Translations

What is a sworn translation, sometimes called an official or certified translation or a “round stamp” translation?

A sworn translation is an officially certified translationthat can only be made by a sworn interpreter appointed by the Ministry of Justice pursuant to Act No. 354/2019 Coll. on Court Interpreting and Court Translations, as amended. The translated document or a copy thereof is attached to the translation, and a translation clause is attached to the last page of the translation document, signed by the certified translator and stamped with the translator’s official seal.

Examples of official documents that require a certified translation when presented abroad:

• • Civil registry documents – birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate
  • Educational documents – university, college, secondary or primary school certificates
  • Commercial documents – extracts from registers and registers, articles of incorporation, contracts, articles of association, notarial deeds, audit reports, powers of attorney
  • Health documents – only public documents certified in advance by the Ministry of Health are legalised, not health documents and papers
  • Documents issued by tax authorities – tax returns
  • Documents issued by judicial and notary authorities

What types of translations and verifications can you come across?

• • An official document only needs to be translated by a sworn translator.
  • You must have the document apostilled and then translated by a sworn translator.
  • A sworn translation also needs to be super-legalised.

The procedure for translating and certifying documents depends on the country in which you wish to present the document.

It is sufficient to have an official document translated by a sworn translator if the Czech Republic has a bilateral international treaty on exemption from legalisation with the country where you wish to submit the document.

If the country where you need to submit the official document is not a signatory to the bilateral international treaty on exemption from legalisation, you must check whether this country is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Apostille. If so, the certified translation must also be accompanied by an apostille clause.

If a country does not have a bilateral international agreement with the Czech Republic on exemption from legalisation of documents or is not a signatory to the Apostille Convention, the official document must be super-legalised. Such a document must first be legalised by the central authority that issued the document (e.g. Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, etc.). This ensures that other authorities can consider the document to be legitimate. You should then go to the Legalisation Group of the Consular Activities Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will also add its higher certification to the document. This is the last step you need to take with the document in the Czech Republic. The document thus authenticated must then be certified by the embassy of the country where it is to be presented. This final verification is called super legalisation.

We work with a professional team of experienced and reliable translators and proof readers, and therefore the quality of our express translations is just as good. Whether you need a translation of a short text on the desk within a few hours or a larger project that just can’t wait, you can rest assured that you will receive a precise translation by the agreed deadline.