Passports
Passport translation into English
Passport translation into English, for a visa or citizenship file, an identity check or any Australian process that asks for one. We translate the pages that need it — the identity page, and the visas, stamps, endorsements and observations printed only in the local language — and deliver a PDF by email, with NAATI certification available at checkout.
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Before you order
The identity page may already be readable. The other pages usually are not.
Passports follow an international standard, and it says a good deal about what an Australian officer can read without help.
What the standard puts in English, French or Spanish
ICAO Doc 9303 governs the identity page. Where the issuing country’s language “is not English, French or Spanish, the printed caption shall be followed by an oblique character (/) and the equivalent of the caption in English, French or Spanish”. And where a name is in a non-Latin script, “a transcription or transliteration into Latin characters shall be provided”. So the captions, the two machine-readable lines at the foot of the page and the Latin spelling of your name are there for anyone to read.
Source: ICAO Doc 9303, Part 3, Eighth Edition 2021, sections 3.3 and 3.4 (checked 17 September 2026)
What it leaves in the local language
The entries themselves. A place of birth, an issuing authority written out in full, an occupation, a note added by hand, and every page after the first: entry and exit stamps, visas issued by other countries, endorsements, observations, an amendment page, a child’s details added to a parent’s passport. Older passports and some current ones carry captions in one language only. Those are the pages a translation is for, and they are what the receiving office usually means when it asks for the passport translated in full.
If the office you are dealing with is content with the identity page as printed, you do not need us for that page. Our guide to documents that are already partly in English covers when a bilingual document needs a translation and when it does not.
Where it is asked for
Who asks for a translated passport
Quoted from the authorities themselves, so you can see the wording your pages will be read against.
Visa and citizenship files
Home Affairs’ guidance for any document that is not in English: “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.” Its partner visa checklist says translators outside Australia “do not have to be accredited”, but that each translation must show their full name, address and telephone number, and their qualifications and experience, and “These details must be in English”.
Sources: Home Affairs, translating documents (page last updated 16 September 2026); subclass 820 checklist (page last updated 10 August 2026)
Australian passport applications
If the Passport Office asks to see a foreign passport in your application, its rule for any document that is not in English is: “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.” If you are in Australia, it adds, NAATI “can help you find a translator in your area”. The same page says a translation can be reused: “You can use your translated documents again for any future passport applications.”
Source: Australian Passport Office, interpreting and translation (checked 17 September 2026)
Identity checks at a counter
Queensland’s driver licensing list of identity documents puts an “Australian or foreign passport” in Category A and says “The passport must be current or expired by less than 2 years.” Its page says nothing about translating the passport itself; the translation line there is for an overseas marriage certificate. Banks, employers and universities set their own rules. Ask before you pay for a page nobody has asked for.
Source: Queensland Government, evidence of identity (updated 17 June 2026)
What a careful job includes
What your translated passport pages carry
A passport is read page by page and stamp by stamp, and the translation works through it the same way.
The identity page, field by field
Every caption and every entry: type, country code and passport number, surname and given names, nationality, date and place of birth, sex, dates of issue and expiry, the issuing authority in full, and any personal number. The two machine-readable lines are copied exactly as printed, because they are what a reader checks the rest against.
Stamps and visas
Each stamp is translated with its date, port or office and the words it carries, and the translation follows the layout of the page as closely as practical. A visa sticker is translated in full, conditions included. A stamp that cannot be read is marked [illegible], a seal with no words [seal], and a signature [signed], rather than guessed at.
Observations, endorsements and amendments
The pages that carry a change of name, a correction, a note about a previous passport, a child’s details or a restriction are translated word for word. These entries are easy to miss when only the identity page is ordered, so check whether the office wants them.
Your name, spelt to match the passport
We use the name as printed on the identity page, accents and hyphens included. Where the name is in another script we follow the passport’s own romanisation, so the translation agrees with the passport and with the Australian records made from it. If a document you already hold spells the name differently, send us the details through the contact page with your order number. Our guide to which spelling of your name to use explains what happens when two documents disagree.
Dates and calendars
The standard puts identity-page dates in the Gregorian calendar, but a stamp or a visa can carry a date in another one. Those are converted with the original kept alongside; see dates and calendars on translations.
The translator’s details on the page
With the NAATI certification option, a NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation and it carries their name and credential, with a digital stamp and a scannable QR code, so the officer reading your passport pages can see who did the work and check the credential online. NAATI translation, ordered online covers the option in full.
Ordering for a visa or citizenship file, or an Australian passport application, and translating in Australia? Home Affairs’ wording points to a NAATI-accredited translator, and the Passport Office asks for an accredited translator and points to NAATI to find one — choose the NAATI certification option at checkout. Newly arrived on an eligible visa? Check the free government service first.
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. Count each passport page that carries text, a stamp or a visa: the identity page is one page, and a page with three stamps on it is still one page.
Photograph each page flat and in colour, with the whole page in frame; our guide to photographing your document shows what a usable photo looks like. Translating documents for an Australian passport application rather than the passport itself? See passport application document translation. Every other document we translate is listed under our certified document translation services.
Questions
Questions about translating a passport
Usually not. Only the pages printed in the local language need translating; ask the office reading your file which ones it wants. The section above explains why the identity page is often readable already and the later pages usually are not. Blank pages are not translated and are not counted.
Often, partly. Under the standard passports follow, ICAO Doc 9303, a field caption in a language other than English, French or Spanish is followed by a slash and the same caption in one of those three languages, and a name in a non-Latin script is given a Latin transliteration as well. So an officer can usually read the captions and the machine-readable lines.
What that page does not give them is an English rendering of the entries themselves, the issuing authority in full, or anything handwritten or stamped on it, and some processes still ask for the whole page translated. If the body you are dealing with is happy with the page as it is, you do not need us for it.
The spelling printed on the identity page of your passport, accents included; where the name is in another script, the passport’s own romanisation. That is the spelling Australian records are usually made from, so it is the one we use. If a document you already hold in Australia spells it differently, send us the details through the contact page with your order number, and we will note both.
Yes. The translation shows the dates exactly as printed, including the expiry date, and any cancellation stamp or punch is described where it appears. Rules on expired passports differ: Queensland’s evidence-of-identity list, for example, says “The passport must be current or expired by less than 2 years.”
Online, once you know which pages the office wants, because that sets the page count. On the order page, choose the passport’s language, give your name and email, pick Passport as the document type and enter the number of pages. Then photograph each page, choose Standard or NAATI certification and a delivery speed, and pay the total shown. The PDF arrives by email; the Normal delivery estimate is within 3 days. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Up to four pages can be ordered online, so a well-stamped passport needing more goes through an enquiry first.
It depends on how many pages you are asked for, not on how thick the passport is. Each page is $39.99, and NAATI certification adds $59.99 a page, so the identity page and one visa page with NAATI certification come to $199.96. Normal delivery, within 3 days, is included. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Urgent at $49, or ASAP at $99 where a translator is free, is charged once for the whole order, not once per page.
No, there is no office, and nothing to post or drop off. You photograph the pages and order online from wherever you are, so the passport stays with you for travel or an identity check while the translation is done, and the PDF arrives by email. If you would rather have the photos taken with you, we can come to you in Brisbane, the Gold Coast or Logan for A$80 on top of the translation price, photograph the pages together and hand the passport straight back. Book a visit through the contact page; the visit terms, including cancellation, are in clause 2 of our Terms & Conditions.
Sent through the order page, they are protected at each step. They stay on your device until you place the order, then reach us over an encrypted connection, and nothing you send is given a web address. Translators never receive your contact details, and the images are deleted within 90 days of delivery, or sooner if you ask. Keep passport numbers out of emails and enquiry messages. Do not black out the number or the two machine-readable lines in the photos, though, because the translation renders them in full. Our Privacy Policy has the detail.
Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Tamil, Japanese, Russian and Hungarian are all on the order page, at the same per-page price as every other language, and a language that is not listed, Armenian for example, goes under Other language or through an enquiry. If we cannot arrange the translation for your language, we tell you promptly and refund the order in full.
The catch with a passport is the later pages. Visas and entry stamps from other countries are often in other languages again, and each order is translated from one language. If yours has them, list every language in an enquiry before you order, so we can confirm each page can be covered.
Not from us. A template gives you a layout, but a form you fill in yourself carries no translator’s name, credential or stamp, and the Passport Office, quoted above, wants documents shown to it “translated in full and stamped by an accredited translator”. With our NAATI certification option, the searchable PDF holds the translator’s certification statement, their digital stamp with a QR code, and a stamped copy of the pages you sent. What a certified translation looks like shows each part.
Not for a visa or citizenship application. TIS National, which delivers the Free Translating Service for Home Affairs, says on its eligibility page: “Document translations required for visa or citizenship applications, and documents issued by private citizens, are not eligible.” It accepts only personal documents that help with employment, education and community engagement, its eligible list includes “Identity document (including national identity cards)”, and Australian citizens cannot use it at all. For any other purpose, check TIS National’s eligibility tests on who qualifies for the free service, then ask TIS National whether your passport counts.
No, the translation has no expiry date, but it covers your passport only as it was when you photographed it. Entry stamps and visas added on later trips are not in it, so if an office wants those pages in English, they need translating too. A renewed or replacement passport is a different document, with its own dates of issue and expiry, and a translation of the old one does not describe it.
If the name, date or place of birth your celebrant reads from it is not in English, expect to be asked for a translation. The Attorney-General’s Department guidelines for celebrants accept “a passport issued by the Australian government or a government of an overseas country showing the date and place of birth of the party”, and say that where that evidence “is written in another language or alphabet, the couple should seek a translation of the document by an accredited translator”. The passport standard makes place of birth optional, so check your identity page shows it. Ask your celebrant; marrying in Australia with foreign documents covers the rest.
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.