English to Spanish Certified Translation

A certified English to Spanish translation is a complete Spanish version of your document with a signed certificate of accuracy attached, prepared by an ATA certified translator, and it is what a wide range of recipients in the United States and abroad ask for. Before you order, find out whether the office receiving it requires a country specific sworn translator, because several Spanish speaking countries run their own appointment schemes and their rules govern.

Ask which country will receive it before anything else

This is the question that decides whether a US certified translation is the right product for you, and it is worth five minutes of checking.

Spain asks for a traducción jurada by a Traductor-Intérprete Jurado appointed by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs for many filings with Spanish public administration, and in some cases a translation carried out or validated by a Spanish consulate. Mexico expects a perito traductor authorised by the judiciary of the relevant state for court proceedings and for numerous administrative filings. Argentina requires a traductor público matriculado whose signature is legalised by the professional college. Colombia works through officially certified translators who have passed a state examination.

Where those schemes apply, a US certified translation may not be enough on its own, and we will not tell you otherwise. Where the recipient simply asks for a certified translation, or asks for a translation with a signed statement of accuracy, ours meets that description. Ask the receiving office in writing and keep their answer.

Where a US certified English to Spanish translation is used

Plenty of recipients ask for exactly what we produce. Common ones are United States courts and agencies handling matters for Spanish speaking parties, hospitals and insurers, schools and employers, adoption and estate files, corporate contracts and policies being issued to staff or customers in Spanish, and personal or family use where a relative needs to read a document properly.

Consular filings are mixed. Some consulates accept a certified translation from any competent translator, others insist on their own list. Their instructions govern, so read them first and use our contact page if you want to talk it through before ordering.

US documents that come in most often

• State issued birth certificates, both long form and short abstracts
• Marriage certificates, divorce decrees and death certificates
• Court judgments, custody orders and name change orders
• University diplomas and academic transcripts
• FBI Identity History Summary and state police clearance letters
• Medical records, vaccination records and physician letters
• Powers of attorney, affidavits and notarised declarations
• Apostilles issued by a Secretary of State or the Department of State

Regional Spanish, and why we ask where it is going

Spanish is one language with real administrative differences, and official vocabulary is where they show. A birth certificate is an acta de nacimiento in Mexico, a partida de nacimiento in Argentina and Peru, a certificado de nacimiento in Chile and Colombia, and a certificación literal de nacimiento in Spain. A driving licence is a carné de conducir in Spain and a licencia de conducir across most of Latin America. A transcript is an expediente académico in Spain, a certificado analítico in Argentina and a certificado de estudios elsewhere.

Numbers behave differently too. Spain writes 1.234,56 while Mexico writes 1,234.56, and on a medical record or a financial statement getting that wrong changes the meaning. Telling us the destination country when you order lets the translator use the terms that office reads every day. The eight languages we work in are listed on our languages page, and every pair inside that set is available.

Seals, registrar wording and the state file number

A US birth certificate is a state document and no two states lay theirs out the same way. The translation reproduces the state file number, the date of filing, the registrar's title and the certification wording, and describes the security features in square brackets, for example [embossed seal of the State Registrar of Vital Records]. Raised seals, watermarks and intaglio borders cannot be copied into a translation, so they are described precisely instead.

One practical warning. Several states issue a short abstract that omits the parents' details, and registries abroad usually want the long form. Order the long form from the issuing state before you order the translation, because a translation cannot supply information the certificate does not contain.

Diplomas, transcripts and what happens to a GPA

US transcripts use letter grades, a grade point average on a four point scale and semester credit hours, none of which are self explanatory to a reader in Madrid or Bogotá. The translation reproduces the grades and credits exactly as printed and translates the grading legend from the back of the transcript, which is the part that explains the scale.

It does not convert an American 3.6 into a Spanish 8 or a Mexican 9. That is homologación or convalidación, and it is done by the receiving ministry or university under their own rules. They will normally want the certified translation first, so this is the right step to take now.

Apostilles are in English and usually need translating too

If your document is going abroad, the apostille comes from the Secretary of State of the issuing state, or from the Department of State for federal documents such as the FBI Identity History Summary. It is printed in English, and receiving offices in Spain and Latin America commonly want it in Spanish along with the document it is attached to.

Add the apostille page to the same PDF. It counts toward the page total and it is cheaper to include now than to order on its own later.

Long divorce decrees and how pages are counted

A page is up to 250 words of real text, not a sheet of paper, which matters most on court documents. A US divorce decree can run twenty or thirty sheets once property schedules and exhibits are attached, while a foreign registry may only need the decree and the finality stamp. Check what the recipient needs before you upload the whole file, and get in touch if you are unsure which pages to include.

Standard is 19.95 per page with delivery in three to five business days, Certified is 24.95 per page in two to three business days, and Premium is 39.95 per page in one to two business days. Our services page explains what each level includes, and how it works walks through the four steps. Upload a PDF, see the price measured from the real document, then pay by card. Orders run to 50 pages, and above that we handle it directly.

Names are reproduced, not restructured

Spanish speaking registries expect two surnames, one from each parent, and US documents give one. The translation reproduces the name exactly as printed on the original and does not split it, invent a second surname or reorder it to look Spanish. If the receiving office questions the difference, the answer sits in the original document rather than in the translation.

If a translation is rejected

If a translation is rejected because of a translation error we made, we correct it at no charge. If the corrected translation is rejected again for that same error, we refund what was paid for it, provided you tell us within 30 days and send the written rejection. The full terms are on the refund policy page, and the recipient can confirm the certificate is genuine at our verification page. More answers are on the FAQ.

If you also need documents coming the other way, Portuguese to English certified translation covers a neighbouring case in detail.

When you know which country is receiving it, upload your document at start an order and the price appears before you pay.