Sydney, New South Wales
NAATI translation in Sydney
Order from anywhere in Greater Sydney, with no trip into the CBD: photograph your document, order online, and the translation arrives by email as a PDF. The same goes for the rest of New South Wales. NAATI certification is an option, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator, for a NSW wedding or for driving on your overseas licence. One job we do not take: the translation for a NSW licence transfer.
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Driving in NSW on an overseas licence?
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In their own words
What New South Wales offices say
Quoted rather than paraphrased, so you can see the wording your translation will be read against, and the one place where the wording rules us out. Each source says when we checked it and, where the page shows one, when the office last updated it.
Driving in NSW as a visitor
The NSW Government’s wording for visitors: “you can drive in NSW using your overseas licence for up to six months”. And: “If your licence is not written in English, you must also carry an English translation, or an International Driving Permit.” An Australian citizen who lives overseas gets less time: “for up to three months from the date you arrive in Australia”. Permanent residents get the same three months.
NSW names no translating body for visitors. For driving or hiring a car, choose the NAATI option, and carry it with the original licence, never instead of it.
Source: NSW Government, driving with an overseas licence in NSW (checked 18 September 2026)
Converting to a NSW licence: the one job we do not take
Service NSW’s transfer page leaves no room: “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. The NSW Government’s prepare-your-application page adds: “Translations obtained through any other means are not acceptable.”
We are not on that list, and no independent translator is, however well qualified. So if you are moving to NSW and converting your licence, we will not sell you a translation for it. Which of the four applies to you is on licence translation for New South Wales.
Sources: Service NSW, transfer an overseas driver licence (last published 16 September 2026; checked 18 September 2026); NSW Government, prepare-your-application page for an overseas licence transfer (checked 13 September 2026)
Getting married in NSW
With the Notice of Intended Marriage, NSW asks for “a passport or an official birth certificate”, and says “foreign language certificates and documents must be translated into English by a National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters accredited translator.”
That wording speaks of certificates and documents generally, so it looks to cover a divorce or death certificate from an earlier marriage too, where that certificate is in another language. Choose the NAATI option. More on marrying in Australia with foreign documents.
Source: NSW Government, getting married in NSW (checked 18 September 2026)
A hearing at NCAT
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal says: “If you need documents translated to English for the hearing, contact Multicultural NSW or other professional translation service.” For an interpreter at the hearing itself: “NCAT can organise this for you. This service is free of charge.”
We translate documents; we do not supply interpreters. Other courts and tribunals are covered in translating documents for court.
Before you pay anyone, look at the state’s own route. Service NSW takes documents in and Multicultural NSW does the translating: you lodge a form online, book an appointment at a Service NSW Centre, and bring the documents and your payment. Multicultural NSW says “All our translations are completed by NAATI certified translators in Australia.” For a standard document such as a licence or birth certificate, Service NSW says the translation “will not be word for word but will contain all the essential information”. Multicultural NSW also tells permanent residents who receive Centrelink benefits that “you may be able to get your document translated for free”; if that is you, see who the Free Translating Service covers.
Sources: Multicultural NSW, translation services; Service NSW, apply for document translation services (checked 18 September 2026)
The NSW wedding page still uses the word accredited; NAATI replaced accreditation with certification in 2018 (NAATI accredited or certified?), and our NAATI option is prepared by a NAATI-certified translator. The full rules are on driving in NSW on an overseas licence, who Transport for NSW names for a licence transfer and marriage certificate translation. Pulled over without a translation? Driving without a licence translation: the fine in each state.
Ordering from Sydney
No trip into the CBD, and no counter to queue at
From anywhere in New South Wales
Photograph every page, front and back, and order your translation from home, work or a hotel room. The full price is on screen before you pay, in Australian dollars, and we add nothing at checkout. Up to 4 pages online; a longer document is priced by email first.
Three delivery windows
Normal delivery is within 3 days and is included. Urgent is 12–24 hours, and ASAP arrives within 4 hours where a translator for your language is available at that moment. All three are estimates. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Each surcharge is shown on the order page.
Translation prices start from $19.99 AUD per page; the full price, including the NAATI option and the delivery speed, is shown on the order page before you pay.
If an office wants paper
Nothing is printed or posted. The PDF prints on any printer, and on the NAATI option the translator’s digital stamp carries a QR code that can be scanned from paper. Some offices want an original paper translation. For a licence transfer, Service NSW says: “You must provide the original translation document. Photocopies are not accepted.” A PDF will not meet a request like that. For the offices where a printed copy is enough, see PDF or hard copy?
Source: Service NSW, transfer an overseas driver licence (last published 16 September 2026; checked 18 September 2026)
Sydney time and Brisbane time. You can call, text, WhatsApp, email or order 24/7. Only the estimated dates on the order page and the Sunday rule run on Brisbane time, and Queensland has no daylight saving. New South Wales does. From the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, Sydney is one hour ahead of Brisbane, so midnight in Brisbane is 1am in Sydney. The rest of the year the two cities share the same time.
Driver’s licence Birth certificate Marriage certificate Divorce certificate Academic transcript Police certificate NAATI translation, ordered online
NAATI translations don’t expire
NAATI’s own FAQ says it in three words: “Translations don’t expire.” Translate once, keep the PDF and use it again while your document stays the same.
This applies to our NAATI option, available on the order page. A renewed or reissued document needs a new translation, and each office sets its own requirements; tell us who it is for and we’ll check what they ask for. Do NAATI translations expire?
Common questions
Questions about ordering from Sydney
No. We are a Brisbane-based online service in Queensland with no shopfront in Sydney, and you do not need one: photograph the document, order online, and the translation arrives by email as a PDF. If the office you are dealing with wants a printed copy, print the PDF; on the NAATI option, the translator’s stamp and QR code print with it.
No. Service NSW says “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. We are not one of them, so we will not sell you a translation for a NSW licence transfer. Visiting NSW and driving on your overseas licence is a different transaction under a different rule, and one we do serve.
For a wedding in NSW, the NSW Government says foreign-language documents “must be translated into English by a National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters accredited translator”, so choose the NAATI certification option, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator. It is also the one to choose for driving or hiring a car on your overseas licence. Standard is a translation with no statement or stamp, for when nobody has asked for certification.
You choose one of three speeds when you order, and each has an estimated delivery time rather than a fixed one. Normal is within 3 days, Urgent 12–24 hours, and ASAP within 4 hours where a translator for your language is available. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Urgent and ASAP are priced on the order page. The order page shows the estimated dates against each one before you commit, worked out on Brisbane time; from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, Sydney is one hour ahead of Brisbane. Our guide explains how long a translation takes.
Yes. The order runs online, so it works the same anywhere in New South Wales, in Sydney or the regions: photograph the document, order from your phone, and the PDF arrives by email. The NSW licence transfer is the one job we do not take, wherever in the state you live.
Ordering from another state or territory? NAATI translation in every Australian state and territory.