Illinois
Certified Translation Services in Illinois
Certified translation for Illinois costs $24.95 per page, where one page is up to 250 words of the source document, delivered in 2 to 3 business days as a PDF with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy from the qualified professional translator who completed or reviewed the work. The entire service is online. Upload your document, see the exact price before paying, and order from anywhere in Illinois with no appointment and nothing to mail. Translations are prepared for official use, including USCIS filings, courts, universities, and licensing boards.
Pricing
Exact prices, shown before you pay
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.
Filing locally
Where Illinois filings are handled
Your certified translation is delivered as a PDF you file yourself, so it works with every office below. Nothing needs to be picked up and there is no local counter to visit, because the whole service is online.
USCIS field offices
- Chicago Field Office, Chicago. Located at 101 West Ida B. Wells Drive, Chicago. Serves most of Illinois; USCIS assigns parts of southern Illinois to the St. Louis, MO Field Office and parts of western Illinois to the Des Moines, IA Field Office by ZIP code, so applicants should follow their appointment notice.
Immigration courts
- Chicago Immigration Court, Chicago. 55 E. Monroe Street, Suite 1500; EOIR's operational status page also lists a Clark Street hearing location for Chicago.
State rules
Apostilles and notarization in Illinois
Apostilles in Illinois are issued by the Illinois Secretary of State Index Department. It issues apostilles for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention and Certificates of Authority for countries that are not, with the same fee and requirements for both.
The fee is 2 dollars per apostille or certificate, and each document requires its own separate apostille or certificate. Mail requests take 7 to 14 business days; in-person requests are usually processed while you wait.
Before authentication, documents must be certified by a government official or notarized by an Illinois Notary Public. For transcripts and diplomas, the school's records official must certify and sign the record in the presence of a notary who then notarizes that statement.
Requests can be mailed to the Index Department at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 100, Chicago, or made in person at the Springfield office (2701 S. Dirksen Parkway), the Chicago office, and select DMV+ locations in Chicago, Aurora, Champaign, Lake Zurich, and Melrose Park.
The Secretary of State states it does not provide translation services and that a document needing translation must be translated and notarized before applying for authentication. Illinois does not require a county-level certification step before the state apostille.
USCIS itself does not require notarized translations for Illinois filings. It requires a certified translation, meaning the translator signs a statement attesting that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate.
Notarization still matters in Illinois for the apostille chain: the Secretary of State requires a translated document to be notarized before it can be authenticated for use abroad.
Illinois law authorizes electronic and remote notarization under rules administered by the Illinois Secretary of State.
Documents
What Illinois customers translate most
Spanish is by far the most spoken non-English language in Illinois, with well over a million Spanish speakers statewide according to American Community Survey data.
Chicago has one of the largest Mexican-origin communities in the United States and a major Puerto Rican community, concentrated in neighborhoods such as Pilsen, Little Village, and Humboldt Park.
The Chicago metro area has deep German and Italian immigrant heritage, and families still handle vital records and inheritance documents from Germany and Italy.
Education and licensing
Universities and licensing boards
Universities receiving international documents
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign. Consistently among the largest international student enrollments of any US university.
- University of Chicago, Chicago
- Northwestern University, Evanston
- University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Has one of the highest international student shares among US universities.
- DePaul University, Chicago
Professional licensing
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation instructs that all documents in a foreign language submitted with a license application must be accompanied by an original, notarized English translation performed by a person other than the applicant who is fluent in both English and the language of the document, with the translator certifying to those requirements and to the accuracy of the translation. This appears across IDFPR application instructions for professions including physicians, nurses, and optometrists.
How it works
Order online from anywhere in Illinois
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.
$24.95 per page, certified, delivered in 2 to 3 business days.
Questions
Illinois questions
- Who issues apostilles in Illinois?
- The Illinois Secretary of State Index Department. The fee is 2 dollars per apostille or Certificate of Authority. You can mail requests to the Chicago office at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 100, or apply in person in Springfield, Chicago, and select DMV+ locations in Aurora, Champaign, Lake Zurich, and Melrose Park. Mail processing takes 7 to 14 business days.
- Do I need a notarized translation for USCIS in Illinois?
- No. USCIS requires a certified translation, which means the translator signs a statement attesting to the accuracy of the translation and their competence to translate. Notarization comes into play in Illinois mainly when a translated document will be apostilled, because the Secretary of State requires the translation to be notarized before authentication. Always confirm requirements with the office receiving your documents.
- Which USCIS field office serves Illinois?
- The Chicago Field Office at 101 West Ida B. Wells Drive serves most of the state. USCIS assigns parts of southern Illinois to the St. Louis Field Office in Missouri and parts of western Illinois to the Des Moines Field Office in Iowa, so check your appointment notice for your assigned office.
- Which immigration court hears Illinois cases?
- The Chicago Immigration Court at 55 E. Monroe Street, Suite 1500, which also lists a Clark Street hearing location. Foreign language documents filed with the court generally need certified English translations.
- Can the Illinois Secretary of State translate my document before issuing an apostille?
- No. The office states that it does not provide translation services. If your document needs a translation for the destination country, you must have it translated and notarized before applying for authentication.
- How do I authenticate an Illinois diploma or transcript for use abroad?
- Your school's records official must certify and sign the record in the presence of an Illinois Notary Public, who notarizes that statement. You then submit it to the Index Department with the 2 dollar fee. If the destination country requires the record in another language, a certified translation is usually needed as well; confirm with the receiving authority.
- Does IDFPR accept translated documents for professional license applications?
- Yes, with conditions. IDFPR application instructions require foreign language documents to be accompanied by an original, notarized English translation performed by a person other than the applicant who is fluent in both languages, and the translator must certify the accuracy of the translation.
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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