Category: Legalisation

Travelling abroad comes with its fair share of requirements that can overwhelm you, especially if it’s your first time. You have to juggle your work, and submission to authorities such as the embassy or consulate of your destination country and the government offices looking for valid passports, visas, apostilles, legalise marriage certificate and other documents.

If you are travelling to a country under the Hague Convention, you will need an apostille to authenticate your marriage certificate. One hundred and thirteen countries accept an apostille as the standard verification document. For the rest of the countries, you will need to legalise your marriage certificate with the government, foreign embassies and consulates.

Are you a UK or Singapore resident travelling abroad and need your marriage certificate legalised? At Wordsburg Translations, we are here to help. We will help you with document translation and legalisation, submission to authorities and everything in between to make your trip abroad go as planned.

 

What is Legalisation?

Legalisation entails stamping, signing or attaching an apostille to a document to confirm the information therein is valid and authentic. This process is an important aspect when it comes to travelling overseas when the authorities in the destination country need to ascertain your documents are not fake.

 

Why and When Do I Need to Legalise a Marriage Certificate?

Not all countries request foreigners entering their land to produce a legalised marriage certificate. To know if you need a legalised marriage certificate, consult the foreign affairs ministry, the embassy, or that country’s consulate.

There are several reasons why a foreign authority may ask you to produce a legalised marriage certificate. These include:

• When you and your spouse seek to adopt a child in a foreign country
• When you seek to inherit foreign property owned by your deceased spouse
• When you want to sell foreign property that belonged to you and your partner
• When you want to purchase property overseas
• When seeking dual citizenship
• When you want to change your name while abroad
• When you want to get married in a foreign country, couples who travel from their country to get married in a destination tourist resort. For example, you and your partner travelling to Hawaii to officiate the marriage there.

 

Who Legalises a Marriage Certificate?

You can have your marriage certificate legalised at the Legalisation Office, the foreign embassy and consulates in the UK. If you are travelling to a country in the Hague Convention, an apostille will be attached to the marriage certificate at the Legalisation office.

If your destination country is not in the Hague Convention, your marriage certificate may need legalisation in the Legalisation Office, the foreign embassy and the consulate. This may take time and can be so overwhelming.

In Singapore, the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) will legalise your marriage certificate. If your destination country recognises the Hague Convention apostille, your legalisation process ends with the SAL. But if you are travelling to a non-Hague Convention country, you may need to do further legalisation and document translation at the foreign embassy or consulate.

 

How to Legalise a Marriage Certificate?

There are two ways you can legalise a marriage certificate in the UK:

Contact the Legalisation Office

The first option is to contact the Legalisation Office on their website, fill a legalisation request form and deliver the marriage certificate to their offices in London. This can take you up to ten days to get a response. You will also make an appointment with the foreign embassy or consulate if the country does not recognise an apostille.

This option is not for the faint-hearted. You have to stay in traffic for hours, withstand long queues at the different offices and pay for parking tickets. And again, you have to lose a day or two at work to set time for these trips. This brings us to the second option.

Use Translation Services for your legalisation

The second option is to use Wordsburg Translations for your legalisation services. We are a trusted travel and document services partner, having served individuals and companies seeking legalisation, translation among other services. We have extensive experience and are well-suited for the bureaucracy in legalisation offices, embassies and consulates. With our expertise and years of service, we have helped thousands of individuals with their document submission to authorities.

Do you want to save hours spent on traffic and these offices? Would you rather spend time with family and friends instead of preparing documents and booking appointments? Let Wordsburg Translations help you.

Are you looking to legalise your marriage certificate in Singapore? You can get the ready document in two ways. First, you can apply to have the SAL legalise your document on their website. This step involves requesting the service, paying the service fees, making an appointment to visit the SAL offices, and then delivering the documents to the offices. This is for the apostille recognising countries.

Suppose you are travelling to a non-Hague Convention country. In that case, you need to deliver your marriage certificate to the SAL offices then take it to the foreign embassy or consulate for further legalisation. At this point, you may require to look for a translator because some embassies require the marriage certificate in that country’s official language.

Suppose you and your spouse are travelling to China for business purposes, and the Chinese authority asks for a legalised marriage certificate. You would need to request legalisation via the website, make an appointment to SAL, deliver the marriage certificate for legalisation, and then wait a few days for a response.

Since China does not recognise an apostille, you would take the legalised document to the Chinese embassy in Singapore for verification, a step that also requires an appointment. You may also need to translate your marriage certificate to Mandarin if it’s a requirement. All these steps can overwhelm you, and missing any of these steps may lead to legalisation rejection.

 

To Conclude

You can avoid all these hurdles and frustrations by using the other option. Letting document experts do all the work for you at a small fee. At Wordsburg Tranhttp://www.slations, we offer all things document legalisation and translation. Our other services include visa applications, notarisation and commissioning of oaths.

When would you need to legalise birth certificates? It is needed when you plan to live abroad, for example, for making Resident Cards (Titre/Carte de Sejour for those in France), health insurance, continuing school, and other needs abroad.

Birth Certificate is a civil registration certificate resulting from the recording of a person’s birth. It tells you about a person’s identity, such as name and date of birth and parents’ names. At the end of the certificate, there is a signature of the relevant official stating the validity of the data.

 

Who Should Translate Legalise Birth Certificate?

When applying for a visa or scholarship requirements abroad, a birth certificate is one of documents that needs to be completed. Since the destination country is outside of your country, the language written in the certificate must follow the language of the country concerned. So, who should translate it? For this reason, you need the help of a sworn translator for your birth certificate.

 

Why Do Only Sworn Translators Allowed to Translate Birth Certificates?

To answer this, here’s the review:

1. Ensure Data Validity of Birth Certificate

One of the basic reasons you need to engage a sworn translator to translate birth certificates is the validity of the data from the translation. When using the services of a sworn translator, the contents of the translated birth certificate will be the same as the original language.

Sworn translators of birth certificates will not reduce or add words to the translation. It has legitimacy by affixing postage stamps, signatures, and footnotes. The authenticity of the data becomes more guaranteed with these three things.

2. Streamlining the Bureaucratic Process

When you use a sworn translator for a birth certificate, the translated document will also include a stamp bearing the translator’s name. The stamp used by a sworn translator has legal force equivalent to that of a notary.

Thus, you no longer need to go to a notary for the certificate to have legal force. As a result, the time needed to process documents is shorter, and you don’t have to worry about a complicated bureaucracy.

3. Confidentiality of Identity Guaranteed

Another reason you need a sworn translator to translate a birth certificate is the confidentiality of the customer’s identity. Sworn translators commit not to reveal the customer’s identity to the public. That’s why, you don’t have to worry about the confidentiality of your identity.

A birth certificate is a very personal document, so of course, you don’t want the certificate’s contents published. This is why a sworn translator is present. Through a sworn translator, your identity and the contents of your birth certificate will remain confidential, except to the persons concerned.

4. The Translation Quality is Satisfactory

As we all know, the process of becoming a sworn translator is not easy. He or she must take a test first to measure the ability of the translator.

After passing the exam, the translator gets a decree stating that he is a sworn translator.

Therefore, the results of the translation carried out by sworn translators are of satisfactory quality.

 

Services Provided by Sworn Translation Service Providers

When you call or visit the office of a sworn service provider, you will find several services provided by a sworn translator. One of these services is a translator service. As the name implies, this service is applicable when you want to translate a document. There are various documents you can translate, including legalise birth certificates. All translators who work on this service are sworn translators, so you don’t have to doubt their quality.

Apart from translation, another service offered is document legalisation. If you feel that the document legalisation process to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is too confusing, you can submit it to a sworn translator.

You do not need to translate the documents to be legalized in advance because a sworn translator will do it. What’s more, you are just waiting for the final result because the translation service will also bring the document to be legalized, and legalise birth certificate with the ministry of Law and Human Rights.

 

Difference Between Sworn Translator and Non-Sworn Translator

A sworn translator is a translator who has obtained a decree issued by the competent authority. Before getting it, the candidate for a sworn translator must take and pass the translation test held by the relevant authority.

Meanwhile, non-sworn translators are professional translators who do not have permission or decree as sworn translators. To become a non-sworn translator, one does not need to take or pass a translator exam.

One of the clear differences between sworn translators and non-sworn translators lies in the legal power they have. Documents translated by sworn translators have stronger legal force than non-sworn translators.

That’s why sworn translators often handle official documents such as diplomas, birth certificates, document legalisation, and so on.

Another difference between sworn translators and non-sworn translators is the presence of wet stamps, footnotes, and signatures in the document translated by sworn translators. It states that they have translated the document at the end of the document. Sworn translators have registered it with the embassy to legalise birth certificate or other official documents.

The document will also be affixed with a wet stamp and the translator’s signature so that it is official. In non-sworn translators, you will not find this.

 

To Conclude

Now you know that translating birth certificates is not as easy as you might think. Therefore, it would be better if you use the services of a sworn translator to translate your birth certificate.

There are many sworn birth certificate translation services providers out there, so you have to choose the best service provider.

All citizens, both domestically and abroad, must have a birth certificate. We need a birth certificate as one of the requirements to go abroad. Therefore, birth certificates need to be translated according to the language of the destination country.

Based on this, we need the services of a sworn translator of birth certificates. Using the services of a sworn translator makes arranging requirements to go abroad faster, and the content of the translation becomes reliable.

To get the best results, you need to use the services of a trusted translator.

When would you need to legalise your documents? First instance, when moving to a foreign country, you must conform to its embassy’s legal requirements to get your application approved. That means you must spend a considerable amount of resources to research the requirements and get the relevant authorities to approve and stamp your personal documents such as passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, driving license and more.

Worse still, you may easily commit errors during the application process, resulting in delayed approval or even rejection. Luckily, you can always avoid the complex application process by hiring a professional legalisation agency in Singapore and United Kingdom.

If you have never heard about document legalisation, below is everything you need to know about the service.

What is Legalisation?

Legalisation is a regulatory procedure of confirming the authenticity of an official document so that the authorities in the foreign country can consider it a full legal effect.

Any official document should have a signature and stamp of the signatory to be legalised. And, the type of authentication documents to submit depends on the embassy’s requirements of your destination country.

The verification procedure is commonly applied in civil and commercial matters in Singapore and other jurisdictions that are not part of the apostille convention.

The authentication process takes three stages:

(1) Verification by the issuing country’s government

(2) Confirmation and Verification by the embassy of the destination country within the issuing country

(3) Verification of all documents by authorities in the destination country

Why Do You Need to Hire Legalisation Services? 

The legalisation process is very complex in jurisdictions where the apostille system is not applied. For instance, in Singapore, all government-issued documents must pass through a series of authentication services to become applicable in a foreign country.

Given the complexity of the multi-step legislation process, you might easily commit some errors, thus causing delays in the approval or rejection of your application. Additionally, you might end up breaking your bank since every step of the process requires money.

Further, you will need your documents translated in the language of your destination country, then approved and stamped by the relevant authorities.

A reputable legalisation agency will offer you a complete legalisation service. They can help you with services like language translation, notarization, embassy authentication, acquisition of birth certificates, etc.

When Should You Get Your Documents Legalized?       

Legalise your documents when:

• You Are Going To Study Or Work In A Foreign Country

The authorities might ask for documents like academic certificates, transcripts, etc., for verification.

• Your Local Employer Needs Verified Documents

Academic fraud has become a common issue across the globe. For this reason, some local employers might ask for your verified educational documents to ensure you are the right candidate for the vacancy.

• You Are Getting Married Abroad

The destination country’s authorities may ask for a divorce certificate, certificate of no impediment to marriage, or any other evidence

• Your Child Is Moving Abroad Without Parents

The authorities in the destination country may need a documented proof to confirm that the child can travel alone. This regulation is meant to prevent cases of child abduction globally.

We may not tell you all the occasions when you might need your documents legalized. However, your need for legalised documents will depend on your reasons for travelling. You should prepare for your trip in advance and ask the overseas authorities what they expect of you. Hire a reliable legalisation company to help you the document legalisation process.

Who Can Legalize Your Documents?

The authorities responsible for legalizing documents may differ depending on:

> Your host country during the time you request the authentication

> The country in which you’ll use the document

> The document type

If you need legalization while in your home country, then the department of foreign affairs in your home country should legalize your documents for use overseas

When and if you want to legalize your documents in a foreign country, the embassy for your home country within that country should legalize your documents

If you want to legalize any documents issued in a foreign country, you should get assistance from the embassy for your home country within your host country

Where Can I Find A Legalisation Service?

As earlier mentioned, getting your documents legalised can be confusing due to the many processes involved. That said, you need a professional legalisation company to help you with the process and increase the chances of your approval.

But, where can you find a legalisation service? In the digital era, most legalisation agencies have moved their services online. So, you can get a reputable agency to help you with your legalisation services from online sites within a matter of hours. All you need is to go online and search for legalisation services within your country.

How Will I Find A Reliable Legalisation Agency?

Below are the factors you need to consider to land a reliable legalisation agency.

• The Processing Time

Your selected legalisation service should be capable of getting your documents processed within two days. Even if you don’t need the legalised documents urgently, keeping your documents out of custody for too long might risk them of loss.

Agencies that take an extended period to get the documents legalized might outsource the service from third parties, and you may get poor service.

During the interview, ask them how long they can take to process your documents. Select the one who can execute the job within two days. You can also get insights about the same by reading their customer experience under the reviews section on their website.

• Communication Efficiency

During your selection, only choose a legalisation agency with multiple communication channels like online chat services, phone calls, emails, etc. Selecting an agency with various communication channels will ensure that you can always reach them and track your document’s legalisation process.

• Professionalism

Any reputable legalisation service will be willing to offer you free advice regarding the whole process, the challenges involved, and how they will make things simpler for you.

They should also explain the documents that need attestation by the high commission or your state embassy and quote reasonable prices for the services. That should be the case with your selected agency.

Final Word

Getting your documents legalized is a multi-step process. You need the help of a reputable legalisation company to help you with translation and getting the documents authenticated. In the article, we have outlined several tips for choosing a reliable legalisation agency. Read them to pick an agency that can deliver with a short turnaround and safety of your documents.