Sworn translation: FAQ
Do you have any doubts? Perhaps you can solve some of them by taking a look at questions that our customers often ask us.
I have to translate a document that concerns a legal matter. Do I need a sworn translation?
Not necessarily. Generally, sworn translations are required when the document in question needs to be legally valid. For example, it may not be necessary to provide a foreign company with a sworn translation of a purchase agreement; however, if the agreement is to form part of a legal claim filed in the foreign country in question, then a sworn translation will be required. At Ampersand we guide and advise our clients if they have any doubts over the need for a sworn translation. We recommend that they determine whether or not a sworn translation is required, as sometimes it is not necessary to make the extra investment in this type of translation when a non-certified specialised translation will suffice.
How long does a sworn translation usually take?
It depends on the document that is to be translated. To ensure maximum reliability, a sworn translation may need several days or weeks to complete, depending on the length of the document. Translating a driving licence is not the same as translating an insurance policy or a set of annual accounts. If you would like to know the exact time frame for translating your document, ask us for a no-obligation quote, making sure to send us the material that is to be translated. We will then set a specific deadline, which we will comply with scrupulously. If you need the translation urgently, tell us in the message you send via the quote form, and we will adjust the time frame as much as possible.
Do you do sworn translations in both directions, i.e. so that they are valid in Spain or abroad?
Yes. We have an in-house team of translators who are native speakers of the target languages that are most in demand at the European level (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese). We also take on projects in other languages, including those for which there are few sworn translators in Spain.
Do I need a Hague apostille for my sworn translation?
It depends on the document, as some are exempt from this requirement. We recommend that our clients find out whether an apostille is needed by checking with the body that requires the sworn translation. If an apostille is needed, they will need to request it in the country where the document was issued, whether in person or through the embassy or consulate, as Spain does not have the jurisdiction to provide an apostille in such cases. However, if the document requiring an apostille was issued in Spain, the apostille can be obtained from bodies such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, notaries’ associations, etc., depending on the type of document.
My document is in a co-official language (Catalan, Basque, Galician). Can you carry out a sworn translation directly into another language?
Yes. In addition to the sworn translators certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Spain there are also sworn translators certified by the Government of Catalonia’s General Directorate for Language Policy, the Government of Galicia’s General Secretariat for Language Policy and the Government of the Basque Country’s Secretariat for Language Policy, all of whom are authorised to carry out sworn translations for the corresponding co-official language.
Can you provide sworn translations for source and target languages that are neither Spanish nor a co-official language of Spain?
Not directly. The law stipulates that sworn translations carried out by a sworn translator certified by a Spanish institution must first be translated into Spanish. Therefore, if you require (for example) a sworn translation from English into French, we can do it, but in two stages: from English into Spanish, and then from Spanish into French.
