How to Get a Vital Records Translation Quickly
Overview of Vital Records
The term “vital records” refers to all official records of your life events that are issued to you by State or Federal agencies. These include birth certificates, marriage licenses, and certificates, death certificates, etc. Some regions also include records of domestic partnerships and civil unions as part of your vital records.
Your country’s government has authority over all your vital records. In the U.S., both the county and state maintain these records. Whenever you need any of these documents, you can pay for a certified copy from a governmental institution.
Governmental institutions maintain these records for a variety of reasons. For example, they use these documents to calculate taxes and carry out census statistics. At the most basic level, these documents can act as proof for the age and citizenship of an individual, instead of their Social Security or a tax identification number. In fact, the birth certificate of a person is the basis for all future identity documents in the United States, as it is in many other countries. [1]
Why You Might Need Your Vital Records Translated
If you live or were born in a country where English is not the official language, chances are that some or all of your vital records were produced in a language other than English. As such, you will require the services of a translation agency if you plan to live outside your home country or if you plan to travel to another country or region, the country’s embassy will require you to file translated documents in order to issue you a visa.
Sure, you might be lucky enough to already have all your records in English. Many countries will accept these records as is. However, some countries will require these documents to be in that native language only. Unfortunately, in this scenario, you will need the services of a translation agency for vital records translation as well.
Applying for a visa or passport is not the only instance of when you might need to have your documents translated. A major reason for translating vital records is for immigration to another country. For example, if you apply for immigration to the United States, you will have to get all your vital records translated to English and then submit them to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for approval of your application. Learn how to get a certified translation for USCIS. [2]
Translating the Vital Records
Bilingual people might be thinking to themselves, “Okay, I need to translate my documents. Why don’t I simply do it myself using my knowledge of the language or an online translation tool?” However, this idea is wrong for a few reasons.
Legal documents require a great deal of care when translating. To maintain the legitimacy and authority of a document, the translator has to make sure that the translation is a hundred percent accurate. They cannot simply substitute a word that has a very similar meaning to the original when translating; it has to be an exact match with the original word. This is why you should never use online translation software like Google Translate for any serious work.
Even if you are highly proficient between the source and target languages, you will not be able to produce an authenticly translated document unless you work in the legal field. This is because the translation of official documents requires the translator to be familiar with the proper procedures and terminologies of the legal field in order to produce a legitimate document. This specialty knowledge comes from extensive studying and years of experience in the field.
Additionally, translating documents might take up a lot of time for someone who does not do it for a living. Translating is not as easy as it seems, and you will end up wasting a lot of time and money in the process. You do not want to have to shuffle through government offices with stacks of documents to re-notarize after correcting an error that you or the agency found. After all, time is money, and you would be wise to use it in a more productive way and pay a small fee to a dedicated translation service for a quick and accurate solution.
Even if you somehow overcame all these obstacles and produced an exact translation of your documents on your own, you will be disappointed to find out that the translation is not valid. Due to the reasons listed above and because of concerns with accuracy, no Federal organizations accept self-translated documents. For example, USCIS requires all translated documents to originate from a certified translator. You have to submit the translated documents with a certification that includes the translator’s name, address, date of translation, and signature to prove their validity. Additionally, a notary has to notarize the document before you officially submit them to any organization.
How to get your vital records translated through a competent agency
Thankfully, getting your documents translated is simple. You can apply for translation online from your home in a few simple steps and receive the translated document at your doorstep in a short amount of time. Here is everything you need to do:
1. Upload electronic copies of your vital records to a certified translation service, like Acutrans
2. Choose the source language of the original document and the target language into which you want the document translated
3. Choose how many copies you want. You can get an electronic copy and up to 4 hard copies for each of your documents
4. Get a quotation of the cost, absolutely free of charge
5. If you feel the rates are reasonable, pay for the service over the phone or in the Acutrans office
6. Get your translated electronic document through email as soon as it is ready. The hard copies will reach your doorstep in a short amount of time. The time it takes for translation depends on the subject matter, target and source languages, and other requirements. Check our FAQ to learn more.
With Acutrans, you can get an authentic and notarized translation delivered right to your home. We pride ourselves on the quality of our translations, and our dedicated project managers always make sure everything is in order before delivering the documents to you.