Who is a certified translator
For IRCC, a certified translator is a member in good standing of a professional translation association in Canada or abroad. The certification must be confirmed by a seal or stamp showing the membership number. A translator still in the process of certification does not count.
Route 1: stamp of a certified translator
The translator should photocopy the original and stamp it if that is what the translation was based on. All stamps and seals not in English or French must be translated too.
I hereby certify that the above is a true and accurate translation of …….
Route 2: affidavit
Only if the translation cannot be done by a certified translator. The translator swears, before a person authorised to administer oaths where the translator lives, that the translation is accurate. The affidavit must refer to both the translation and the document the translator worked from.
Who may not translate
Family members, representatives or consultants of the applicant — even if they are lawyers, notaries or translators.
Checklist
- Stamp with your association membership number — or an affidavit.
- Photocopy of the document you translated from, stamped.
- All foreign stamps and seals translated.
- You are not related to or representing the applicant.
Where Lingverra saves time
Lingverra produces a precise translation in the layout of the original, reads handwritten entries, transliterates names as in the passport and flags uncertain passages. The certification statement is already under the translation, with the date, and it says what you actually translated from: the original, a certified copy, a copy or a scan. Your name and contact details print under the signature from your profile. You can rewrite the statement once in the profile or for a single document. Checking and signing remain your job.
Read also: where the time really goes when translating from a scan