When a translation is not accepted: what to do next

Starting again? Check what your document needs

Answer a few quick questions and get your answer in 1 second.

First step: ask for the reason, in writing if you can

Go back to whoever turned the translation away and ask two things: what exactly was wrong with it, and what they need instead. An email, a note on the letter, or a written request for more information is better than a reason given across a busy counter. It is easy to misremember a spoken reason, and a written one shows a translator exactly what has to change.

These five questions cover most of the reasons below:

What exactly is missing or wrong in the translation?
Who do you take translations from: a NAATI-certified translator, a named organisation, or your own service?
Do you need the original document as well, and in what form: the original itself, a copy, or a printed translation?
Must every page, the back of the document and the stamps be translated?
Must the document itself have been issued within a certain time?

If the answer points to a mistake in a translation we delivered, the fix is ours, and it is set out under what we do below. If it points to a rule, the sections that follow match the common ones to the authority’s own words.

The office names its own list of translators

Some authorities take translations only from sources they name. The clearest case is a licence transfer in New South Wales. Service NSW says: “If your licence or letter is not in English, you must provide a translation. Transport for NSW only accepts translations from” four named sources: Multicultural NSW, the Department of Home Affairs, the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea for licences issued there, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office for licences issued in Taiwan.

No independent translator is on that list, us included, so a second translation from another independent translator runs into the same rule. Go to the organisation that fits you: licence translation for New South Wales works through the four in order.

Hire desks set their own rules too. Avis’s renting FAQ says a licence “must be in English, or if not in English, the renter must have an English translation thereof”, and in the very next sentence: “If the licence is not in English, an International Drivers Licence is required.” If a desk turned your translation away and asked for a permit, a second translation will not answer that request. International Driving Permit or translation in Australia explains the difference, and renting a car with an overseas licence quotes each major company.

A certified translation was needed, and a Standard one was supplied

Some government pages name a credential. The Australian Passport Office says: “If your documents aren’t in English, you’ll need to get them translated in full and stamped by an accredited translator before you show them to us.” The Home Affairs checklist for the onshore partner visa says: “Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.”

Both pages use an older NAATI term; the NAATI terms, old and new explains which one is current. A Standard translation from us carries no certification statement and no stamp, so it does not show what those pages ask for.

The option that fits that wording is the NAATI certification option. A NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation, and the PDF carries their certification statement, their NAATI stamp (normally the digital one, with a QR code), their name and their practitioner number. What a certified translation looks like shows each part.

If you already have a Standard translation from us of the same document, email us with the order number and what the office asked for before you place a new order.

The original was not with the translation

A translation is read beside the document it translates, not instead of it. The same Home Affairs checklist says: “Provide original and translated documents in your application.” If only the translation went in, send both together.

Under the NAATI certification option the PDF already contains a copy of the document you photographed, stamped by the translator. That copy shows which original was translated; it does not stand in for the original where an office asks to see the document itself.

Some offices want paper. For a NSW licence transfer, Service NSW adds: “You must provide the original translation document. Photocopies are not accepted.” We deliver a PDF by email, so where an office asks for an original paper translation, a PDF will not meet that request. PDF or hard copy? sets out where a printed translation is enough.

Part of the document was not translated, or could not be read

The Passport Office sentence above asks for documents “translated in full”, and the Home Affairs checklist says: “Have all documents translated into English.” A missing back page, a stamp on the reverse or a note in the margin is enough for a reader holding the original to see a gap.

We translate what is in the photos you send. Our terms say: “Fields, notes and the wording on stamps and seals are translated.” They also ask you to “photograph or scan every page and both sides of a card”. Check the original against the translation. If the part was in the photos you sent and the translation left it out, that is an error in our translation, and the correction promise below applies. If it never reached us, email us the missing photos with your order number. Why we translate both sides of the licence explains why the back matters.

If the complaint is a word marked [illegible], the cause is usually the photo. The Home Affairs checklist says of the documents you upload: “The scans and photos must be clear enough to read.” A clearer photo of that part lets it be read and translated; how to photograph your document has the practical detail.

The name does not line up with your other documents

The name on a translation is the name as the document gives it. Where it has to be romanised from another script, we follow the spelling in your passport when you give it to us. Which spelling of your name goes on the translation explains the whole approach.

If you gave us your passport spelling before work started and the translation does not follow it, that is an error in our translation, and the correction promise below applies.

If the problem is that two documents give genuinely different names, a translation cannot fix it, and a translator will not change one to match another. The Home Affairs partner visa checklist asks for “proof of change of name, if applicable”, such as “a marriage or divorce certificate”, “change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or the relevant overseas authority” or “documents that show other names you have been known by”. That evidence is what closes the gap. If it is not in English, it is a document we can translate.

A translation made overseas is missing the translator’s details

Home Affairs does not ask a translator outside Australia for a NAATI credential, but it does ask for details on the page. The partner visa checklist says: “Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. On each translation, they must include their:” “full name”, “address and telephone number” and “qualifications and experience in the language they are translating”. It adds: “These details must be in English.”

If that is why your translation came back, you may not need a new one. The quickest fix may be to ask the translator who made it to add the missing details. Can you translate your own documents? reads the same checklist against a translation made at home.

The document itself is out of date

Sometimes the problem is the original, not the translation. On the partner visa page, Home Affairs says: “However for immigration purposes, police certificates are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.” It adds: “We may ask you to provide them again if they expire before we decide your visa.”

No translation changes the date on the original. The fix is a newly issued document from the authority that issued the first one. Because a translation follows one original, the new document then needs its own translation, and that is a new order. The translation you already have still matches the old document.

What we do when you write to us

If the reason is an error in a translation we delivered, our terms are short: “If you find an error, email us with your order number and we correct and re-issue the translation at no charge.” Send the order number and, if you have it, the office’s written reason to support@officialtranslation.com.au or through the contact page. The written reason shows us exactly what to look at.

If the office has asked for another copy, the terms cover that too: “We re-send your finished translation on request at no charge.”

One limit applies to every correction. In the terms’ words: “A translator will not change a translation to say something the original does not say”. A translation can be corrected to match the original more closely. It cannot be changed to match another document.

What we do not do

We take the order, arrange the translation of your document, and deliver it. Our terms say: “We arrange for your document to be translated and deliver it to you; we do not guarantee that any authority, office or company will accept it.” Where we know that an office takes translations only from sources it names, or asks for an original on paper, the pages linked above say so.

We also do not judge the document you send us. The terms say “we do not check whether the original is accurate, valid or complete”, so a question about the document itself is one for the authority that issued it.

Your rights are not reduced by any of this. As the terms put it: “Nothing in this guarantee limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.” Before a second order from us or anyone, ask the office what it needs; do I need a NAATI translation? walks through the questions, and when we will tell you not to order lists the cases we send elsewhere.

Sources, checked on the date shown: