, translations made in Australia should be NAATI; translations made overseas need the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications.
• A notarised translation certifies the translator's signature, not the translation's accuracy. Some foreign authorities ask for it.
• For documents going overseas, ask the receiving authority who may translate, and at which point in the sequence.

What the terms mean

A non-certified translation is any translation that no accountable translator has certified: a bilingual friend's version, a machine translation, or a professional's informal draft. It may be perfectly accurate. What it lacks is anyone the receiver can hold responsible for its accuracy.

A NAATI-certified translation is produced by a translator holding a credential from NAATI, the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, Australia's national certification body for translators and interpreters. The translation normally carries the translator's statement, stamp and practitioner number, which the receiver can check against NAATI's online directory at naati.com.au. Credentials are issued for a particular language and direction, so a translator certified to translate into English is not necessarily certified to translate out of it.

Two other things often get confused with these.

A translation by an overseas professional, with the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications stated on it. For documents going to Home Affairs, translations done outside Australia are generally accepted in this form.

A notarised translation. Here a notary attests the translator's signed declaration and binds the translation to the original or to a certified copy. The notary does not check the translation's accuracy; the act certifies the translator's signature. A notary never certifies that the contents of a document are true. Some foreign authorities require this step. See notarised translations.

The practical differences

Question	Non-certified	NAATI-certified	Overseas translator with details	Notarised translator's declaration
Who is accountable	No one	The NAATI-credentialled translator	The named translator	The translator; the notary certifies the signature only
Home Affairs, translated in Australia	No	Yes	Not applicable	Only if it is also by a NAATI translator
Home Affairs, translated overseas	No	Yes	Generally yes	Depends on the translator
Other Australian agencies	Rarely	Commonly expected	Check	Check
Foreign authorities	No	Sometimes, often with notarisation and apostille	Sometimes	Often part of what is asked for
Right for	Your own understanding	Most official Australian use	Documents translated where they were issued	Destinations that require it

When a non-certified translation is the right choice

More often than people expect. Paying for certification is wasted when:

• you received a document in another language and simply need to know what it says;
• you are checking whether a document is the right one before ordering a certified translation of it;
• the translation is for internal business use or your own records;
• you are gathering documents early and do not yet know who will receive them or what they will require.

A non-certified translation is never acceptable for an official submission. If a body asked for "a translation" without saying more, ask what kind before assuming it will take an informal one. The cheapest route is usually a free or informal translation to understand the document, followed by a certified translation only of what the receiving body actually wants.

When NAATI certification is the right choice

• Visa, citizenship and other applications to the Department of Home Affairs where the translation is done in Australia. Check the current Home Affairs guidance for your visa.
• Most other Australian government agencies, registration bodies and licensing authorities, which commonly expect NAATI-certified translations. Check the agency's own published requirement.
• Australian courts, universities and professional assessment bodies, subject to their own rules. A court may also want the translator to swear an affidavit about the translation.

For languages where NAATI does not offer certification testing, it has issued a different form of credential. If your language is less common, ask the agency whether that credential satisfies it. See what a NAATI certified translation is.

For Home Affairs, a NAATI translation does not usually also need a notary or a JP. Paying for a notarised translation for a visa application is usually unnecessary.

When NAATI may not be what you need

The document is going overseas. NAATI is an Australian credential. Many countries require a translation made by a sworn or court-appointed translator on their own register, often in that country, sometimes after the apostille has been issued. Others will accept a NAATI translation only once the translator's declaration has been notarised and apostilled by DFAT, the only body that issues apostilles in Australia. Ask the receiving authority who may translate, and at which point in the sequence. Countries outside the Apostille Convention need DFAT authentication and embassy legalisation instead; check the HCCH status table on the day.

The document is coming from overseas for use in Australia. You may not need an Australian translator at all. A translation done where the document was issued, carrying the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications, is often acceptable. Check the Australian receiver's instructions first. See translations from overseas.

"Certified" does not mean the same thing everywhere

Part of the confusion is that the word "certified" is used differently in different countries. In Australia, a certified translation for official use usually means one by a NAATI-credentialled translator. In some other English-speaking countries, a "certified translation" can simply mean a translation that carries the translator's signed statement that it is accurate, with no national credential behind it. In many civil-law countries, the equivalent is a sworn translation by a translator appointed by, or registered with, a court.

So when an overseas body asks for a "certified translation", do not assume it means NAATI, and do not assume it does not. Ask it three things in writing: who may make the translation, whether the translator's signature must be notarised or apostilled, and whether the translation should be made before or after any apostille on the original document. The answers decide which of the four kinds on this page you need.

Business and legal documents

Contracts, company records and court documents follow the same logic, with one addition: the stakes of a wrong translation are higher, and the receiver is more likely to want someone accountable. For a contract that will be relied on in a dispute, or a court document, an informal translation is rarely enough even for internal use, because the parties may later disagree about what it said. A NAATI-certified translation, or a translation sworn before a notary where a foreign court asks for it, gives the receiver a named translator who stands behind the words. Whether the translated document has legal effect in another country is a separate question, for a lawyer in that country, not for the translator or the notary.

For company documents going overseas, the order often matters: the original is notarised, DFAT apostilles or authenticates it, and the translation follows in the form the destination specifies. See document translation.

Checking a certified translation before you submit it

1. Check that the translator's name, stamp and practitioner number appear on it.
2. Check that the practitioner is listed in NAATI's directory for that language and direction, or ask for the credential number.
3. Check that every page is translated, including stamps, seals, handwritten notes and the reverse of each page.
4. Check that names are spelled as they appear on your passport, with the original spelling noted where it differs.
5. Keep the original-language document with the translation, since most receivers want both.

If a translation is rejected despite all this, get the reason in writing before paying for another. See what to do when a translation is rejected.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Canberra family receives a letter in Vietnamese from a relative's lawyer about a property in Viet Nam. They use a free translation app and a bilingual friend to understand it: no certification needed. The letter asks them to sign a power of attorney, drafted in Vietnamese. They ask the lawyer what form it must take. It must be signed before a notary in Australia and apostilled, Viet Nam's Apostille Convention membership having come into force in September 2026 on the latest snapshot, with a translation the Vietnamese side accepts. Separately, the father's visa application needs his Vietnamese birth certificate translated; for that, they use a NAATI-certified translator in Australia and upload it with the original.

In short

Use a non-certified translation when you only need to understand a document. Use a NAATI-certified translator for Home Affairs and most Australian official bodies when the translation is made here. For documents going overseas, ask the receiving authority who may translate and in what order, because it may want a notarised declaration, an apostille or its own sworn translator instead.

People also search for

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