Document Translation

[DavieA]

As part of the SV process I am aware all Thai documents (birth cert, ID card etc) must be translated in to English. Do they just need to be translated by a translation office alone, or do the docs then need to be sent to the Thai Ministryof Foreign affairs too for the official stamp?

Cheers Dave

[Tywais]

As part of the SV process I am aware all Thai documents (birth cert, ID card etc) must be translated in to English. Do they just need to be translated by a translation office alone, or do the docs then need to be sent to the Thai Ministryof Foreign affairs too for the official stamp?

Cheers Dave

Most translation offices will send it to the Ministry for certification as part of the process so you don't have to do both things yourself. Just ask them to be sure they will do it. My experience has been about two weeks for the process to complete.

[DavieA]

As part of the SV process I am aware all Thai documents (birth cert, ID card etc) must be translated in to English. Do they just need to be translated by a translation office alone, or do the docs then need to be sent to the Thai Ministryof Foreign affairs too for the official stamp?

Cheers Dave

Most translation offices will send it to the Ministry for certification as part of the process so you don't have to do both things yourself. Just ask them to be sure they will do it. My experience has been about two weeks for the process to complete.

The guy in my office said he will not send the docs as they are originals of ID cards, birth certs etc. He told me to take them to Bangkok myself for safety reasons. That's not good for me as I live 17 hours away in Hat yai. Sending them is far more conveinient!

Tywais, I guess that means they do have to be certified by the ministry??

[gburns57au]

Check this link in regards to this issue...

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/family/pa...s/certified.htm

[DavieA]

Check this link in regards to this issue...

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/family/pa...s/certified.htm

Thanks gb,

"If you are applying for a partner visa outside Australia and you are therefore having documents translated outside Australia, it is recommended that you use a translator who is professionally qualified".

This statement doesn't say that it MUST be certifed by the Thai ministry, I take it that a simple translation by a professional translation office is sufficient.

Would anyone else care to say otherwise?

Regards

dave

[gburns57au]

Check this link in regards to this issue...

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/family/pa...s/certified.htm

Thanks gb,

"If you are applying for a partner visa outside Australia and you are therefore having documents translated outside Australia, it is recommended that you use a translator who is professionally qualified".

This statement doesn't say that it MUST be certifed by the Thai ministry, I take it that a simple translation by a professional translation office is sufficient.

Would anyone else care to say otherwise?

Regards

dave

It says under certified copies that ALL original documents must be supplied as a certified copy. If you are in Australia then anyone who can sign a Stat Dec can also certify a copy.....not sure of who can do it in Thailand....The embassy will charge a fee....very expensive.

[Tywais]

It says under certified copies that ALL original documents must be supplied as a certified copy. If you are in Australia then anyone who can sign a Stat Dec can also certify a copy.....not sure of who can do it in Thailand....The embassy will charge a fee....very expensive.

Also says:

"'Certified copies' are copies authorised, or stamped as being true copies of the originals, by a person or agency recognised by the law of the country in which they are certified." which is normally the minister of interior's office.

Edited March 27, 2006 by tywais

[GU22]

As far as the UK is concerned, certification by the translation agency is sufficient. All our translations are stamped (in Thai and English) with the name of the agency, and the words "Certified Correct Translation" with the name and signature of the translator.

This was acceptable to both the embassy for the visa and, later, the Home Office for both ILR and naturalisation.

[PaulPerth]

My wife prepared and had all of the necessary documents translated and copies certified. She used a company called "Master Piece Translation". Although it seems to be a sizeable company she dealt with only one guy trough the whole process. She found him extremely helpful and understanding. Thier website is:

http://www.masterpiecetranslation.com/

The guy she dealt with who she highly recommends is Mr. Phanuwat Phawakhot, his mobile phone is 05-9174353

She was charged 300 baht per page for translation, but it looks like they have put thier prices up to a minimum of 350 baht. They will submit the documents to the Foregin Minstry for copy certification. The Ministry charges 400 baht per document. If its a 3 page document, its still only 400 baht. Master Piece will charge 550 baht for the trip to the Ministry irrespective of how many documents they take for certification. Each batch of documents she sent to him was arriving back in the post about one week later.

When we submitted our application, our case officer told us we didnt need to get certain cetificates translated but we are still not sure which documents didn't have to be translated. I know one of them was a "change of name" certificate (my wife and her mother both had first names changed) so we had to submit these documents because the current name differed from the birth certificate name. We just played safe and provided translated and certified copies of ALL Thai documents.

Paul

[gburns57au]

It says under certified copies that ALL original documents must be supplied as a certified copy. If you are in Australia then anyone who can sign a Stat Dec can also certify a copy.....not sure of who can do it in Thailand....The embassy will charge a fee....very expensive.

Also says:

"'Certified copies' are copies authorised, or stamped as being true copies of the originals, by a person or agency recognised by the law of the country in which they are certified." which is normally the minister of interior's office.

Yes so if they are certified in Oz then you only need a JP or CoD etc.....to certify them.

[Chris Lawrence]

Our first document was translated by a service at the Thai Passport Office located on the way to the airport. (Don't know my way around Bangkok too well), i think the cost was 200 baht for normal paced document and 400 baht for the fast track which was done in 1 hour. Other prices in Bangkok were around 600-700 baht.

We eventually used a senior officer from Thai Tobacco Monopoly, having the name of translator, signed, their position and their phone number loged onto the transcrbed document. This was accepted by the Embassy.

We also got another price of 1000 baht to do a document. Can be very expensive if there a number of documents to do.

[Mighty Mouse]

Certifying copies and translating papers are two different things.

Davie is not currently in Australia so certifying copies of original papers will not come into being.

The question is about translating.

I have posted in another thread that my partner and I used the services of a translator who worked inside a travel agent shop in Pattaya. He stamped all papers verifying the accuracy of the translation with an official seal. He charged in the vicinity of 300 baht per page of translation.

Everything was accepted by the embassy.

At no time were our papers forwarded by him to any other Thai government agency. We waited for about one week for the job to be completed. (there were others before us)

Davie, I suggest that you get your girl to make some enquiries around your local town and find the name of a qualified interpretor. There is sure to be one there somewhere.

Time is of the essence though, don't leave these things to the last minute because all interpreting services need a few days minimum to complete the job.

Edited March 27, 2006 by Mighty Mouse

[Rj 81]

As far as the UK is concerned, certification by the translation agency is sufficient. All our translations are stamped (in Thai and English) with the name of the agency, and the words "Certified Correct Translation" with the name and signature of the translator.

This was acceptable to both the embassy for the visa and, later, the Home Office for both ILR and naturalisation.

GU22, I didn't think that for the the UK, we needed to translate the birth certificate, ID card, passport, address ect..

The reason beinbg that they have Thai people working there who can certify these documents...

?

[Niloc]

Certification by Translator

I <typed name> , certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the <Thai, English,i etc> languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled <Name of Document>

Signature

Date

Typed Name

Address

Someone gave me the above as a document, it looks to me as if any educated Thai who speaks your language could act as a translator.

I am sorry I don't remember where it came from and I haven't needed to use it but maybe someone else knows a bit more??

[Dragonman]

Certifying copies and translating papers are two different things.

Davie is not currently in Australia so certifying copies of original papers will not come into being.

The question is about translating.

I have posted in another thread that my partner and I used the services of a translator who worked inside a travel agent shop in Pattaya. He stamped all papers verifying the accuracy of the translation with an official seal. He charged in the vicinity of 300 baht per page of translation.

Everything was accepted by the embassy.

At no time were our papers forwarded by him to any other Thai government agency. We waited for about one week for the job to be completed. (there were others before us)

Davie, I suggest that you get your girl to make some enquiries around your local town and find the name of a qualified interpretor. There is sure to be one there somewhere.

Time is of the essence though, don't leave these things to the last minute because all interpreting services need a few days minimum to complete the job.

This is correct.There is no Public Notary system in Thailand and whilst some documents go to MFA for certification, for example embassy confirmation of freedom to marry, most embassies put no worth in this certification, as the official translator is legally liable.

[GU22]

GU22, I didn't think that for the the UK, we needed to translate the birth certificate, ID card, passport, address ect..

There is nothing in the UK visa guidance to say that Thai documents need to be translated. However, anything that makes the ECO's job simpler and easier is, IMO, a good idea.

The embassy do say in other areas that Thai documents need to be translated; birth registration for example.

[DavieA]

As far as the UK is concerned, certification by the translation agency is sufficient. All our translations are stamped (in Thai and English) with the name of the agency, and the words "Certified Correct Translation" with the name and signature of the translator.

This was acceptable to both the embassy for the visa and, later, the Home Office for both ILR and naturalisation.

Yes OZ is the same.

Certifying copies and translating papers are two different things.

Davie is not currently in Australia so certifying copies of original papers will not come into being.

The question is about translating.

I have posted in another thread that my partner and I used the services of a translator who worked inside a travel agent shop in Pattaya. He stamped all papers verifying the accuracy of the translation with an official seal. He charged in the vicinity of 300 baht per page of translation.

Everything was accepted by the embassy.

At no time were our papers forwarded by him to any other Thai government agency. We waited for about one week for the job to be completed. (there were others before us)

Davie, I suggest that you get your girl to make some enquiries around your local town and find the name of a qualified interpretor. There is sure to be one there somewhere.

Time is of the essence though, don't leave these things to the last minute because all interpreting services need a few days minimum to complete the job.

Sorry if my original post was misleading, I didn't think it was. Mighty is correct that I wasn't concerned with certifications but moreso translations.

Everything is ok now though, I called my case officer (should have done that before posting....doh!)and there is no need for translated docs to be sent to the Thai ministry. Like it says on the immigration website, a professional translator is sufficient.

Just for everyone in the future wanting to apply for a SV to OZ. Your translated docs DO NOT need top go to the Thai Ministry for a stamping.

My friend applied for a SV 2 months ago, and after calling the VFS 2 times and speaking to several translation agencies, ALL told him their docs needed to go to the Thai ministry. As each document sent to the ministry costs 400 baht per page, plus travel costs etc, the poor misinformation they recieved cost them approximately an extra 7000 baht. After speaking to him again tonight he called the VFS and this time they told him that it was not a requirement. He's now in the process of writing a complaint letter.

Be careful of asking translation agencies regarding the rules to your visa application. It goes to show that even the VFS get it wrong!

Regards ....Dave

[Mighty Mouse]

Davie,

Thanks for clarifying the translation requirements. Good information to remember.

You are getting quite good with your telephone. It's amazing what you can find out when you let your fingers do the walking.

[awarrumbungle]

Depends on where they do the walking to. As DavieA said the VFS quite often has conflicting or incorrect information.

[DavieA]

Oh No, Bungles back! Lookout everyone!

[Richard croucher]

As far as the UK is concerned, certification by the translation agency is sufficient. All our translations are stamped (in Thai and English) with the name of the agency, and the words "Certified Correct Translation" with the name and signature of the translator.

This was acceptable to both the embassy for the visa and, later, the Home Office for both ILR and naturalisation.

Dear GU22,could you please just Confirm for me that the Documents to be translated for My Wife SV are as follows.

Birth Certificate,our Marriage Certificate.

My Wfe has never been Legally Married before so there is no need to supply a Translation of any Divorce Certification though.

One further question that I would like to ask,is with regard to my Wifes previous relationship with a Thai National.They lived together for a period of about sevenn years,and had One Child from the relatioship.

My Wifes Daughter does not live with my Wife but resides with her father and His parents elsewhere in Thailand.I note however that on the Visa Application form that it asks to list any Children,wheter or not they are to be traveling with the Applicant.

Can you Please Advise if this is necessary in our case,as there is no Chance that My wife will ever be reunited with Her Daughter.

Kind Regards

Richard Croucher

[GU22]

Richard,

The guidance notes and, I believe, immigration rules don't actually say that any non-English documents need to be translated. However, I personally believe in making things as easy and simple as possible for the ECO, so I recommend that any Thai documents that you include in your evidence should be accompanied by a certified English translation (except her ID card and passport). There are many translation agencies in Bangkok and other cities that will do this for a reasonable fee, 500baht per page at most.

I feel that it is better to provide something that the ECO doesn't want to see than to not provide something that the ECO does want to see!

With regard to the child, I would include the child's details on the form. You never know what the future may bring, and not including the child's details now could cause problems if at a later date you do wish to apply for a visa for him/her. Even if you and her never want the child to settle in the UK with you, what about a visit?

Including the details on her form may cause the ECO to ask why she is not applying for the child as well, but explaining that the father has custody will deal with that.

Best of luck, and feel free to ask any further questions if need be.