Guide

Translating documents for a skills assessment: what each assessor asks for

If your skilled visa needs a skills assessment, the assessing authority reads your documents before Home Affairs does. Four assessing authorities, VETASSESS, the ACS, Engineers Australia and Trades Recognition Australia, each say something slightly different about who may translate your documents. Here is each one in its own words.

Published 19 September 2026 · Official Translation

Skills assessment: does your document need translating?

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The short answer: the original, a translation, and your assessor’s own rules

Home Affairs is clear that the assessor, not the department, runs this step: “It is your responsibility to contact the relevant assessing authority for your occupation and obtain a skills assessment, if required. Each assessing authority has its own assessment procedures, timeframes and charges.” It also says: “We can only accept a skills assessment issued by the relevant assessing authority.”

So the rule that matters for your translation is your assessor’s. The four below agree on two things. Anything not in English needs an English translation, and they want to see the original next to it.

They differ on who may translate. Two name NAATI for translations done in Australia. The other two use their own words, which we quote exactly so you can hold them up against any translator, including us.

VETASSESS: “a registered translation service”

VETASSESS answers the question in its FAQs for professional and for trade occupations, in the same words: “If your documents are not in English, you will need to have them translated into English. You need to submit copies of the original documents as well as the English translations. Please note that a registered translation service must be used.”

The FAQ does not define “registered”. If you are unsure whether a translator counts, ask VETASSESS before you pay anyone. Under our NAATI certification option, a NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation and puts their name and practitioner number on every page.

One more thing for qualifications from China. VETASSESS’s FAQ for professional occupations says: “As part of the working arrangement with the Chinese government, VETASSESS requires all qualification documents awarded in P.R. China to be verified through our Chinese Qualifications Verification service.” A translation does not replace that step.

ACS: NAATI in Australia, a translator it can contact overseas

The Australian Computer Society starts with the same rule: “any original documents not in English need to be translated. Both the original document and the translation must be uploaded for assessment.”

For translations done in Australia: “Acceptable translations may be obtained from translators accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).” The same page promotes a translation partner for ACS members. The sentence we quote names NAATI translators in general, so the partner is one route, not the only one.

For translations done overseas, the ACS again points members to its partner’s “NAATI-certified translators”, then adds: “Other acceptable translations can be obtained from the Awarding Institution or contact your nearest Australian Diplomatic or Consular Mission for a list of approved translation services in your country.”

It then sets conditions. An overseas translation must be on the translating organisation’s letterhead, with an official stamp and the translator’s name, plus “The translator’s signature and contact telephone number legibly printed with the signature – it must be possible for ACS to contact the translator to verify the document”. If a translation you had done overseas lacks those details, it may not be enough for the ACS.

Engineers Australia: an authorised translator, identified on every copy

Engineers Australia’s application guide (January 2026) says: “If your documents are not in English, provide both the translation as well as the original language documents. All translations must be completed by an authorised translator. The translation must include the translator’s registered ID, name and contact details on each copy.”

The same guide asks for your degree certificate (testamur) and academic transcripts as colour scans, each “including the official English language translation (if applicable)”. It also says you’ll need “a high-resolution scan of the original documents ready to upload”.

Be clear about what our translation shows. Under the NAATI certification option it carries the translator’s name, NAATI practitioner number, certification statement and NAATI stamp (normally the digital one), but not the translator’s own address or telephone number. If Engineers Australia is your assessor, ask it before you order from us or anyone whether a translation that shows the translator’s name and NAATI practitioner number, but not their phone number or address, meets its “contact details” requirement.

Trades Recognition Australia: NAATI in Australia, and extracts accepted

TRA puts it this way: “Documents submitted as evidence must be in their original language accompanied by an English translation if the originals are not in English. TRA accepts extracted translations of original documents by recognised/approved translators.”

Inside Australia: “If you have documents translated in Australia, acceptable translations must be obtained from translators accredited with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).” Outside Australia: “the translator must be approved by the authorities in the country where the translation is made.”

An extract translates only the parts that matter. We translate every page you send in full and price by the page. If TRA is your assessor and a document runs to many pages, ask TRA whether an extract is enough before you order a full translation from anyone.

Before you order: four checks that save a resubmission

Tell us the spelling in your passport. A degree, a transcript and a reference can spell your name three ways. Engineers Australia, for one, asks for your passport bio data page and any “Change of name documents (if applicable)” with your application. Where a name has to be romanised, we follow your passport; where the document already prints a Latin-letter spelling, that stays as printed. Which spelling of your name goes on the translation explains how we handle it.

Photograph or scan the whole original. Every page, both sides where there is print on the back, in colour. Stamps and handwritten notes are translated too, so they need to be readable. A clear phone photo is enough for us; Engineers Australia wants the copies you upload to it “colour-scanned to high resolution”. Photographing a document for translation has the practical detail.

Upload both versions. Each assessor above wants the original as well as the translation. Keep them together so an assessor can lay one beside the other.

Check the free service first. TIS National’s Free Translating Service says “You need to be onshore (in Australia) to access the service” and “Only the visa subclasses that are listed are eligible for the Free Translating Service.” It also says “Document translations required for visa or citizenship applications, and documents issued by private citizens, are not eligible.” But its list of eligible documents includes “employment references”, and its About page names “a skills assessment provider” as a body whose word can support a request for a full translation. Ask TIS whether your documents qualify before you count on it. Who the Free Translating Service is for has the full rules.

What we do, and what we leave to the assessor

We translate the whole document into English and deliver it by email as a searchable PDF. The full price in Australian dollars is on screen before you order, and we add nothing at checkout.

Where your assessor names NAATI, choose the NAATI certification option. A NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation and applies their certification statement and stamp.

What each document looks like in English: degree certificate translation and academic transcript translation. What the finished PDF contains, page by page: what a certified translation looks like.

Sources, checked on the date shown: