These are some of the most common questions that we get asked here at CBLingua Malaga. If you have been lucky enough to go through life without needing an apostille, getting one can be daunting. An Apostille, to put it simply, it is a document that certifies that the signature of the person who has signed the document is authentic, that it really is that person’s signature. Apostilles are used for all sorts of documents, from criminal records checks to degree certificates.
Now we know what an Apostille is, where do I get one?
To put it simply, if it is a public document (issued by a governmental agency or office) then said office or agency can issue you with one. If the document is a private document (a deed made by a notary for instance), then a Notary Public can issue you with one.
Finally, can a sworn translator or sworn translation agency issue an Apostille? Well, as we’ve seen previously, only notaries and official agencies can issue an Apostille, so no, a sworn translator cannot issue an Apostille.
Now you know the basics about Apostilles, however, here at CBLingua we don’t issue Apostilles, we translate them. So, should I have my Apostille translated when going to another country with a different language? This is actually a question we get a lot and it can be tricky to know if you should translate it or not. If the official language of the country where you are going to present the document is not French or English, then yes, translating it would often be necessary. But if it is, then it may or may not be necessary depending on the level of scrutiny that the document is going to receive; as there are always parts of the document (like the position of the person signing the document) that are going to be written only in the official language of the country where it was issued. Therefore, we advise always checking with the authorities or organization that is requesting the document, before translating it.
However, my advice, as far as translating an Apostille, would be do it. Sworn translators are used to translating Apostilles and most, like us here at CBLingua, have templates that make translating Apostilles very easy and quick to do in most cases. Also, as it is easy to translate, the price is often not affected too much by the addition of an Apostille, though prices do vary depending on the language.
I hope you have found this article interesting and maybe it has helped you to better understand what is needed when translating, or in this case also acquiring, these types of documents. Here at the CBlingua Malaga translation agency we like to keep people informed and that’s why we publish articles regularly on different translation and sworn translation related topics. Keep browsing this website or any of our other websites to know more.
If you need to have a sworn translator, or even just a standard translation, done or you have any queries, please write to us at info@cblingua.com