Australia is different from the UK or US: NAATI sets the national standard, and Home Affairs asks for a NAATI-accredited translator in Australia. Outside Australia the rule is lighter than usually assumed.
NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters) is a public, not-for-profit company jointly owned by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. It sets and maintains national standards for the sector and describes itself as the only organisation to issue credentials or certification to people who wish to work in the profession.
This is the part most often stated too strictly. The Department of Home Affairs writes plainly: in Australia, use a NAATI-accredited translator — but “translators outside Australia do not have to be NAATI accredited”. A sworn or certified translator practising in the EU can therefore prepare documents for an Australian visa application without holding NAATI certification.
What Home Affairs does require in that case is identification of the translator. Every translation must include the translator’s full name, address and telephone number, and their qualifications and experience in the language being translated — all of it given in English. Both the original document and the English translation are submitted.
Personal names follow the official passport spelling in the body; ISO 9:1995 can be given in a footnote. See our transliteration page.
Lingverra reproduces layout and stamps and applies the correct transliteration, flagging uncertain spots. The translator reviews, signs and — where NAATI certification applies — stamps the document.
A statement in Australia may read as follows. Lingverra places your own wording automatically under the finished translation.
I certify that this is a true and accurate translation of …….