Document Translation for Lithuania

In Lithuanian files the refusal usually turns on form, not content

Files sent back on applications to Lithuania even though the translated text was correct are more frequent than people suppose. The reason generally falls under one of three headings: the scan is illegible, the translation has not been physically attached to the document, or the file uploaded to the system does not match the paper copy produced at the appointment. Because most immigration matters are started online and the originals are then shown at an appointment, that mismatch is spotted straight away.

The working rule: let the PDF you upload be an exact scan of the physical file you will take to the appointment. Uploading “a better scan” afterwards without replacing the paper copy, or having the translation done after the appointment, can put you back to the beginning.

Scan quality is a subject in itself. Images shot at an angle on a phone, shadowed, with the edges cut off, do not merely look poor; where the seal and stamp areas cannot be read, the official cannot judge whether the document is genuine and puts the file on hold. Scanning the document flat, with every edge visible and in one piece, wipes out most of the correspondence that would otherwise follow. Colour scanning is to be preferred, since it makes the seals easier to distinguish.

A certified copy, or a certified translation?

Notarisation describes two separate jobs, and applicants confuse them with some regularity. The first is certifying that a photocopy conforms to the original. The second is certifying the signature of the translator who made the translation. When the phrase “notaro patvirtintas” appears on an institution’s list, going ahead without reading which of the two is meant means the certification you pay for is of no use. Where you cannot be sure, send us the institution’s own wording exactly as it stands and we will work out together which layer is needed.

Diploma recognition runs independently of the translation

The assessment of what a Turkish diploma corresponds to in Lithuania does not proceed in the same file as the translation. The application for academic recognition is made separately, has a timetable of its own and its outcome is notified by way of a document. An employer or a university will often ask for that recognition document directly; holding only a translation of the diploma will not do. In regulated professions – health, law, some branches of engineering – a review of professional qualifications is added on top, and that is a different route from academic recognition.

Set your timetable accordingly: the translation first, the recognition application immediately after. Those who go the other way round end up holding the recognition file back for want of a document.

Which document, which door

Sequence, time and cost

The healthy order runs like this: obtain the original, have the certification annotation added, have the translation done, add notarisation if it is needed, then upload to the system. The translation step is measured in days; what really sets the pace is getting documents out of official bodies and finding an appointment. Starting the translation the day you learn your appointment date is therefore the cheapest way of buying time – you are spared paying for express delivery. See the starting rates per page, then upload your file so that the page count and the delivery date can be settled.

Two documents families with children leave out

Among applicants moving as a family, two documents are regularly forgotten. The first is the consent of the other parent where the child is travelling with only one of them; and, where there has been a divorce, the custody judgment together with the annotation showing that it has become final. When that annotation is not translated, the judgment is read as “possibly not yet final” and the file is held. The second is the school record and report card entries needed to enrol the child at school.

What school enrolment calls for is not the diploma but the detail that shows which year group the child should be placed in: which class was taken in which year, which subjects were passed. That information is there on the Turkish report card, but translated without keeping the table layout it becomes unreadable. On the health side a translation of vaccination records is generally wanted too; since vaccination schedules differ from country to country, carrying the dates and the vaccine names across in full matters.

Family files raise a question of consistency as well. The smallest difference between the spellings of a name on the marriage certificate, the birth certificates and the passports will send the official back over the whole set. The safest approach is therefore to have family documents translated in one pass and from a single source, not piece by piece.

This page is meant as guidance; the certification regimes of individual countries and the document formats they require can be updated over time. For definitive information, rely on the current announcement of the institution concerned.