Arabic to English
Certified Death Certificate Translation, Arabic to English
A certified Arabic to English translation of a death certificate costs $24.95 per page, where one page is up to 250 words of the source document. A typical death certificate runs 1 to 2 pages, so most orders come to $24.95 to $49.90. Certified orders are delivered in 2 to 3 business days as a PDF containing the complete translation and a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy from the qualified professional translator who completed or reviewed the work, prepared for official use including USCIS filings.
Pricing
Exact prices, shown before you pay
Most death certificates are one page of up to 250 source words; certificates with a detailed medical cause of death section or attached registry transcriptions can reach two. Certified translation is $24.95 per page, so a typical order of 1 to 2 pages comes to $24.95 to $49.90. The exact total is measured from your document and shown before payment.
Standard
$19.95 per page
3 to 5 business days
A professional translation with digital delivery.
Certified
$24.95 per page
2 to 3 business days
A certified translation accepted for official use.
Premium
$39.95 per page
1 to 2 business days
A certified translation, translated first.
One page is up to 250 words.
Requirements
What reviewers require for a certified death certificate translation
- A foreign language death certificate submitted to USCIS must be accompanied by a full English language translation certified by the translator as complete and accurate, with the translator's certification of competence to translate from that language into English (8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)).
- For immigrant visa processing, the Department of State requires certified translations of civil documents, including death certificates, that are not in English or in the official language of the country of application, with a signed translator statement of competence.
- The translation must be complete and word for word, covering the decedent's name, the date and place of death, the registering authority and registration data, informant details, seals, stamps, signature blocks, and any medical cause of death section if the certificate contains one.
- The decedent's name must be transliterated consistently and should match the name as it appears in the related file, for example the prior marriage certificate in an immigration case or the estate documents in a probate matter.
- Older or handwritten death registers frequently contain hard to read script. Illegible portions are marked [illegible] in the translation; a qualified professional translator does not reconstruct unreadable names, dates, or causes of death.
- Seals, stamps, and signatures on the certificate are described in brackets in the translation so every element of the original is accounted for.
- USCIS requires certification of the translation, not notarization. Courts, insurers, and other recipients set their own formal requirements, which can differ.
Common reasons translations get rejected
- Only the main data fields are translated and the medical section, stamps, or registry annotations are skipped, so the translation is not the full rendering the regulation requires.
- Illegible handwriting in older death registers is guessed at instead of being marked [illegible], producing a name or date that conflicts with other documents in the file.
- The decedent's name in the translation does not match the name on the related marriage certificate or estate papers because of inconsistent transliteration, so the reviewer cannot connect the death to the person in question.
- A burial permit, funeral home document, or medical certificate of death is translated and submitted in place of the civil registry death certificate that the process actually requires.
- In immigration cases, the death certificate proving a prior marriage ended is missing or untranslated, which blocks a finding that the current marriage is valid and triggers an RFE.
Good to know
About Arabic-language death certificates
Egyptian deaths are registered within 24 hours on a medical certificate from a health inspector (مفتش الصحة), and the Civil Status Organization then issues a computerized death certificate (شهادة وفاة مميكنة) that first-degree relatives can obtain. The certificate gives the deceased's name and national number, the date and place of death, age, religion and nationality, and a cause of death that is often a short formula such as هبوط حاد في الدورة الدموية (acute circulatory failure). A translator renders the cause of death literally, without turning it into a different clinical diagnosis.
In Iraq death certificates are issued by hospitals or morgues and recorded in a central register, and in Lebanon deaths are registered with the local civil registry within 45 days. Jordan issues both burial certificates (تصريح دفن) and death certificates (شهادة وفاة), so a translator titles each document by what it actually says. Saudi death certificates from Civil Affairs date the death in the Hijri calendar. Where a doctor has written the cause of death in English on an Arabic form, the translator marks it as English in the original.
Official Arabic-language civil records come from each country's civil status (civil registry) authority, usually part of the interior ministry. In Egypt this is the Civil Status Organization (مصلحة الأحوال المدنية, Maslahat al-Ahwal al-Madaniyya) of the Ministry of Interior, which issues the national ID card, birth, death, marriage and divorce records, and family and individual registry extracts (قيد عائلي, qaid a'ili, and قيد فردي, qaid fardi). Comparable bodies are Jordan's Civil Status and Passports Department (دائرة الأحوال المدنية والجوازات), the civil status and national card directorates of Iraq's Ministry of Interior, Lebanon's Directorate General of Personal Status (المديرية العامة للأحوال الشخصية), Saudi Arabia's Civil Affairs (الأحوال المدنية), and in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia the civil status office (الحالة المدنية, état civil) of the commune or town hall. Marriages and divorces are usually concluded before a religious official or court (a ma'zoun in Egypt, sharia or church courts in Jordan and the Levant, adouls in Morocco) and then registered with the civil authority.
Egypt issues birth certificates in two forms, a handwritten certificate from the Health Office (مكتب الصحة) of the district where the birth was registered, and a computerized certificate (شهادة ميلاد مميكنة, shahadat milad mumayakana) printed by the Civil Status Organization of the Ministry of Interior from the national civil registry database. Computerized birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates are printed at civil status offices and self service kiosks from the same database, and they show the 14 digit national number (الرقم القومي, al-raqam al-qawmi). An older handwritten certificate and a newer computerized printout of the same birth can differ in layout and spelling, so a translator translates the document actually supplied and does not merge the two.
How it works
From upload to certified delivery
Step 1
Upload and get an instant quote
Send us your document, choose your languages, and see your price right away.
Step 2
A professional translator translates it
A qualified professional translator translates your document.
Step 3
Reviewed for accuracy and certified
Your translation is reviewed for accuracy and certified with a signed certificate of accuracy.
Step 4
Receive your certified translation
You receive your certified translation, ready for official use.
Questions
Common questions
- Why does USCIS need a certified translation of my late spouse's death certificate?
- Two common reasons. If you are filing an I-360 widow or widower self-petition, the citizen spouse's death certificate is core evidence. If you or your current spouse were previously married, the death certificate proves that the earlier marriage ended, which filings such as the I-130, I-129F, and N-400 require. In both cases a foreign language certificate needs a full certified English translation under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3).
- The death certificate includes a cause of death section. Is that translated too?
- Yes. A certified translation must be complete, so any medical cause of death section on the certificate is rendered along with everything else. The translation never adds a cause of death the certificate does not state.
- Does the translation need to be notarized?
- Not for USCIS, which requires the translator's signed certification of completeness, accuracy, and competence rather than notarization. Probate courts, insurers, and banks set their own rules, so confirm the specific recipient's requirements if the translation is not for USCIS.
- The record is old and partly handwritten. What happens with parts no one can read?
- Unreadable words are marked [illegible] in the translation. A qualified professional translator does not guess at names, dates, or medical terms, because a wrong guess creates a conflict with the other documents in your file. If a critical field is unreadable, a clearer certified copy from the issuing registry is the fix.
- My death certificate was issued in Egypt. What should I know before ordering?
- Egyptian deaths are registered within 24 hours on a medical certificate from a health inspector (مفتش الصحة), and the Civil Status Organization then issues a computerized death certificate (شهادة وفاة مميكنة) that first-degree relatives can obtain. The certificate gives the deceased's name and national number, the date and place of death, age, religion and nationality, and a cause of death that is often a short formula such as هبوط حاد في الدورة الدموية (acute circulatory failure). A translator renders the cause of death literally, without turning it into a different clinical diagnosis.
A translation error is ours to fix
If your certified translation is rejected because of a translation error we made, we correct it at no charge, and if the corrected translation is rejected again for that same error we refund what you paid for it. Our Refund Policy sets out the conditions and what it does not cover. Your documents are encrypted and kept confidential from start to finish.
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