Certified translation of documents – authorised translators

With us 47 euros per standard document up to one page, such as a birth certificate, driving licence or diploma. With apostille the translation costs 112 euros. For longer documents we quote the price after seeing them. If you do not submit a translation an authority has asked for, it can obtain one itself at your expense (§ 23(2) VwVfG).

It is the same role under different names in the federal states. In NRW translators are called authorised; the authorisation is granted by the president of the higher regional court (§§ 33, 36 JustG NRW). Other states appoint publicly or swear in generally. For courts such a translation counts as correct and complete if the translator certifies this (§ 142(3) ZPO).

You can place the order online with a scan. Under § 34 JustG NRW the certification can also be given in electronic form under § 126a BGB, i.e. with a qualified electronic signature. Whether an office accepts such a file is its own decision; ask there first. Otherwise you receive the signed translation on paper.

For driving, § 29 FeV requires, for non-German licences from countries outside the EU and EEA, a translation by an automobile club of the issuing country or by a body designated by the Federal Ministry of Transport. For conversion, Duisburg names a translation with classification, for example by sworn translators; there it is not needed for class B if a pictogram shows the class.

There is no apostille on the translation itself, says the Federal Foreign Office, because it is not a public document. The apostille for the German document is issued by the office matching the issuer, such as the Bezirksregierung. For the translation, the regional court confirms the translator's signature; an apostille then goes on this confirmation. The office in the destination country says what it requires. In our 112-euro package you choose what the apostille goes on; if the country requires both, the second costs 25 euros.

That depends on the law of the country where the translation is used, writes the Federal Foreign Office. In Germany, translations by publicly sworn or recognised translators are regularly accepted. Whether a translation made abroad is sufficient is decided by the German authority at its discretion. So ask in advance at the office requiring the translation.