How to Check If a Certified Translation Is Genuine

Scan the QR code printed on the cover of the translation, or type the order reference into our verification page. An Eagle Translate certificate is genuine when the record that comes back shows the same order reference, language pair, document type, translator name and certification date that are printed on the page in front of you. The check takes under a minute, needs no account, and works for anyone holding the document, not only the person who ordered it.

Verify an Eagle Translate certificate in under a minute

Every certified translation we deliver carries a QR code on the cover page. It leads to a public record generated from our own order history, which only returns a valid result when the order was delivered and a certified translator's approval is recorded against it. There is no way to produce a certified file from us without that approval on record.

If you cannot scan the code, go to the verification page and enter the order reference printed at the top right of the cover as the certificate number. Then compare four things against the paper or PDF you are holding.

• The order reference matches character for character
• The language pair matches, in the same direction
• The document type matches
• The certification date and the translator name match

A mismatch on any of those is worth stopping over. A record that does not exist at all means the reference was mistyped or the document did not come from us.

What a genuine certificate of translation accuracy contains

Our cover page is a Certificate of Translation Accuracy and it always carries the same elements. The Eagle Translate letterhead and certificate number. A signed statement that the attached document is a true, complete and accurate translation from the source language into the target language of the document provided to us, to the best of professional knowledge and ability. A note that items which are not text, such as stamps, seals, signatures and codes, are described in bracketed form at their position in the document. And an explicit statement that the certification attests to the accuracy of the translation only, not to the authenticity of the source document.

Below that sits a details table with the source file name, the document type, the language pair, the order reference, the ATA membership number and the date of certification. Then the name of the certified translator who reviewed and approved the work, over an approval stamp, alongside the verification QR code. The translation itself follows on the same letterhead rather than arriving as a separate loose file.

Six checks that work on any certified translation

Most of these apply whoever produced the document.

1. Is there a certification statement at all? A translation without a signed statement of accuracy is a translation, not a certified translation, however professional it looks.

2. Is the certificate attached to the translation? A certificate that arrives as a standalone page, detached from the pages it certifies, is trivially reused on a different document. Ours is bound into the same PDF for that reason.

3. Does the translation account for everything on the original? Hold them side by side. Every seal, stamp, signature, marginal note and reverse side should appear in the translation, described in brackets where it is not text. Gaps are the most common real defect, as we set out in what to do when a translation is rejected.

4. Do the names and dates on the certificate match the document it certifies? A certificate naming a birth certificate attached to a marriage certificate has been recycled.

5. Is there any way to check the certificate independently? A reference number, a QR code, a verification address. If there is nothing to check against, the certificate is a claim rather than a record.

6. Does the file show signs of editing? Fonts that change mid line, a date in a different weight from the text around it, a stamp with soft edges when the rest of the page is sharp, or a page whose scan quality differs from its neighbours. Any of those means the file should be re-obtained from the source rather than trusted.

What a certification does and does not tell you

This distinction matters and it is frequently misread. A certificate of translation accuracy is a statement about language. It says the translation faithfully reproduces the source document that was supplied. It says nothing whatsoever about whether that source document is real, valid, current or lawfully obtained.

No translator authenticates a birth certificate, a diploma or a court decree, and none should claim to. If you are a recipient assessing a file and your concern is that the underlying document might be forged, verifying the translation certificate will not answer that question. That check belongs with the issuing authority, and many of them now publish their own verification tools, which is why we reproduce authority QR codes and reference numbers in brackets in the translated text rather than dropping them.

For registrars, admissions offices and HR reviewers

If a certified translation from us has landed on your desk, you can verify it yourself without contacting the applicant. Scan the code or enter the reference on our verification page. No sign in is required and no customer data is shown, only the facts of the certificate. If the result does not match the document, or the page does not respond, get in touch through contact with the reference printed on the certificate and we will confirm the record directly.

It is also worth knowing what we do and do not offer, so a mismatch in expectations does not get read as a defect. We work between English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Turkish only, in every direction, which is set out on the languages page. Certified and Premium orders carry the signed certificate. Standard orders are professional translations without one, so a Standard file will never have a certificate cover and should not be presented as certified. The differences are on the services page.

What to do if verification fails

First, re-enter the reference carefully, since a single transposed character will return nothing. If the page itself cannot be reached, that says nothing about the certificate, only about the connection, so reload and try again. If the record still does not appear or the details do not match, treat the document as unconfirmed and contact us with the reference. We would far rather answer that question than have a genuine certificate doubted or a false one accepted.

Order a translation you can verify

Every certified translation we deliver is checkable by anyone who receives it, which is the point of doing it this way. You can see the four steps on how it works and start at start an order.