Translation

In many European countries and in Brazil, certified translators are produced by a public translator who has taken and passed an exam in order to be able to certify their work with a personalized stamp. In Portuguese, this public translator is known as a tradutor juramentado. According to the Brazilian legislation, however, tradutores juramentados are NOT allow to provide services outside the Brazilian territory. Therefore, if you need a document translated from English into Portuguese that will be presented to an official government agency in Brazil, it is possible that you will need to contact a tradutor juramentado  based in Brazil. Please contact the receiving institution to verify whether they require that your documents must be translated by a tradutor juramentado.

​

In the United States, there is not such a requirement. Here, certified translation is one to which the translator has added a statement that the translation is true, accurate, and correct “to the best of my knowledge and ability” (Denzel Dyer). The statement may be made under oath, or “under penalty of perjury”, and may be notarized to confirm the identity of the person signing the statement.

​

Some American-based translators, however, may have a certification from the American Translators Association (ATA). Please verify with the receiving institution whether they require that your documents are translated by an ATA-certified interpreter (such requests are not common, but sometimes they do come up). In my certification, I provide my qualifications and affiliations as found here

​

Please note that, while, in principal, anyone could produce certified translations in the United States, you should make sure that you are hiring a qualified professional to translate and certify their documents. It is important to remember that just because someone speaks a foreign language, it does not mean that person has the necessary skills required to provide an accurate translation of your documents, much in the same way that "having fingers does not qualify someone as a pianist". A high quality and accurate translation is one that is often produced by an individual who not only has deep knowledge of the two languages in question, but who also knows the relevant cultures and specific contexts in which the documents were produced, whether they are legal, medical, pharmaceutical, legal, etc. in nature).

​

Certified translations are delivered digitally or in hard-copy documents (by mail or pick up). Please verify with the receiving institution which format they required.