Swahili to English
Swahili to English translation
For families and students from Tanzania, Kenya and the rest of East Africa with a document in Swahili. Many records there are issued in English, so check yours first; where Swahili appears, we translate in full, by email, with NAATI certification as an option.
Check before you order
Much of it may already be in English
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 everything your reader needs is already in English, see documents already in English before you pay for anything.
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, so the English and the Swahili can be read together.
Names as your passport has them
East African names are spelled in more than one way across documents. The translation uses the spelling in your passport for your own name, and the spelling on your other papers for everyone else, so the file reads as one family.
Driving here on an East African licence
An English licence needs no translation
What New South Wales says
“If your licence is not written in English, you must also carry an English translation, or an International Driving Permit.” A licence printed in English is outside that line; carry it, current, whenever you drive.
Source: NSW Government, driving with an overseas licence in NSW (checked 19 September 2026)
At the Hertz desk
Hertz’s terms accept a licence that “is in English or, if not in English, is accompanied by a certified English translation”. If your card is in English, the translation question does not arise; the company’s other conditions still do.
Source: Hertz Australia, rental terms (driver licence) (checked 19 September 2026)
Driving on an English licence? Driving in Australia on a UK, US or other English licence covers the rules that still apply.
What a careful job includes
When Swahili needs translating, all of it
Letters and affidavits
Introduction letters from local officials, affidavits and statutory declarations, with every signature, stamp and date carried across.
Civil and religious records
Birth, marriage and death records and church or mosque certificates, translated in full, the English parts reproduced as printed.
Court and school records
Court papers, school certificates and results in Swahili, table for table. Text the photo does not show clearly is marked [illegible].
Choose the NAATI certification option for a translation prepared by a NAATI-certified translator, carrying their certification statement, NAATI stamp and credential number. See the birth certificate and marriage certificate pages for those documents.
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 and carrying their certification statement, NAATI stamp and credential number. Where the translator uses NAATI’s digital stamp, it carries a QR code you can scan to check the credential.
Delivery is by email and the order page shows the delivery options. Translating a licence only? Start at driver licence translation. Need a NAATI-certified translator? See NAATI translation online. Other languages: Somali, Amharic and Arabic, or see every language we translate.
Driving on a Kenyan, Tanzanian or Ugandan licence? Check your overseas licence in 1 second.