Passport and Identity Document Translation

A certified passport or identity document translation reproduces the entire data page, every field printed on it and the two lines of coded characters at the foot, delivered with a signed certificate of translation accuracy for $24.95 a page at the certified level, where a page is up to 250 words. Before you order one, check whether you actually need it, because the data page of most modern passports is already printed with English labels alongside the issuing language and plenty of US recipients accept it as filed.

When a passport translation is genuinely required

There are a few situations where it comes up regularly. A recipient outside the United States asking for a Turkish or Portuguese passport rendered into another one of our eight languages. A bank, notary or registrar with a written policy that every foreign document in the file must arrive with a certified translation. A visa page, residence permit or entry stamp that carries information in one language only. A national identity card, which unlike a passport is often printed in the issuing language alone.

What is almost never required is a translation of an English language passport for a US recipient. If you are unsure, ask the recipient and get the answer in writing, because the recipient's own instructions govern and they are the only ones who can settle it. You can also reach us through contact and describe the request before you spend anything.

What the data page contains and what the translation must show

The passport data page is standardised, which makes an incomplete translation easy to spot. A complete certified translation shows every field.

• The issuing country and the type of document
• The passport number
• Surname and given names as printed, including any second surname
• Nationality, date of birth, sex and place of birth
• Date of issue, date of expiry and the issuing authority
• The personal or national number where the country prints one
• The MRZ, the two lines of coded characters printed at the foot of the page
• The photograph and the holder's signature, described in brackets at their position, for example [photograph of holder] and [holder's signature]

The MRZ is not decoration. It encodes the name, the number, the nationality and the dates, and a reviewer can read it to cross check the printed fields. Leaving it out is the most common defect in passport translations we see described in rejection notices.

National identity cards and residence permits

Identity cards carry less standardisation and more that can be missed. A translation should account for the front and the back, since the reverse commonly carries the address, the parents' names, the issuing office and a second set of coded lines.

• Spanish. The DNI, or the NIE card issued to foreign residents, with its own number format
• French. The Carte Nationale d'Identité, now issued in a card format with data on both faces
• German. The Personalausweis, which prints the issuing authority and often a religious or academic title field
• Italian. The Carta d'Identità Elettronica, frequently submitted together with the codice fiscale card
• Portuguese. The Cartão de Cidadão, which combines several national numbers on one card
• Dutch. The Identiteitskaart, carrying the burgerservicenummer
• Turkish. The Nüfus Cüzdanı or the newer T.C. Kimlik Kartı, showing the T.C. Kimlik No, and often submitted with a Nüfus Kayıt Örneği when a recipient wants the full civil registry record

We work between English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Turkish in every direction, listed on the languages page.

Why name spelling matters more than anything else on an ID translation

An identity document translation exists to let a stranger match a name across a file. That only works if the name is handled consistently. Turkish characters such as İ, ı, ş, ğ, ö, ç and ü, Portuguese and Spanish accents, and German umlauts all have to be dealt with, and the passport itself usually already contains the answer in the MRZ, which shows the officially transliterated form.

A certified translation reproduces the name as it appears and does not silently normalise it. If your name is spelled one way on your passport and another way on your birth or marriage certificate, that is a common and explainable situation. Tell us before the translator starts so the same choice is applied across everything you order. The same point comes up in our guides to marriage certificate translation and diploma and transcript translation.

Never alter, crop or redact

Do not black out the passport number. Do not crop the photograph. Do not remove the MRZ for privacy. An identity document with pieces missing looks altered, and a reviewer who cannot reconcile the translation against the copy will send both back. If you are worried about how your file is handled, ask us rather than editing the document.

One related point worth being clear about. A certified translation attests to the accuracy of the translation, not to the authenticity of the passport or card. No translator authenticates an identity document, and the certificate on the cover of your delivery says so explicitly.

Cost, turnaround and what you receive

Standard is $19.95 a page in 3 to 5 business days with no certificate. Certified is $24.95 a page in 2 to 3 business days. Premium is $39.95 a page, translated ahead of other work, back in 1 to 2 business days. A page is up to 250 words measured from your real document, so a single data page is one page even when it is dense with fields, while a passport with a dozen visa pages and entry stamps will measure higher. The price appears before you pay. The comparison is on the services page.

Every certified delivery arrives as one PDF whose cover is a Certificate of Translation Accuracy naming the document, the language pair, the order reference, the ATA membership number, the certification date and the translator who signed it, with a QR code that a recipient can scan to confirm the certificate against our records. That check is explained in how to check if a certified translation is genuine.

Scanning a passport properly

Upload is PDF only, so scan rather than photograph. Lay the passport flat, capture the full page including the borders and the MRZ, use 300 dpi or better, and save the result as a PDF. If the recipient asked for specific visa pages or stamps, include them in the same file in order. Payment is by card and the four steps are on how it works. If something does come back from the recipient, read what to do when a translation is rejected before reordering.

Start a passport or ID translation

Upload the page, choose the pair, and see the measured price before paying at start an order.