Other official documents
Legal and official document translation into English
Legal document translation for court orders, powers of attorney, statutory declarations and affidavits, adoption papers, identity cards, and divorce and death certificates. Each is translated in full into English and delivered by email as a PDF, with NAATI certification as an option. Where a document is going to Home Affairs or the Passport Office, their own wording is quoted below.
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What we translate
Documents that do not have a page of their own
Where each is asked for in Australia, and what the translation carries. Birth, marriage, police and licence documents have pages under services.
Divorce and death certificates
Asked for when someone marries again or applies with a new partner; a death certificate settles estates and closes accounts. The translation carries the court or registry name, file number, effective date and both names letter for letter. See the divorce certificate page or the death certificate page.
Change-of-name records
A deed poll, court order or registry extract linking an old name to a new one, asked for when two papers in one file disagree. The translation keeps both names exactly as written, the current one romanised to match your passport, and the date the change took effect.
Court orders
Custody, guardianship, maintenance and property orders show who may decide for a child or who owns what. The translation carries the court name, the wording on its seal, the case number, every numbered order and the signature block, with each signature marked [signed] and legal terms kept consistent throughout. Filing one in an Australian court or tribunal? Its rules may ask for more than the translation: translating documents for a court or tribunal quotes them.
Powers of attorney
Lets one person act for another: sell property, manage a relative’s affairs overseas. Lawyers and conveyancers ask for an English version. The translation carries both names, every listed power, any conditions, and the wording on the notary’s stamp, with the signature marked [signed].
Employment and reference letters
Read by assessing bodies and employers for job titles, duties and dates. The translation carries the letterhead, the period of employment as written, the signatory’s name and position, and the wording on the company stamp.
Identity cards
National identity, residence and voter cards support your identity with lenders, landlords and in visa or citizenship files. The translation carries both faces, every field including the machine-readable zone, and your name romanised to match your passport.
Utility bills and proof of address
Electricity, water, gas and phone bills, or a lease, show where you lived; lenders, landlords and some visa files ask for them. The translation carries the account holder’s name, the service address exactly as printed, the billing period and the provider’s details.
Adoption papers
Adoption orders establish a legal parent and child relationship, asked for in citizenship files, for passports and by schools. The translation carries the court or agency name, the child’s name before and after adoption, the parents’ names as in their passports, and the wording on every seal, with each signature marked [signed].
Statutory declarations and affidavits
A statement sworn before a notary or commissioner, used to explain a missing document or confirm a relationship. The translation carries the declarant’s name, the full text, the witnessing clause (the witness’s name, their office and the wording on their seal) and the date sworn. This is a translation of your affidavit, not an affidavit from the translator; where a court asks for one of those, see what the court rules say.
One rule for all of them
One standard for every document on this page
Translated in Australia
Home Affairs puts it plainly: “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.” Where a checklist names a credential, as this one does, the NAATI certification option is the one that matches its wording. What that option includes is explained on our NAATI translation in Australia page.
Source: Home Affairs, translating documents (page last updated 16 September 2026, checked 18 September 2026)
Translated outside Australia
For a translator outside Australia the subclass 820 checklist asks for something different: it says they “do not have to be accredited”, but each translation must carry their full name, address and telephone number and their qualifications and experience in the language, all in English. That list is for overseas translators. Our NAATI certification option is prepared by a NAATI-certified translator and carries their name, practitioner number, certification statement and a digital stamp with a scannable QR code.
Source: Home Affairs, subclass 820 document checklist (page last updated 10 August 2026, checked 18 September 2026)
Anything supporting a passport application
The Australian Passport Office asks for a document “translated in full and stamped by an accredited translator”. If a change-of-name record, court order or adoption paper is going into a passport file, that is the line to follow.
Not sure whether the NAATI-certified option is the one for your paper, or which pages of a long record to send? Ask before you order: tell us what the document is and where it is going.
Pricing
The full price on screen before you order
Translation is $39.99 per page into English, delivered digitally. Add NAATI certification for $59.99 per page, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator with a digital stamp carrying a scannable QR code.
Bank statements, medical records, academic transcripts and degree certificates have their own pages; the order page shows delivery options.
How to order
How to get a legal or government document translated
The same three steps as any other document, with one question to settle first: who will read it.
Start with where the translation is going. For a visa or citizenship file translated in Australia, Home Affairs’ wording above points to a NAATI-accredited translator, and the Passport Office asks for a document translated in full and stamped by an accredited translator, so the NAATI certification option is the one that matches what both of them ask for. Some readers only need the content in English, and the Standard option covers that; when in doubt, ask the body you are sending it to before you order, not after.
Then photograph every page, front and back, one clear photo per page with all four corners in frame, including the back of any page that carries a stamp, a seal or a signature. You can order up to 4 pages online; for a longer court file or a rare language, send an enquiry and we will price the job before you commit to anything.
On the order page, choose Standard or NAATI certified and a delivery window: Normal within 3 days, Urgent 12–24 hours, or ASAP within 4 hours where a translator for your language is available at that moment. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. The full price is on screen as you choose, and the finished translation arrives by email as a searchable PDF that follows the layout of the original as closely as a translation can, with the wording on every seal and stamp translated and each signature marked [signed].
Questions
What people ask about translating legal and official documents
Each page is $39.99 whatever the document, plus $59.99 a page if you add NAATI certification, so the page count is what changes. A page is each side carrying text, a stamp or a seal. A divorce or death certificate is usually one page. A national identity card printed on both faces is two: $79.98 Standard, or $199.96 with certification. A court judgment is counted one side at a time, and a side carrying an apostille or a notary’s certificate is a page too. Normal delivery is included, and anything over four pages is priced through an enquiry first.
Ask them first: we have not verified a published rule for lawyers, conveyancers, lenders or landlords. Two questions settle most cases. Do they need a certified translation, or only to understand what the document says? And will a PDF sent by email do, since nothing is printed or posted? If they say certified or NAATI, choose the NAATI option, $59.99 a page on top of the translation. If they only need to read it, Standard at $39.99 a page is a full translation with no certification statement and no stamp.
Not by that name. What you can order online is a translation prepared by a NAATI-certified translator. NAATI describes itself as “the national standards and certifying authority for translators and interpreters in Australia”, and its certification is held by individual translators. With the NAATI option, the translator signs a certification statement and applies a digital stamp with a QR code, and the translation arrives by email as a PDF. If a court or office overseas has asked for a sworn translation, ask it before you order whether a NAATI-certified one will do.
Possibly, if you are eligible, but not for every purpose. TIS National’s Free Translating Service lists divorce, death, change-of-name and custody records, and national identity cards, among the personal documents it accepts. Its eligibility page also says “Document translations required for visa or citizenship applications, and documents issued by private citizens, are not eligible”, and “Translator affidavits for family court or other legal purposes are not available through the Free Translating Service.” It works from original documents only, not certified copies, and accepts personal documents that help with employment, education or community engagement. The visa and time tests are on who qualifies for the free service.
It can help you follow what one says, but it is the wrong tool for a copy a court, lawyer or government office will rely on. On legal papers the risk sits in single words: a term about who may decide for a child, or one power listed in a power of attorney, translated loosely can change what the English version appears to allow. Machine output also has no author, so there is no translator to sign a certification statement or answer for a choice of word. Use AI to get the gist, then order the NAATI certified option for any copy a court, lawyer or government office will rely on.
Yes. All four are on the language list on the order page, and each is priced like every other language: $39.99 a page, plus $59.99 a page for NAATI certification. What changes is the detail inside the document, from German compound terms to Hijri dates on many Arabic records and Spanish double surnames. German to English translation, Arabic to English translation and Spanish to English translation each explain how theirs are handled.
For a language not on the list, ask us before you order. Being on the list is not a promise that we can cover your language: if we cannot arrange the translation for yours, we tell you promptly and refund you in full.
It depends on the date, the language and the page count, so tell us the date before you order. Urgent is 12–24 hours for $49, and ASAP is within 4 hours for $99 where a translator for your language is free at that moment. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Those windows are estimates, not a fixed time of arrival, so with a fixed date contact us before ordering and we will say honestly whether we can meet it. A court file over four pages needs an emailed quote first, so allow extra time.