Languages
Languages we translate into English
We arrange translations from more than 150 languages into English, delivered digitally, with NAATI certification as an option, and every language costs the same. Below are 56 of them, each with what a careful translation has to get right: the order of names, the script, the calendar, the seals.
Find your language
More than 150 languages. Notes on 56, A to Z
Pick yours to jump to it. Every language on the order page can be ordered, including many not listed here. For some languages we first check that we have a translator; if we can’t find one, you get a full refund.
Not listed, or not sure? Ask before you order.
Personal numbers, register references and dates go on the translation exactly as printed, in every language. Your own name is spelled the way your passport spells it; the notes below only mention it where a document does something unusual with names.
Numerals in any script are written as Western digits. Old country and place names stay as the document prints them; a translation does not update history. Where a document uses another calendar, each date is converted to the Western one and the original kept beside it in square brackets; dates and calendars on a translation shows the sums.
For a visa or an Australian office
Who may translate, in Home Affairs’ words
A translation made here
“All documents not in English must be translated into English. Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.” For a document translated here for a visa, choose the NAATI certification option.
Source: Home Affairs, translating documents (page last updated 25 September 2026)
A translation made at home
The partner visa checklist says translators outside Australia “do not have to be accredited”, though each translation must give their “full name; address and telephone number; qualifications and experience in the language they are translating”. Check a translation made overseas against that.
Source: Home Affairs, subclass 820 checklist (page last updated 12 October 2026)
Some certificates already print English beside the original: documents already in English explains what the rules ask for when part of a document is in English. Building a partner visa file? Partner visa documents.
South Asia
Languages of South Asia
Bengali
Some Bangladeshi records already carry English; the handwritten ones rarely do. Send us a photo and we will tell you which parts need translating.
The kabinnama. A Muslim marriage in Bangladesh is registered by a Nikah Registrar, licensed by the government under the 1974 Registration Act, on the kabinnama form. It records the couple, their guardians, the witnesses and the dower (den mohor), mostly by hand.
Birth records in two scripts. Bangladesh’s online birth registration takes names and places in both Bangla and English. A newer certificate may carry much of it in English; documents already in English explains what the rules ask for when part of it is in Bangla.
Bengali digits and names. Bengali numerals become Western digits, so a registration number can be checked against the original at a glance. Names are romanised to match your passport, whichever way the certificate itself spells them.
West Bengal forms. A form from West Bengal often has English headings and Bengali entries. The entries are what get translated, and the delivered page carries the headings too.
Gujarati
Gujarati records write names in their own order, and an Australian form can file the wrong part as your surname.
Surname first, then the father. Gujarat records often write the surname first, then the given name, then the father’s or husband’s name: Patel Rameshbhai Kantilal. We keep that order and label each part: Patel surname, Rameshbhai given name, Kantilal father’s name.
-bhai and -ben belong to the name. On many Gujarat records, -bhai or -ben is part of the registered given name, Rameshbhai rather than Ramesh. A passport may leave it off. We keep it as printed, and a reader can see that the certificate and the passport name the same person.
School leaving certificates. A school leaving certificate is often asked for as proof of age. It records the date of birth, the father’s name, the last class attended and the reason for leaving. The register number and the headmaster’s seal go on too.
Hindi
Stamps and annotations too. Many Indian documents are already partly in English, but the rubber stamps, seals and margin notes are in Hindi. We translate those as well, so the finished document reads entirely in English.
Handwritten records. Where an older record is handwritten, what can be read is translated and what cannot is marked as illegible.
Malayalam
Kerala names carry a house name, and Kerala offices issue certificates that exist to connect one name to another.
The house name. Many Malayali names include a house name, which may come first, stand as an initial, or be left off a passport: Puthenpurackal Joseph Thomas can be P. J. Thomas elsewhere. We keep every part as each document gives it.
One and the same person. When two of your papers spell your name differently, an Indian authority can issue a certificate stating that both names belong to one person. It is translated with the officer, the office and both spellings exactly as written, because that link is the whole point of it.
From the Gulf? Check the language. Many Kerala families also hold documents from years of work in the Gulf, and those are usually in Arabic, often with English. Order them as Arabic; for those printed in English as well, documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions.
Marathi
Marathi records include the 7/12 land extract and, for some women, a new given name after marriage.
The 7/12 extract. The satbara utara, or 7/12 extract, is Maharashtra’s land record: survey number, holders’ names, area, and notes on crops and encumbrances. It is often sent as financial evidence. We follow it column by column, with every survey and account number copied exactly.
A new name after marriage. Some Maharashtrian women take a new given name as well as a new surname when they marry, and the change may be recorded in the Government Gazette. The translation keeps both names exactly as each document gives them, so a reader can connect the birth certificate to the passport.
Devanagari, but Marathi. Marathi is written in Devanagari, the same script as Hindi, but it is a different language, and it is translated as Marathi, not as Hindi.
Nepali
Nepali documents are written in Devanagari and dated in Nepal’s own calendar, and many of the ones a visa file needs come from a ward office.
Bikram Sambat dates. Nepal’s Bikram Sambat calendar runs about 56 to 57 years ahead of the Western one. Its new year falls in mid-April, and one BS year spans two Western years. Which Western year a BS date falls in depends on the month, so each date is worked out on its own, not by subtracting 57.
Ward office certificates. A ward office issues many of the papers a family visa file leans on, including the relationship certificate (नाता प्रमाणित). Some municipalities issue it in Nepali and in English. Check which version you hold; an English one may already do the job.
Devanagari names and numerals. Devanagari numerals (०१२३) become Western digits; the original figures stay beside any date that was converted.
Punjabi
Singh, Kaur, and what tells people apart. With Singh and Kaur shared so widely, the other identifiers on a document — parentage, dates, registration numbers — carry the weight. They are carried across exactly as printed.
Mixed-language documents. Punjabi documents often mix Gurmukhi with Hindi and English. Everything not already in English is translated, so the finished document reads entirely in English.
Sinhala
Sri Lankan records run in Sinhala, Tamil and English, and the numbers and names on them have changed shape over the years.
Old and new NIC numbers. The smart NIC carries a 12-digit number. The old number’s final V or X is dropped, a 0 goes before its last four digits, and the year of birth leads: 855420159V becomes 198554200159. We copy each number exactly as printed; old and new can then be matched.
Full names and the -ge name. Many Sinhala full names open with an ancestral name ending in -ge, such as Mudiyanselage, before the given names and surname, and a passport often shortens it. The translation keeps every part the document prints, spelled as your passport spells it, so a full certificate name and a shorter passport name can still be matched.
The Registrar General translates these too. The Registrar General’s Department will translate a Sinhala birth certificate itself, as it does Tamil ones; the Tamil note has the cost and the wait. If you already hold one, tell us who it is for and we’ll check what they ask for before you pay for a second.
Tamil
A Tamil name, from Sri Lanka, India, Singapore or Malaysia, often has no family surname at all. That is the first thing to get right.
An English copy from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s Registrar General’s Department translates birth certificates from Tamil into English itself, for Rs 600 a copy, in three working days. If you already hold one, it may be all you need; tell us who it is for and we’ll check what they ask for before you order a second.
Initials and a father’s name. Many Tamil names carry no family surname. A father’s name may appear as an initial before the given name, or stand in the surname place on a passport. On our translation the father’s name is labelled, not slotted into the surname box.
Tamil script, English headings. Tamil is written in its own script. Some certificates print their headings in Tamil and English while the entries are handwritten in Tamil; the entries are what need translating. The registrar’s later remarks and corrections go on the translation too, and months are written in letters.
Telugu
Telugu names put the family first, land is recorded in a passbook, and the map changed in 2014.
The initial is the family name. A Telugu name usually starts with the family name, often shortened to an initial: C. Venkata Rao is Venkata Rao of the Chintakayala family. A passport may move it to the end. We spell out that C. is the family name, not a middle initial.
The pattadar passbook. Land holdings are recorded in a pattadar passbook, listing the holder, survey numbers, extent and entries made over the years. It is often sent as evidence of family assets; send every page that has an entry on it.
Andhra Pradesh or Telangana. Telangana became a separate state on 2 June 2014. Older documents still say Andhra Pradesh for places now in Telangana, and so does the translation.
Urdu
Many Pakistani documents already carry English. The handwritten ones, like the nikah nama, do not.
The nikah nama. The nikah nama is a printed Urdu form completed by hand at the ceremony: the couple, their fathers, the witnesses, the dower (haq mehr) and any conditions agreed. The reader gets the whole contract, conditions and all, not a summary of it.
Father’s name, not a surname. Pakistani records often identify a person by a father’s or husband’s name rather than a family name, and the CNIC has a field for it. That field stays its own field, so a father’s name is never read as yours.
Check the English first. The CNIC already carries its main details in English as well as Urdu, and some certificates do the same. Where Urdu remains, the rules we quote ask for a translation; documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions. A date given in the Islamic calendar gets its Western date beside it.
East and Southeast Asia
Languages of East and Southeast Asia
Burmese
Burmese names have no surname and often a title in front, and both are easy to misread on an Australian form.
No surname, and a title in front. Burmese names have no family name, and a title often sits in front: U or Daw for an older man or woman, Maung, Ko or Ma for younger people. We write U or Daw as a title, not as a first name.
The registration card number. A National Registration Card number mixes digits with Burmese letters for the township. The translation transliterates those letters one consistent way, keeps the original number beside it, and writes Burmese numerals as Western digits. The number can then be matched on every document.
The household list. The household list is a table, one row per person with their relationship to the head of the household. We translate it as a table, row for row, because that column is what the reader is looking for.
Chinese
Pinyin, or the older spelling. A Chinese name has one pinyin form, but a passport may carry an older or regional spelling. The passport wins, even when the pinyin would be tidier.
Taiwan dates converted. Documents from Taiwan are dated in the Republic of China calendar — year 114 is 2025. The translation gives the Western year with the ROC year beside it.
Seals translated in full. The red seals on Chinese documents name the issuing authority, and that name matters to the reader. Where a seal carries words, we translate them rather than just writing “[seal]”. A seal with no words, or one that cannot be read in the photo, is marked in square brackets.
Filipino (Tagalog)
You may not need a translation at all. Here is how to tell.
Usually in English already. Philippine birth, marriage and death certificates and the LTO driver’s licence are usually printed in English. If everything on yours is in English, there is nothing to translate into English: see documents already in English, and when we will tell you not to order.
Where Filipino appears. Filipino, or another Philippine language, turns up in affidavits, some barangay and local certificates, church records, letters and handwritten remarks added to an English form. Those are the pages that need translating. Send the whole page, so the reader can match the English version line by line.
Middle names and suffixes. A Filipino middle name is usually the mother’s maiden surname, not a second given name, and suffixes such as Jr. or III belong to the name. Each part stays where the document puts it, and the middle name is labelled as the mother’s maiden surname.
Indonesian
Indonesian is written in the Latin alphabet, and a document can look easy to read. The meaning sits in the classes, the abbreviations and the names.
SIM classes, spelt out. An Indonesian SIM names its class by letter. Korlantas Polri sets SIM A for vehicles up to 3,500 kilograms used privately, and SIM C, C I and C II for motorcycles by engine size. The translation puts each class into words, car or motorcycle and the weight limit with it.
One name, or several. Many Indonesians have a single name and no family name at all. We do not invent a surname. Your name goes on as your passport shows it. Where a record adds bin or binti and a father’s name, that stays as printed too, and is not folded into a surname.
KTP and Kartu Keluarga. The KTP (identity card) and the Kartu Keluarga (family card) both carry each person’s 16-digit NIK. The family card puts the whole household on one sheet: relationship to the head of the family, religion, occupation, both parents’ names. We keep that table shape so a reader can see who is who.
Japanese
Japanese documents are compact and highly regular, which is exactly why a swapped name or an unconverted era year goes unnoticed.
Kanji, kana and name order. Japanese documents use kanji with kana. We romanise every name to match the spelling in your passport. On the original the family name comes first; the translation marks which is which.
Era years converted, original kept. Dates are often given in the imperial era system — a Reiwa or Heisei year — as well as the Western calendar. The translation gives the Western year next to the era year, so an expiry date reads the same at a hire desk as it does at home.
Seals where signatures would be. Personal seals (hanko) appear where Western documents carry signatures, and we translate what each seal says rather than skipping it. Licences and koseki (family register) extracts follow fixed layouts, and the translation keeps the same order; every field is easy to find.
Khmer
A Khmer name starts with the family name, and a Cambodian visa file often leans on the family book.
Which part is the family name. A Khmer name puts the family name first and the given name after it. We keep the order the document uses and say which word is the family name, because an Australian form asks for them the other way round.
The family book. A Cambodian family book sets out who lives in a household and how they are related, which is why a visa file so often includes it. The issuing commune and every relationship go on as written.
Korean
Korean records are in Hangul, sometimes with Hanja beside it, put the surname first, and some older papers count years from Dangun.
Hangul, with Hanja alongside. Korean documents are written in Hangul. Some names and legal terms also appear in Hanja, the Chinese-derived characters. Both scripts are read, so a name printed in Hanja is rendered rather than skipped or guessed.
Surname first, and three ways to spell it. In Korean the family name comes before the given name. Romanisation varies too: the same family name can be written Lee, Yi or Rhee.
Dangun dates and the newer certificates. Some older Korean documents give dates in the Dangun era. The translation states each date in the Western calendar, ready for an Australian reader. Family relation certificates and basic certificates replaced the old family register system, and we translate both in full.
Lao
Lao family records live in a book, not on a single certificate, and the book is updated as the family changes.
The family book. A Lao family book is kept up over the years: everyone in the household, their dates of birth, how each relates to the head of the family, and later entries as people arrive and leave. Send every page with writing on it; the changes are the story.
Lao script and numerals. Lao is written in its own script, and some documents use Lao numerals. Numbers become Western digits and months are written in letters.
Mongolian
Mongolian names put the father first, identity numbers mix letters and digits, and two scripts can share a page.
The father’s name comes first. A Mongolian name puts the father’s name, in a possessive form, before the given name, and many records also carry a clan name. A passport often files the father’s name as a surname. We write the father’s name under its own label and your given name under yours.
The registration number. A Mongolian registration number is two Cyrillic letters followed by eight digits that begin with the date of birth. The letters are transliterated one consistent way, the digits copied exactly, so the number can be matched on every document.
Cyrillic, and the traditional script. Official Mongolian is written in Cyrillic, but some seals and headings use the traditional vertical script. Where they carry words, those are translated too; a seal with no legible wording is marked in square brackets.
Thai
Subtract 543 from every year; the parts in Thai still need translating, even on a card that prints English.
Buddhist Era years. Thai documents count years in the Buddhist Era; subtract 543 to get the Western year (BE 2569 is 2026). The Western year goes beside the BE one on the translation, so a hire desk reading an expiry date has nothing to subtract.
Part English, part Thai. Some Thai cards print your name in English as well as in Thai, while much of the rest is in Thai only. The parts in Thai still need translating under the rules we quote (documents already in English explains), so we translate the whole card, and the English already on it is checked against your passport.
Mr, Mrs, Miss and the house book. Thai records put a title before the name: Nai (Mr), Nang (Mrs) or Nangsao (Miss). It is translated, not dropped; it is part of how you were recorded on the day. The tabien baan (house registration book) lists each resident of an address, so photograph every page that has writing on it.
Vietnamese
Vietnamese uses Latin letters with marks that change meaning, and a name without its marks is a different name.
Marks that change meaning. Vietnamese uses the Latin alphabet with diacritics, and those marks change meaning. We keep every name exactly as it is printed on the document, then give the plain romanisation from your passport beside it, so both records line up.
The surname is the first word. On a Vietnamese document the family name comes first. We keep the document’s order and say which word is the family name.
Red seals, handwriting and dates. The giấy khai sinh (birth certificate) and driver licences carry red official seals, and older versions have handwritten entries. Each seal and each handwritten line is translated. Dates run day-month-year.
Middle East, Central Asia and Africa
Languages of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa
Amharic
The Ethiopian calendar has thirteen months, the script is its own, and there are no family surnames.
Ethiopian calendar dates. The Ethiopian calendar has thirteen months and runs seven to eight years behind the Western one. Its new year falls on 11 September, or 12 September in the year before a leap year. Seven or eight years behind depends on the month, so each date is worked out on its own, not by adding one number.
Given name, then father’s name. An Ethiopian name is a given name followed by the father’s given name, and often the grandfather’s. It is not a family surname, though a passport or an Australian form may file it as one. Each name is marked for what it is: yours, your father’s, your grandfather’s.
Fidel script and the kebele ID. Amharic is written in the Ge’ez script, and some documents still use Ethiopic numerals. A kebele ID, issued by the local administration, is translated on both sides with its number, address and the issuing kebele.
Arabic
Two calendars, both shown. Many Arabic documents carry Hijri dates. Both dates go on the translation, so nobody reading it has to convert one to the other.
Structure that follows the original. Arabic reads right to left. The translation runs left to right but keeps the original’s layout field for field, so the two can be held side by side.
Dari
Afghanistan names its months after the zodiac, and a paper tazkira may give an age rather than a date of birth.
Afghan month names. Afghanistan uses the Solar Hijri calendar, like Iran, but names its months after the zodiac: Hamal, Sawr, Jawza and on through the year, where Iran says Farvardin, Ordibehesht, Khordad. The month name alone tells a reader which country issued the paper; the translation keeps it and adds the Western date.
A tazkira that gives an age. A paper tazkira often records the holder’s age in the year it was issued, usually an estimate, rather than a date of birth. The translation says exactly what yours says, the age and the year included, and does not work out a birthday that the document never gave.
Fathers’ and grandfathers’ names. Many Afghans have no fixed family name, and Afghan records name the father and often the grandfather. Father’s and grandfather’s names stay in their own labelled places. If the tazkira and the passport disagree, our spelling guide says which goes on the translation.
Hebrew
An Israeli identity card comes with an appendix a visa office may want, and a ketubah that looks Hebrew is written in Aramaic.
The identity card appendix. An Israeli identity card comes with an appendix, the sefach, that records address, spouse and children. A visa office asking about your family may want it, so send it with the card.
Two calendars on one page. Many Israeli documents give a Hebrew-calendar date beside the Western one. The translation keeps both, the Western date written with the month in letters and the Hebrew date alongside it.
A ketubah is not in Hebrew. A traditional ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract, is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew, though it looks alike. Tell us it is a ketubah when you order, or ask us first, and we will say whether we can take it on.
Kurdish
Before anything is translated, it matters which Kurdish, which script, and which other language shares the page.
Kurmanji or Sorani. Kurmanji is usually written in Latin letters, in Turkey and Syria; Sorani in an Arabic-based script, in Iraq and Iran. They are different enough to be handled separately, so tell us which your document uses, or ask us if you are not sure.
Often not Kurdish at all. Many documents Kurdish families hold are in Arabic, Turkish or Persian, or print Kurdish beside one of them. Choose the language most of the page is in: Arabic, Turkish or Persian (Farsi). For a page that mixes two, ask us which to order.
Names in two alphabets. A name printed in Arabic script on one document and in Latin letters on another can look like two different people. The translation uses your passport’s spelling and keeps the father’s and grandfather’s names in their labelled places.
Pashto
Pashto shares its script, its calendar and many of its documents with Dari, and in Pakistan it rarely appears on official paper at all.
Pashto and Dari on one page. Many Afghan documents print Dari and Pashto side by side. Choose the language that carries the entries you need translated; for a page split evenly between the two, ask us first; the Dari note covers the Dari side.
From Pakistan? Check the language. Official records from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of Pakistan are usually in Urdu or English rather than Pashto. If yours is in Urdu, order it as Urdu; if it also prints English, documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions.
Dates by the Afghan months. Afghan dates use the Solar Hijri year with month names taken from the zodiac. The same calendar as on a Dari document, handled the same way.
Persian (Farsi)
An Iranian document reads right to left, uses Persian numerals and is dated from a year that starts in March. All three have to be converted before anyone here can read it.
Solar Hijri dates. Iranian documents use the Solar Hijri calendar, whose year begins at the March equinox, around 21 March, and one Persian year spans two Western ones. A date in Farvardin can fall in March or April, so each one is worked out on its own.
The shenasnameh, every page. The shenasnameh (identity booklet) is added to over a lifetime: marriages and divorces, children, and finally a death are entered on its later pages. We translate every page you send, the later entries included.
Dari, not Persian. A document from Afghanistan goes under Dari on the order page; the Dari note covers its month names.
Somali
Somali is written in Latin letters, so a document can look half-readable already. The names and the issuing offices are the parts that get misread.
Three names, no surname. A Somali name is usually a given name, then the father’s given name, then the grandfather’s. There is no family surname, and an Australian form may treat the last name as one. All three stay in order, labelled, spelled as your passport spells them.
Latin letters, Somali spelling. Somali uses the Latin alphabet with its own values: x and c stand for sounds English does not have, and a double vowel is a long vowel. Names are copied exactly: Maxamed stays Maxamed unless your passport says Mohamed.
Who issued it. Documents may come from federal or regional authorities in Somalia, from Somaliland, or from an embassy abroad, and some were issued years after the event they record. We name the issuing office and its dates exactly as printed, and never add or correct them.
Swahili
English and Swahili sit side by side across East Africa, so start by finding out which parts of your document need anything done.
English, Swahili, or both. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda use English and Swahili side by side, and many certificates, licences and school records are issued in English or in both. If every word is in English, there is nothing to translate; if part is in Swahili, the rules we quote ask for a translation, with two bilingual exceptions set out in documents already in English.
Where Swahili turns up. Swahili is most often found on local government letters, affidavits, court papers, marriage and religious records, and handwritten entries on bilingual forms. Those are the pages that need translating; send each page whole; the English and the Swahili are read together.
Names as your passport has them. East African names are spelled in more than one way across documents. We use the spelling in your passport for your own name, and the spelling on your other papers for everyone else.
Tigrinya
Tigrinya looks like Amharic on the page but is a different language, issued by two countries’ offices.
Same script, different language. Tigrinya and Amharic are both written in the Ge’ez script, so the two can look alike to anyone who reads neither. They are different languages, and the order page lists each on its own. Not sure which yours is? Ask us and we will say.
Eritrea or Tigray. A Tigrinya document may come from Eritrea or from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, each with its own offices and forms. The translation names the issuing authority exactly as printed, and dates follow the Ethiopian calendar, handled as on an Amharic document.
A name that carries a father’s. A Tigrinya name follows the given name with the father’s name, and records often add the grandfather’s. None of them is a family surname. As with Amharic, each name is marked for whose it is.
Turkish
Most Turkish records now come from e-Devlet or a population directorate and carry a code anyone can check online. The translation keeps that code.
Check the date on a 2016 card. Turkey’s card licences began on 1 January 2016, and a B class card is valid for ten years. The population directorate says B licences issued on 1 January 2016 stopped being valid on 1 January 2026. Check the expiry date on your card before you fly: a translation cannot extend it.
The barcode on an e-Devlet record. A record downloaded from e-Devlet, such as the nüfus kayıt örneği (population register extract), carries a barcode number and a QR code that anyone can check on turkiye.gov.tr. That number goes on the translation, and a reader can look the original up for themselves.
Formül A, B and C. Turkey issues multilingual birth, marriage and death extracts, Formül A, B and C, from population directorates and through e-Devlet, with field labels in several languages, but your details on them stay in Turkish, so the rules we quote still ask for a translation; documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions.
Europe
Languages of Europe
Bosnian
One country, three official languages and two alphabets, with records reaching back to Yugoslavia.
Three languages, two alphabets. A document from Bosnia and Herzegovina may be written in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian, in Latin or Cyrillic letters, depending on where it was issued. NAATI certifies each language separately, so if you are not sure which yours is in, tell us and we will put it with the right translator.
Yugoslav-era forms. Older certificates were issued on forms of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, within Yugoslavia; the heading is not modernised.
Municipal registers and your JMB. Each birth, marriage or death is entered in the register of the municipality where it happened, and that office issues the extract. Some come on the multilingual international form. Its labels are in several languages, but your details stay in the local language, so the rules we quote still ask for a translation; documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions. Your JMB, the thirteen-digit personal number, is on most Bosnian records too.
Bulgarian
Bulgarian is written in Cyrillic, with a legal table for turning it into Latin letters and a personal number that encodes the date of birth.
One legal spelling for Cyrillic names. Bulgaria’s Transliteration Act sets one table for Latin letters: Щ becomes sht, Ц becomes ts, Ъ becomes a, Ю becomes yu. An older passport may still carry the old spelling; the one you hold now is the one we use.
The EGN. The EGN, your 10-digit personal number, begins with your date of birth and appears on most Bulgarian records. An Australian office will look for the same ten digits on your certificate, licence and passport, so they have to agree.
Certificate of family status. A certificate of family status lists a spouse and children, the kind of record a visa file often needs.
Croatian
Croatian records now arrive on paper or as an e-Građani file by email, and either can carry an OIB and letters that an older paper spells another way.
Domovnica, rodni list, izvadak. Through e-Građani you can ask for a domovnica (proof of citizenship), a rodni list (birth certificate) or a birth-register extract as an electronic record, sent by email. We translate the record you send, paper or electronic, with every field and the issuing office.
The international extract. Croatian registries can also issue an international extract on the multilingual form of the 1976 Vienna Convention, with its labels in several languages. Its labels are multilingual, but your details stay in Croatian, so the rules we quote ask for a translation; documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions.
Your name’s accents, and the OIB. Croatian names use č, ć, đ, š and ž, and đ is sometimes written dj. The translation copies your name as your passport prints it, and your OIB, the eleven-digit personal identification number, goes on unchanged. If an older document spells your name without the diacritics, the translation shows that spelling too, so the two can be matched.
Czech
A Czech birth number hides the date of birth, and a woman’s surname may or may not end in -ová.
-ová, or not. A Czech woman’s surname usually takes -ová: Novák’s wife or daughter is Nováková. Since 2022 a woman may register the masculine form instead, and one family’s records can show both. We keep each person’s surname exactly as registered.
The birth number. The rodné číslo begins with the date of birth, and for a woman 50 is added to the month, so 755212 means 12 February 1975. It is copied exactly as printed, with its slash, and never “corrected” to look like a date.
Rodný list, oddačí list. The birth certificate (rodný list), marriage certificate (oddačí list) and death certificate (úmrtní list) each cite the register volume, page and entry number. Those references go on the translation too; they are how a reader finds the register entry.
Danish
Denmark issues some certificates in Danish/English, and a Danish middle name is really a family name.
Ask for Danish/English first. Denmark’s civil registration service lists its certificates, including the Certificate of Personal Data, as available in Danish and in Danish/English. Tell us who it is for and we’ll check what they ask for. Of the Australian rules we have read, only Services Australia and Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria publish an exception for a document in English and another language, and documents already in English quotes both. If it is for one of those, order the Danish/English certificate from Denmark and you may need no translation from us.
The CPR number. The CPR number, ten digits beginning with your date of birth written day, month, year, appears on most Danish records. A reader uses it to tie your certificate, licence and other papers together.
The middle name that is really a surname. A Danish mellemnavn is a family-type name placed before the surname, not a second given name, and the translation labels it so. Names keep æ, ø and å.
Dutch
Dutch, Flemish or Surinamese, the surname is where readers go wrong: the small words in it, and the partner’s name beside it.
Van, de and van der. In a Dutch surname the small words belong to it: de Vries, van der Berg. In the Netherlands they take lower case after a given name and a capital when the surname stands alone. An index files the name under the main word. We keep the surname exactly as your passport prints it, so no one mistakes “van” for a middle name.
A partner’s name on the card. A Dutch passport or licence shows only the birth surname. If the holder asked for it, a partner’s surname sits on an extra line after e.v. (spouse of) or p.v. (partner of). We label that line as a partner’s name, not your surname.
Extracts and multilingual forms. For address and family details a municipality issues an uittreksel, an extract from the Personal Records Database (BRP). English labels alone do not put your details into English; documents already in English explains what the rules ask for.
Finnish
You can order a Finnish population-register certificate in English, and a record may arrive in Finnish, Swedish or both.
Order the English version first. Finland’s Digital and Population Data Services Agency says: “You can order a certificate in Finnish, Swedish or English.” Tell us who it is for and we’ll check which certificate they ask for before you order. If that is the English one and it arrives with nothing left in Finnish or Swedish, there is nothing for us to translate, so you can skip us.
The personal identity code. The henkilötunnus is the date of birth, a character marking the century of birth, three digits and a check character. The century character is part of the code and stays; drop it and the code no longer matches your other records.
Finnish or Swedish. Finland has two official languages, so a record may be in Finnish, Swedish or both, and places have two names, Helsinki and Helsingfors. Choose the language most of your document is in; Swedish-language records from Finland go under Swedish.
French
Papers from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and francophone Africa all trip readers up in the same three places.
EU-format licences with pictograms. France issues EU-format licences with category pictograms. A translation has to say in words what each pictogram and category code stands for, together with every date, condition and code printed beside it.
Marginal mentions on an acte. An acte de naissance or acte de mariage carries mentions marginales: notes added later to record a marriage, a divorce or another change. They are part of the record and must be translated, not left off because they sit in the margin.
Two names and day-month-year dates. A woman may be recorded under her nom de naissance (maiden name) with a nom d’usage (married name) beside it. We keep both and label each. Dates are written day-month-year, and the translation makes that order plain so day and month are never swapped.
German
Compound terms, one English equivalent each. German officialdom builds its nouns: Geburtsurkunde, Führerschein, Meldebescheinigung. Each has a settled English rendering, and we use the same one every time the term appears, so Geburtsurkunde is ‘birth certificate’ on page one and on page four.
Müller or Mueller: the passport decides. The sharp s and the umlauts change how a name is written in a machine-readable passport: Müller may appear as Mueller, Straße as Strasse. Whichever your passport uses is what the hire desk will compare the booking against. That is the one we use.
Dates and the EU licence card. German dates run day-month-year, and the translation says so where an Australian reader might assume otherwise. The licence is the same EU card as the French one, pictograms and all, and gets the same treatment.
Greek
A Greek record names people in ways an English reader does not expect, before you even get to the alphabet.
Your name in Latin letters. The Hellenic Passport Service spells names in Latin letters to the ELOT 743 standard, the Greek equivalent of ISO 843, though some passports carry an agreed spelling instead. We copy the passport rather than transliterating afresh.
Surnames and fathers’ names. A Greek woman’s surname is usually the genitive form of the family name, Papadopoulou beside Papadopoulos, and Greek records name each person’s father and often the mother. Every form goes on as printed, with the father’s name labelled so nobody reads it as yours. Greek spouses also keep their own surnames on marriage, and a couple’s documents often show two.
The family status certificate. The pistopoiitiko oikogeneiakis katastasis sets out a family’s entry in the municipal register: spouse, children and their details. Gov.gr now issues it only for court use, the private sector or use abroad, so ask for the version for use abroad. The municipality, the register entry number and the date of issue go on the translation with the names.
Hungarian
Kovács János is János Kovács, and a married woman’s name can carry -né, “wife of”.
Kovács János is János Kovács. Hungarian puts the family name before the given name. We keep the Hungarian order and label Kovács as the family name; János stays a given name.
Married names ending in -né. A married woman may use a name formed with -né, meaning “wife of”: Kovács Jánosné, or Kovácsné Nagy Éva. It is kept exactly as recorded, and where it helps the reader, a translator’s note in square brackets says what the form means.
Titles inside the name. A Hungarian record can carry a title such as dr. as part of the registered name. The translation keeps it where the document puts it.
Italian
Before anything else, work out which of three versions of the record you are holding; the comune can issue all three.
Certificate, extract or full copy. A comune can issue the same birth or marriage record three ways: a short certificato, an estratto, or a copia integrale of the whole act. Each carries a different amount of detail. We translate the one you hold. Tell us who it is for and we’ll check which version they ask for before you order; if they want the full record, ask the comune for the copia integrale.
Tax codes, province codes and dates. The codice fiscale, sixteen letters and numbers, is copied character for character. A province code in brackets, such as (RM) or (MI), is written out as Rome or Milan. Dates run day-month-year, and the translation spells the month out so day and month cannot be swapped.
Macedonian
Macedonian Cyrillic has letters of its own, and the country itself has changed its name within living memory.
Letters only Macedonian has. Macedonian Cyrillic has letters such as ѓ, ќ, ѕ and џ. In Latin letters they come out as gj, kj, dz and dzh, or with accents, depending on the document.
Macedonia or North Macedonia. Since 2019 the country has been the Republic of North Macedonia; older papers say Republic of Macedonia, and older still, Yugoslavia. We write the name on the paper, not the one on today’s map.
The EMBG. Most Macedonian records carry your EMBG, the thirteen-digit personal number, and it is the first thing a reader checks against your other papers.
Norwegian
Norwegian has two written standards, two kinds of personal number and a national register that may already speak English.
Bokmål or Nynorsk. Written Norwegian has two official standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, and a public office may use either. Both come under Norwegian on the order page, and the translation reads each for what it says, whichever standard the office chose.
Birth number or D-number. A Norwegian identity number has eleven digits, beginning with the date of birth. Someone given a D-number instead has 4 added to the first digit. Either kind goes on the translation as it is, D-number and all.
English may already be on offer. The Norwegian Tax Administration keeps the National Population Register and issues printouts from it. Before you pay for a translation of one, tell us who it is for and we’ll check whether the certificate they ask for can be issued in English, which may settle the question for free.
Polish
A Polish registry office can issue the same record in three forms, and a Polish surname can take two. Both matter to the reader.
Short copy or full copy. A registry office issues two kinds of copy. The odpis skrócony shows the record as it stands today; the odpis zupełny repeats the original entry and every later change, a change of name included. If an Australian office needs the history, it needs the full copy. Tell us who it is for and we’ll check which one they want; then look at which copy you were given before you order.
The multilingual copy, and Australia. Poland also issues a multilingual short copy. Gov.pl says it needs no translation or legalisation in a listed group of countries, from Germany and Italy to Turkey. Australia is not on that list, so the rules we quote still ask for a translation of the Polish details; documents already in English explains the two bilingual exceptions.
-ski and -ska. Polish surnames ending in -ski, -cki or -dzki take -ska, -cka or -dzka for a woman; a father and a daughter can carry two forms of one name. The translation keeps each person’s own form, with ł, ś, ż and the other letters exactly as your passport prints them. A double surname joined by a hyphen after marriage stays joined too.
Portuguese
A Brazilian record looks nothing like a Portuguese one, and most of what follows is about the Brazilian kind.
The CNH and its codes. A Brazilian CNH lists the categories you hold (A for motorcycles, B for cars, C, D and E for heavier vehicles) and an observações field of short codes. EAR, for one, marks a driver who drives for paid work (exerce atividade remunerada). Each code is written out in English.
Two family names, mother’s first. Brazilian and Portuguese names often carry two or more family names, traditionally the mother’s before the father’s, the reverse of the Spanish order. The translation keeps every name in the order printed and follows your passport’s spelling, so no name is dropped or moved.
Brief or full certidão. A Brazilian registry can issue a certidão in brief (breve relato) or in full (inteiro teor), and the full one carries every later annotation. Tell us who it is for and we’ll check which one they want before you order. If you send the full one, every annotation on it is translated too.
Romanian
Romanian records come in several forms, and a document from Moldova can arrive in either of two alphabets.
Multilingual extracts, and where they count. Romania joined the 1976 Vienna Convention in 2012, and civil status offices issue multilingual extracts of birth, marriage and death records. They are recognised without translation in the Convention’s member states. Australia is not one of them, so do not assume yours will be taken as it is.
Comma or cedilla, and the CNP. Romanian names carry ă, â, î, ș and ț, and the translation spells yours as your passport does. The CNP, the thirteen-digit personal numeric code, opens with one digit for sex and century of birth, and stays as printed, leading digit included. Older typed documents often print ş and ţ with a cedilla rather than a comma. They are the same letters, and a name written either way is one name.
Documents from Moldova. Moldovan records are in Romanian, but older ones may use the Cyrillic alphabet, or Russian. We translate what the page shows. A document wholly in Russian goes under Russian; for a page that mixes the two, ask us before you order.
Russian
Cyrillic, patronymics and decades of changing forms: a Russian file is where spellings drift over the years.
Latin letters are not English. A Russian licence repeats its entries in Latin letters, to the ICAO standard or, on request, as in the passport. A transliterated word is still not English: “GIBDD” tells a hire desk nothing. We explain each field and keep the Latin spelling already on your card.
Patronymics and surname forms. A Russian name carries a patronymic made from the father’s given name, Ivanovich or Ivanovna, and a woman’s surname usually takes its own form, Ivanova beside Ivanov. We label the patronymic, so it is not taken for a middle name, and keep each surname as printed. Spelled differently over the years? Our guide to which spelling goes on the translation says what we do.
Soviet-era and handwritten forms. Certificates from the Soviet period are often handwritten on printed forms, and some carry a second language beside the Russian. A stamp or signature is marked where it sits on the page. A reissued certificate marked as a repeat copy is translated as one, just as the document says. A document wholly in Ukrainian goes under Ukrainian, which has its own transliteration table.
Serbian
Serbian records may be in Cyrillic or Latin letters, may arrive as an electronic file, and carry a 13-digit personal number, the JMBG.
Cyrillic or Latin. Serbia’s constitution puts the Serbian language and Cyrillic script in official use; many documents are in Cyrillic, while others use Latin letters or both. Whichever yours uses, names are romanised to match your passport, Đorđević and all.
An electronic extract and its QR code. A register extract ordered through eUprava can arrive as an electronic document, signed by the registrar and carrying a QR code that checks its authenticity. Serbia’s eGovernment office says a printed copy of it is only a copy, so send us the electronic file itself; the translation carries its reference.
The JMBG and the international form. The JMBG goes on as printed, and a month written as a Roman numeral (12. IV 2010) is written out in words. Extracts can also be issued on the 1976 Vienna Convention’s multilingual form; Australia is not a member, so tell us who it is for and we’ll check what they ask for before you order.
Slovak
Documents from before 1993 were issued by Czechoslovakia, and a Slovak woman’s surname usually ends in -ová.
Rodný list, sobášny list. A Slovak birth certificate is a rodný list, a marriage certificate a sobášny list, a death certificate an úmrtný list. Each is issued by a registry office from its register, and the translation carries the office, the register reference and every later entry.
Slovak letters and women’s surnames. Slovak adds letters an English keyboard lacks, ä, ľ, ĺ, ô and ŕ among them, and women’s surnames usually end in -ová. We keep each person’s own surname form.
Czechoslovak records and the birth number. Documents from before 1993 say Czechoslovakia, and so will the translation. Slovakia kept the old birth number, date first, then a slash and three or four digits; numbers given before 1954 have the shorter ending.
Spanish
Spanish-language records come from twenty-odd countries in twenty-odd formats, and the same three things catch readers out in all of them.
Two surnames, in a fixed order. Most people carry a paternal surname and a maternal surname. The order matters when an Australian reader matches the document to your passport. Both surnames stay, in the order the document gives them.
Day before month. Dates are written day-month-year. Copied as digits into English, a day and a month can swap without anyone noticing. We write every date with the month in words so it reads one way only.
Handwriting and marginal notes. Many civil registry documents are handwritten, and many carry notas marginales — annotations in the margin recording later changes. Those notes are part of the record and must be translated with it.
Swedish
Sweden can give you some records in English itself, and its personal number changes shape with age.
A personbevis in English. The Swedish Tax Agency lists an “Extract from the Swedish Population Register – English text” among its population registration certificates. Tell us who it is for and we’ll check which certificate they ask for before you order. If that is the English-text extract and it arrives with nothing left in Swedish, there is nothing for us to translate, so you can order it from Skatteverket and skip us.
The personnummer. A Swedish personal identity number is the date of birth and four digits, separated by a hyphen that becomes a plus sign from the year a person turns 100. A coordination number adds 60 to the day.
Swedish names, and Swedish from Finland. Swedish names keep å, ä and ö. Swedish-language records from Finland come here; Finnish ones go under Finnish.
Ukrainian
Ukrainian has its own official way into the Latin alphabet, and documents from different decades spell the same name differently.
Kostiantyn, not Konstantin. Ukraine’s official transliteration table turns Костянтин into Kostiantyn and drops the soft sign and the apostrophe. If an older paper spells you the Russian way, we still go by the passport you hold today.
Latin letters on the licence. A Ukrainian licence repeats its first four fields, your name and dates among them, in Latin letters. The categories, the codes and the issuing body are still in Ukrainian or in abbreviations. The translation sets out every field in English and keeps the Latin spelling already on the card.
A phone screen is not the card. A licence shown in the Diia app does not travel well. Europcar’s FAQ says: “Licenses must be produced in person at the Europcar location at the time of collection. (No copy will be accepted)”. Bring the physical card, and have the translation made from both sides of it.
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