As defined by the American Translators’ Association (ATA), a certified translation is a translation accompanied by a signed statement attesting that the translation is accurate and complete to the best of the translator’s knowledge and ability. Any translator or translation company may “certify” a translation.

As such, a certified translation can be defined as a document that has been translated from one language to another by a professional translation with the following assurance:

That the translation is a true, complete and accurate rendering of the content of the source document

That the translation is done by a translator knowledgeable in both the languages required in the translation

It is good practice to check and verify with the officers-in-charge attending to you at the various authorities and government bodies, which the documents are required for submission and if certified translations are required for these documents.

In Singapore, it is common for certified translations to be requested by the following bodies:

• Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) – In Singapore, the ICA requires certified translations of documents that are not created originally in the English language. This includes but not limited to documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, proof of employment, and proof of income etc.
• Other Singapore Government Bodies – These includes but not limited to Ministry of Man Power (MOM), Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Ministry of Education (MOE), Registration of Marriage (ROM), Land Transport Authority (LTA), Traffic Police, and Singapore Police Force etc.
• Academic Institutions – College, Polytechnics and Universities in Singapore may require certified translations of diplomas, certificates or transcripts as part of admission application.
• Court of Law – The Singapore courts and various government agencies may require certified translations of legal documents and evidence.
• Business – Certified translations may be required for the registration of new businesses, validation of company’s financial reports, patents, legal agreements, contracts, and audits etc.

Please note that the above is only a suggested list. It is not a definitive listing and it is by no means exhaustive.

A high level of assurance is required by the requesting authority to ensure that the document has not been forged and that the content fulfils the requirement set out by the authority.

A certified translation provided by a professional translation body can, from a neutral standpoint, attest and assure the authority accepting the documents that the content of the original document is true, complete and accurate.

It is, thus, not advisable for you to perform your own translation.

Yes. Lingua Technologies International has been providing certified translation since 1996. Our linguists are professional translators are all translators with the appropriate qualifications and relevant years of translation experience for their language pair.

Lingua Technologies International is also an ISO 17100 certified company. This ISO certification is specifically tailored to the translation industry and controls the translation processes adopted by the translation company to ensure translation standards are met in the final deliverables.

According to the latest update found on ICA, official translations are required during submissions of documents if documents are not in already English.

Official translation must adhere one of the criteria below:

(i)         Translated copy provided by the Embassy;
(ii)        Translated copy notarized by a Notary Public; or
(iii)       A privately translated copy attested by the Embassy.

For option (i) and (iii), you may like to check with your embassy if they provide translation services and if they attest privately translated documents. Unfortunately, not all embassies will attest private translations and even fewer will provide translation services.

For option (ii), you will need to get your translation done first before proceeding to have it notarized by a Notary Public. However, most Notary Publics will notarize only translations done by reputable translation companies.

This is where we come in.

Lingua Technologies International offers certified translation service under our ISO 17100 certification which translation processes in translation companies to translation qualities. This means the translation provided is an accurate and faithful rendering of the original source document.

On top of that, we are also happy to recommend legal partners to help facilitate the notarization of your certified translated document.

Cost of translation varies from language to language. It is also dependent on the amount of documents which are to be translated. For a non-obligatory consultation and quotation, you can reach us through one of the following ways:

• Call us directly at +65 6576 0138 to speak to one of our friendly Certified Translation Consultants.
• Write to us using our online inquiry form.
• Send us an email with your request to inquiry@translationsingapore.com

A certified translation is provided by a professional translator or translation company. This certification carries an official declaration signed and stamped by an authorized representative from the translation company with the following assurance:

• That the translation is true, complete and accurate rendering of the content of the source document
• That the translation is done by a translator knowledgeable in both the languages required in the translation

This is only an attestation to the authenticity of the translation provided.

In order to officiate it (making it official), the certified translation must be notarized by a Notary Public. Notarization is necessary if the translated document is to be used in a foreign country or when it is an explicit requirement by the authorities or government agencies.

For example, any non-English documents that are to be submitted to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore will have to be translated into English, and the translation must be made official prior to its submission.

According to the ICA, official translations are translations that have been certified/ attested by the relevant Embassies or notarized by Notary Publics in Singapore.

However, not all Embassies will attest private translations and even fewer will provide translation services. Most Notary Publics will also require your translations to be certified by translation companies before they are notarized .

Lingua Technologies International offers certified translation service under our ISO 17100 certification which translation processes in translation companies to translation qualities. This means the translation provided is an accurate and faithful rendering of the original source document.

On top of that, we are also happy to recommend legal partners to help facilitate the notarization of your certified translated document.

Notarization can only be done by a Notary Public.

In Singapore, Notary Publics must be qualified lawyers. They are appointed by the Board of Commissioners for Oaths and Notary Publics. Notary publics act as impartial officers, notarize documents, usually by witnessing, authenticating and certifying the execution of documents to be used in foreign countries.

Lingua Technologies International is a professional translation company. We are not a law firm and as such, we are unable to provide notarization of documents. In fact, no translation company, unless it is also a law firm, can provide notarization services.

However, we do work with various legal partners to help facilitate the notarization of your certified translated documents. We will be able to offer you some recommendations.

Notarization can only be done by a Notary Public.

As a guide, Notary fees are prescribed by the Academy of Law. Please check with the relevant parties for the exact prices.

Lingua Technologies International works with various legal partners to help facilitate the notarization of your certified translated document. We will be able to offer you some recommendations.

Please note that our company do not stand to gain monetarily through such recommendations and the charges for Notarization are payable directly to the Notary Public.

Lingua Technologies International has been providing certified translation since 1996. We work with professional translators with the appropriate qualifications and relevant years of translation experience for their language pair.

As far as we know, there are official bodies in Singapore to swear-in translators. The Supreme Court in Singapore used to provide translation services but since 1 January 2015, the Supreme Court has stopped providing translation services for documents for private use.

As such, the best way to get a certified translation is to have it done by a reputable translation company with a good track record and a recognized certification.

Lingua Technologies International is an ISO 17100 certified company. This ISO certification is specifically tailored to the translation industry and controls the translation processes adopted by the translation company to ensure translation standards are met in the final deliverables.

This is one of the best ways to guarantee the quality of the translation.

As far as we know, as a government agency, the ICA does not and cannot endorse or be seen to be endorsing any companies. An official verification done by our company with ICA has proven that the authority has never put up any list of approved translation companies endorsed by the ICA.

We understand that there are unscrupulous translation companies that may be providing misleading information on their official website of such nature.

Please be warned not to be misled by these companies.

ICA DOES NOT HAVE NOR HOST A LIST OF APPROVED TRANSLATION COMPANIES!!