How it works

A photo is enough. Nothing is printed or posted at any stage, so the original stays with you. Take one clear photo of each page with your phone camera, or use a scanner, and include the back of any card that has print or a stamp on it. Photos and PDFs up to 10MB are accepted, one file per page. If a photo is too small to read, the order page flags it before you pay. Photographing a document for translation shows what a usable photo looks like.

NAATI certifies translators, not translations. Choose the NAATI certified option and your document is prepared by a translator who holds a current NAATI credential for that language direction: Certified Translator or Certified Advanced Translator, or Recognised Practising Translator for a language NAATI does not test. The PDF carries their certification statement and their digital stamp with a QR code. Several Australian authorities name a NAATI-certified translator in their own instructions, and our pages quote each one’s wording. Standard is a translation with no statement or stamp, for when nobody has asked for certification. What a certified translation looks like shows each page.

A Standard translation is done by a translator or with AI translation tools. With the NAATI certified option, an independent NAATI-certified translator engaged by us does the translation and applies their own digital stamp to their own work; we never hold or apply anyone’s stamp. Translators receive your document images and the order details needed for the job, never your contact details, and they work under confidentiality obligations. We remain responsible to you for the finished translation.

While you build the order, your photos stay on your device and are not kept between visits. They travel to us only when you tick the terms box and continue to payment, over an encrypted connection, and are never stored on a public server. We use them only to produce your translation; we do not sell personal information or send marketing email. Document images are deleted within 90 days of delivery, or earlier if you ask by emailing support@officialtranslation.com.au with your order number. If you send photos and do not go on to pay, email us from the same address and we delete them straight away. Our Privacy Policy has the full detail.

Nothing is charged while you build the order. The running total updates with every choice, you see the same summary again before you confirm, and we add nothing at checkout. Payment is then taken by Stripe, which accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay; we never see or hold your card details. Prices are in Australian dollars.

If you pay from overseas, the Stripe payment page may show the total already converted into your own currency, with a Stripe conversion fee of 2 to 4 per cent built into the rate; you can switch to Australian dollars on that page. Your bank may also apply its own currency-conversion or international-transaction fee, which is outside our control. Stripe emails you a receipt, and we email your order confirmation.

Your order is placed when your payment is confirmed, and we email you an order number to quote in any message. Before translation begins we check that every page is clear and complete, and email you if anything more is needed; if a photo cannot be read, the delivery clock pauses until a clearer one arrives — see what decides how long a translation takes. The finished translation is emailed to the address you gave; we aim to deliver within the window you chose. Check your junk folder if it seems late.

A searchable PDF, sent by email to the address you gave. The translation follows the layout of your document as closely as it can, so the two can be read side by side, with the wording on stamps and seals and any handwriting translated. With the NAATI certified option the same PDF carries the translator’s certification statement, their digital stamp with its QR code, and a copy of the photos you sent, marked with the translator’s stamp to show which document was translated; it is not a certified copy of your original. Nothing is printed or posted, but you can print it if an office asks for paper; PDF or hard copy says where that is enough.

With the NAATI certified option, yes. The translator’s digital stamp carries a QR code that opens NAATI’s own records and states whether the stamp is valid and what credential the translator holds. The stamp also shows their practitioner number, which anyone can look up in NAATI’s public directory. Both checks take about two minutes with a phone, and you can run them yourself before handing the PDF over: how to check a NAATI translator.

As your document spells it. A name already in Latin letters is copied across as printed. A name in another script has to be romanised, and we follow the spelling in your passport, so send that spelling through the contact page with your order number before work begins; nothing is added to the price for it. Dates in another calendar are converted, with the original kept beside them in square brackets. See which spelling goes on the translation and dates on your translation.

If you find an error, email support@officialtranslation.com.au with your order number and we correct and re-issue the translation at no charge. One limit: a translator will not change a translation to say something the original does not say. If you lose the PDF, the same email gets it re-sent at no charge; we keep the finished translation on file for that purpose, for as long as our Privacy Policy describes, and delete it whenever you ask.

NAATI stopped issuing accreditation in 2018, so a form that asks for a “NAATI accredited translator” today means one who holds current NAATI certification. That is who prepares the certified option: a NAATI-certified translator for your language direction — a Certified Translator or Certified Advanced Translator, or a Recognised Practising Translator where NAATI does not test the language. Their practitioner number is on the translation and you can check it in NAATI’s online directory.