Online Document Translation in Australia: How It Works

Yes, document translation is the one service here that works well online. It needs no witnessing, and a translator works from a clear scan. What matters is whether the translator holds the credential the receiving body expects, usually NAATI in Australia, and whether that body wants a PDF, a signed paper original or a notarised translation.

Key takeaways

• A translation is not a witnessed act. Nobody needs to see you, your signature or your original.
• For Australian bodies, the usual credential is NAATI certification. Check it on NAATI's online directory.
• NAATI certification is for a language pair and a direction. Into English is not the same as from English.
• Ask the receiver whether it wants a PDF, a signed paper original, or a translation bound to a certified copy.
• The translator certifies the translation's accuracy, not that your original is genuine.
• For use overseas, the receiving jurisdiction decides whose translation it accepts. Ask before ordering.

Why does "online" change so little for translation?

Most of what a notary does needs a person in the room. A signature must be watched. An original must be handled. Identity and capacity must be judged. Translation needs none of that. The translator reads the document and produces an accurate rendering of it in another language. A clear image of the document is enough, and that image can come from anywhere.

So the useful questions are different. Is the translator the right kind for the body receiving it? In what form will that body accept the finished translation? Does anything else, such as a certified copy, a notary or an apostille, have to happen before or after? This page covers those questions. For remote notarial acts in general, see how online notarisation works.

What makes a translation "certified" when you never meet the translator?

For documents going to Australian bodies, the credential that usually matters is certification by NAATI, the national body that credentials translators and interpreters. Translations done in Australia for Australian immigration should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. Other Australian agencies, universities and courts commonly expect the same, though each sets its own rule.

Buying online, you cannot see a certificate on an office wall. So check three things yourself:

• The credential is current. NAATI publishes an online directory of practitioners who choose to be listed. Certification must be renewed periodically. Ask for the translator's name and practitioner number, and check them.
• It covers your language pair, in the right direction. A translator certified from English into Mandarin is not thereby certified from Mandarin into English.
• The translator, not only the agency, holds it. Many online services are agencies that allocate work. That is fine, provided the person who translates and certifies your document is credentialled.

What must the translation show?

Receiving bodies look for particular details on the translation itself. For Australian immigration, a translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. A translation made overseas should show the translator's full name, address, telephone number and details of their qualifications. Check the current Home Affairs instructions for your application.

For DFAT to legalise a translation, it must be by a NAATI certified or recognised translator. It must show the translator's name and signature, the NAATI seal with the practitioner ID, and the date, on every page. A copy of the original, signed or sealed by the translator, should be attached. See DFAT's list of documents it can legalise.

Those details are the evidence a reader relies on when they have never met the translator. A translation missing them is often returned, however accurate it is.

Do you need a PDF or a paper original?

This is the question people forget to ask. An online translation is usually delivered as a PDF bearing the translator's statement, signature and credential details. For many Australian online portals, that is exactly what is needed. You upload it with the scan of the original.

Some receiving bodies want something else:

• A signed and stamped paper original, posted to you. A printout of a PDF is a copy, and a body that wants an original will treat it as one.
• A translation bound to a copy of the source document, so the two cannot be separated.
• A translation of a certified copy, rather than of your scan. That changes the order: the copy is certified first, then translated.

Ask the receiving body which form it wants before you order. If it wants paper, postage becomes a step in its own right.

What does the translator certify, and what not?

A certified translation confirms that the translation is a true and accurate rendering of the document the translator was given. It does not confirm that the source document is genuine. When you send a scan, the translator is translating a scan.

That is usually fine. The receiving body checks authenticity another way: by seeing the original, a certified copy, or an apostille on the source document. But if the body needs the translation tied to an authenticated document, the order matters. Get the source document certified or apostilled first, then have that version translated, including the certificate on it.

When does a notary get involved?

Some foreign authorities want the translation itself notarised. Know what that means before you book, because it changes who has to attend.

A notary does not usually check the translation's accuracy. Instead, the notary typically witnesses the translator's signed declaration or affidavit that the translation is accurate. Or the notary certifies a copy of the translation. Either way, the person who appears before the notary is the translator, not you. Some translation providers arrange this. Ask whether yours does. Our NAATI translation with notary page explains how the two steps fit.

If that notarial step is proposed by video, the usual test applies. The receiving authority, not Australian law, decides whether it accepts a remotely executed notarisation. An apostille, if needed, then comes from DFAT. See online apostilles.

What about translations for use overseas?

For documents going overseas, the rule changes. The receiving jurisdiction decides whose translation it accepts. Some countries require a translator on their own official register, often a sworn translator appointed by a local court. In that case, an Australian online translation may be refused however well certified.

Others accept a NAATI translation with a notary's certificate and an apostille. Some want the translation done in their country after the Australian apostille, so it includes the apostille itself. Ask the receiving authority, or the country's embassy, before you order. A translation done in the wrong place, or at the wrong point in the chain, is the most common waste in this area. Our page on what to do when a translation is rejected covers recovering from it.

Receiving body	Usual translator	Usual form
Home Affairs, online application	NAATI in Australia	PDF uploaded with the scan
Australian university or employer	Usually NAATI	Set by that body
DFAT, to legalise the translation	NAATI certified or recognised	Paper, seal and date on every page
Foreign court or registry	Decided by that country	Often paper, sometimes notarised
Country with sworn translators	Its own register	Done there, not in Australia

Can you use machine translation or a relative?

Not for official purposes. A certified translation means a credentialled person takes responsibility for its accuracy. Software cannot do that, even when an app labels its output "certified". A relative who speaks the language is not independent. Receiving bodies, including Australian immigration, expect an independent credentialled translator.

Machine translation is useful for one thing: understanding a document yourself before you order an official translation. It is not something to submit. Our page on NAATI and non-certified translations explains the difference.

How do you send identity documents safely?

You will often send a passport, birth certificate or marriage certificate to someone you have never met. Reasonable precautions:

1. Use the provider's secure upload, if it has one, rather than ordinary email.
2. Ask how long they keep your documents and how they delete them.
3. Send only the pages that need translating, including any stamps or endorsements on the back.
4. Be wary of any provider that cannot name the translator and their credential.
5. Keep your own copy of exactly what you sent.

What should you check when the translation arrives?

Read it against the source before submitting. Translators are careful, but a name transliterated differently from your passport can cause a mismatch. Check every name, date and number. If your passport spells a name one way, ask the translator to use that spelling, with a note where the source differs. That is much easier to fix before lodging than after.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A woman in Townsville needs her Vietnamese birth certificate translated for a partner visa. She asks Home Affairs' instructions first, which ask for uploads. She checks a translator's NAATI credential for Vietnamese into English on the directory. She uploads a clear scan of both sides. The PDF translation arrives, and she notices her middle name is spelt differently from her passport. The translator corrects it and adds a note, and she uploads both.

In short

Translation is the easiest service to do online, because nothing needs witnessing. Check the translator's NAATI credential and language direction. Ask the receiver whether it wants a PDF, a paper original or a notarised translation. For use overseas, the receiving jurisdiction decides whose translation it accepts. Our document translation page explains the service.

People also search for

• What is a certified translation in Australia?
• Do I need a NAATI translation or will any translator do?
• What can I do if my translation was rejected?
• Can I get an Australian translation from overseas?
• Can certified copies be done online?

Not sure which translation the receiving body wants? Send us its instructions and the document, and we will explain each step before you book.