Before you pay anyone
The Free Translating Service: who qualifies, and who misses out
The Australian Government translates up to 10 personal documents free of charge for eligible new arrivals. If you qualify, use it — this page shows you how to check in two minutes. If you do not, you will see exactly why, and what your options are.
The short answer
Is there a free NAATI translation?
Not exactly. The nearest thing is the Free Translating Service, whose translators hold NAATI credentials where available. It translates up to 10 personal documents for people in Australia whose visa is on the eligible list, was granted in the past 2 years and is still valid. Documents for visa or citizenship applications are not eligible.
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What it is
What the free service actually provides
The Free Translating Service is delivered through TIS National for the Department of Home Affairs. Its own pages describe it precisely, and the details matter.
Ten documents, translated for you
“Permanent residents and eligible visa holders can get up to 10 personal documents translated into English for free.” Its own panel of translators does the work — it is not a service that certifies a translation you already have. Searching for a free NAATI translation? This is the nearest thing: “Where available, TIS translators hold credentials from the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).”
Usually a summary, not the full document
“Most translations are provided in an extract summary format of up to 100 words. This will be suitable for the majority of official purposes in Australia.” That is TIS National’s own view of the format. A hundred words is plenty for confirming your name and date of birth. It is not every line of a marriage certificate with three stamps and a marginal note. If you think you need every line in English, ask the office that wants the document whether a summary will do before you pay anyone.
Source: TIS National, About the Free Translating Service (checked 18 September 2026)
Thirty days
“Within 30 calendar days following the application’s approval, the completed translation will be available to download.” Fine for a drawer document; tight when an appointment is next week.
Full translations spend your limit faster
Where a full translation is provided rather than an extract, “the first 5 pages will count as one document, the next 5 as the second document, and so on” — a long document can use several of your ten slots.
The test
You may qualify if all of these are true
1. Your visa is on the eligible list
Your visa subclass must be on TIS National’s list. It includes partner visas (100, 309, 801, 820), many skilled visas (186, 187, 189, 190, 482, 491, 494), and humanitarian visas (200–204, 785, 786, 790, 866), among others. TIS National says: “Only the visa subclasses that are listed are eligible for the Free Translating Service.” Check your subclass against the list itself; it can change without notice.
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
2. The visa was granted in the last two years
“Your visa must be granted in the past 2 years, and still valid (not cancelled or expired).” The clock runs from the grant date, not from your arrival.
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
3. You are in Australia
“You need to be onshore (in Australia) to access the service.”
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
4. You still have slots left
Eligibility lasts while “you have received less than the limit of 10 translated documents” — once the ten are used, access is deactivated.
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
5. The document itself is one the service takes
“Only personal documents that assist with employment, education, and community engagement are accepted”, and “Document translations required for visa or citizenship applications, and documents issued by private citizens, are not eligible.” That catches people who are otherwise eligible. Use the service for the papers you need for work, study or settling in, not for the visa or citizenship file itself. It also says “We can only translate original documents. We cannot accept certified copies of documents.”
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
6. You have not used the service on an earlier visa
One of its conditions is that “You have not used the service previously whilst on another visa granted more than 2 years ago.”
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
All of these true? Apply directly at tisnational.gov.au for a document the service takes — you do not need us, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a page.
The gaps
Who the free service does not cover
The service’s own pages are direct about its edges. Working back from its rules, these are the people who arrive at it and find it closed: tourists, working holiday makers, citizens, anyone past the two-year mark, anyone who has used their ten, anyone whose document is for a visa or citizenship application, anyone who needs the whole document rather than a summary, and anyone who cannot wait up to 30 days.
Citizens, tourists, working holiday makers
“Tourist visa holders and working holiday visa holders are not eligible for the Free Translating Service. Australian citizens are also not eligible for this service.” Citizenship, ironically, ends your access. A citizen with a Punjabi birth certificate to translate for a passport application has to pay for it.
Source: TIS National, Eligibility (checked 18 September 2026)
Anyone past the two-year mark
Accounts are deactivated when “your eligible visa was granted more than 2 years ago, or has expired or been cancelled”. The document you did not translate in year one still needs translating in year five.
Anyone who needs more than the format allows
A full word-for-word translation of every entry, and a turnaround in days rather than up to 30 — those are the two things the free service is not built to promise, by its own description.
Where we fit
If the free service is not open to you
Translation with us is $39.99 per page into English, delivered digitally — a complete translation of the document, not an extract. Add NAATI certification for $59.99 per page when the receiving authority asks for it. That option is explained on NAATI translation in Australia. Normal delivery is estimated within 3 days, with faster options when a deadline is close. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday.
See every document type we handle
One more honest pointer: if you are confirming your identity for a Centrelink or Medicare claim, Services Australia states it can translate the documents needed for your claim free of charge — ask them first.