Certifications – What are they and what are they good for?

This topic usually raises some questions.

The certification of a translation is nothing more than the confirmation of the translator’s identity. In fact, a certification does not certify the quality of the translation, but only confirms that the alleged translator is, in reality, the person he or she claims to be and also ensures the legal validity of the translation.

Nowadays certifications are a highly requested type of formal attestation, especially when it comes to legal documents: criminal records, birth or marriage certificates and other similar documents. All legal processes require certifications, whether in processes of application for citizenship, civil or judicial processes or applications to schools and universities.

The certification allows legal recognition and allows translated documents to be accepted by official entities, both in Portugal and internationally.

In Portugal, the certification of translations is issued by notaries, lawyers, solicitors or consulates, and always requires the attachment of the original documents, that have been used as the source for the translation that requires said certification.

The certification draft is composed of several essential data that make the document reliable:

Name and personal identification number of both parties involved (the author of the translation and the person who certifies the translator’s identity), the language combination in question and, sometimes, type of document and issuing entity.

Once the original document has been delivered, the translation is done and it is time to certify it. The draft, the original document and the translation are stapled, resulting in a new document duly signed and stamped. The different parts of the document cannot be separated for other purposes.

In some cases, namely when the original documents cannot/should not be violated, such as driving licences, diplomas or personal ID cards, it is necessary to issue a certified copy of the original document. This procedure has to precede the translation and the respective certification and is usually done at a Portuguese postal service station, a law firm, at some solicitor or a notary office.

Some situations may also require that the certified translation is presented to the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procuradoria Geral da República), in order to receive an apostille that gives the translation equal force in law in any jurisdiction and country signatory to the Hague Convention. Unlike the translation certification, which attests to the translator’s identity and, as such, ensures the legality of the translation, the apostille is another formality that ensures the reliability of the entire process, through the certification of the entity that issued the document. You can check which countries are part of the Hague Convention here: https://www.hcch.net/pt/states/hcch-members.

In some foreign countries, the certification of translations is done by so-called “sworn translators”. In Portugal though this legal figure does not exist and, therefore, certifications can only be obtained by the above-mentioned entities.

In any case, we advise every customer to require proper information at the entities that require the certified translations, in order to obtain precise instructions about which documents need to be delivered and what the appropriate procedures would be.

We hope that this article helps you understand the certification process of translations. But if you still have any questions, just talk to us!

The translation process in 6 steps

If you think that « translation » is merely the conversion of a word, sentence or text from one language into another, perhaps you should read this article. To start with, we can let you know right away that a translator’s job is far more than that. Translations are not done in a straight line; they represent in fact a set of tasks with different durations and degrees of complexity. Thus, translation is a process and each of those processes has a different level of demand, depending on many variables.

Naturally, each professional has its customized organisation and handles its workflow as efficiently as possible, but these are the steps we consider to be essential to any translation process:

1. Analysis of the text

Reading through a text, if possible from start to finish, is one of the most important tasks in the whole translation process. Obviously, this step allows us to identify the original language of the text, but, more important than that, also the subject matter of the original text, the nature of the translation (if it is technical, legal, marketing or something else), the research that will be required and the adequate resources to handle the translation.

At this stage, the translator may also be able to have a forecast of the time needed to conclude each one of the tasks, making it therefore possible to set a deadline and guarantee better time management.

2. Research and translation

This is clearly the most demanding phase of the process and one that requires a faster pace. Researching terms, may they be of legal, technological, mechanical or any other nature, so that they are precise and accurate when placed in the context of the target language, is the task that may compromise the most the quality of the translation and also the way it will be perceived by the target audience.

3. Comparison between original and translation

This comparison is transversal to the entire translation process, from research and translation to proofreading and desktop publishing. The primary objective of translation is to transpose, without violating, the content of an original text from one language into another one. As such, this constant comparison between the original and the translation is essential for a good final product.

4. Proofreading

Reading one last time through a final translation is essential if we want to rectify any details that we might have overseen before. Ideally, this last read-through should occur a few hours after the conclusion of the translation, but should there be some time constrains it needs to be handled immediately. It’s important to handle this task either way.

5. Review by another professional

It is common knowledge that four eyes see better than two. That said, the final review should be handled by a professional assigned only to that unique task, who has not had yet any contact with the work during its elaboration. This way, the reviewer can keep an open mind and clean eyes and, thus, carry out the task in a rigorous manner.

6. DTP: Desktop Publishing or Formatting

This step, which is destined to preserve the general appearance of the original document, is relevant from the point of view of interpreting the document as a whole block, which has to maintain both the content and the form in order to assure it will be absolutely comprehensible.

After reading this article, you may now have a clearer idea of how the translator’s work can be organised. If you are about to start a career in translations or have just started it, you can add these tips to your handbook, in order to take care of your first jobs. With experience, you can tailor it to your own work style and pace.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in hiring a professional translator and your idea of translation was completely different, you had doubts or were curious about the whole process, we hope this article has clarified it for you.