Documents Requiring Translation in a Visa Application

A warning at the outset: most of the document lists circulating online are out of date. The only reliable source is the current list published by the mission you will be applying to. What follows is a framework showing what to watch for as you read that list.

The core set found in every file

Whatever the purpose of the application, four groups of document appear in almost every file. The first covers identity and travel: the passport, earlier visas, a biometric photograph. The second covers marital status and family details, with the civil registry extract at its core. The third consists of documents on financial standing. The fourth comprises documents showing the purpose of the journey and the intention to return.

Which of these four groups has to be translated varies from mission to mission. Some accept only their own official language, some accept English as well, and some ask for no translation at all of documents that are largely numerical, such as bank statements.

Documents that vary with the purpose of the application

Purpose	Documents specific to that purpose	Most critical field in translation
Tourism	Hotel and flight bookings, travel insurance, letter of leave	Consistency of the date ranges
Visit	Invitation, the host’s residence and income documents	The family relationship being clearly visible
Business	Company letter of invitation, certificate of activity, signature circular, trade registry record	The company name as spelled in the registry
Student	Letter of acceptance, diploma, academic transcript, proof of financial support, accommodation	Course names and the grading scale
Work	Employment contract, professional qualification, diploma, criminal record certificate	Job title and description of duties
Family reunification	Marriage certificate, birth certificate, full civil registry extract, declaration of consent	Complete presentation of the family ties
Medical treatment	Hospital admission letter, medical report, undertaking to cover treatment costs	Accuracy of the names of diagnoses and treatments

We deal with the differences between countries in what they expect by way of certification and language in our country guide, and with how individual documents are handled in our document guide.

Which document needs which layer of certification?

The general tendency is this: documents relating to civil status and family ties, along with declarations of consent drawn up for minors, call for sworn translation and in most cases for notarised translation. Income and bank documents are generally accepted with a translation alone. Hotel and flight bookings are usually not translated at all, since they are already in an international format.

With student and work applications an apostille may come into play. Where the diploma has to be recognised in the destination country, translation alone may not be enough, and a separate process of recognition or equivalence may run in parallel. That process is handled apart from the visa file and takes considerably longer.

Family reunification applications carry the most layers of all. Every document showing a family tie is generally required in certified form, and some countries insist that the documents be issued after a particular date. Preparing a file of this kind can take months rather than weeks.

Which target language should it be?

This is the question most often overlooked in visa files. Some missions accept only their own official language, others accept English too. In countries with more than one official language, which language is required may vary with the region the application relates to.

Choosing the wrong language is among the most expensive mistakes there is, because the entire file then has to be translated again. The language requirement should therefore be noted at the same time as the list is downloaded. We treat the differences between countries in their expectations as to language and certification separately on our language pages and in our country guide.

A further detail is where the translation is to be made. Some countries insist on a translation by a translator they have themselves authorised, in which case a translation made in Türkiye may not be accepted. This requirement generally arises not at the visa application stage but in procedures after arrival in the country.

Particular points on bank and income documents

Documents on financial standing are the group read most closely in consular examination, and they carry rules of their own for translation. Amounts are never converted: the currency and the figures in the source document are carried across as they stand. The thousands separator and the decimal mark may be adapted to the conventions of the target language, but the number itself does not change.

The second point concerns transaction descriptions. The description lines on account statements often consist of abbreviations, and these must be carried across exactly; expanding them by interpretation means producing information the document does not contain.

The third point is the job title and description of duties in employment documents. The closest equivalent in the target language to a Turkish job title may point to a different level of responsibility. Where that is so, a descriptive rendering is safer than a misleading local title.

Additional documents for minors

Where children are travelling, the file takes on a layer that an adult application does not have. The child’s identity and birth documents, records showing the position on custody and, where the child travels with one parent or with a third party, a declaration of consent are all required. These documents usually call for notarised translation.

The point most often missed in a declaration of consent is its scope: the travel dates, the countries to be visited and the identity of the accompanying person must appear expressly in the text. A declaration drawn up in general terms can cause difficulty at the border. Carrying these fields across in full in the translation is one of the most critical items to check in the file.

Where there is a divorce or custody judgment, the relevant part of the judgment goes into the file as well. In translating judgments of this kind the operative part is rendered exactly, and the wording on custody and on permission to travel is not interpreted.

For minors travelling on a student visa, details of a guardian or of the person responsible for accommodation may also be requested. Because these documents are drawn up in the destination country, they create a strand in which command of that country’s language rather than of Turkish is what is needed; cases of this sort, where the file has to be translated both ways, should be planned for from the start.

One last reminder: in documents belonging to the child, the spelling of the name is matched to the form in the child’s own passport, not to the spelling in a parent’s passport. Different spellings within one family are more common than people suppose, and this is usually the first inconsistency noticed in a file.

Building the timetable backwards

1. Treat the appointment date as fixed and plan backwards from it.
2. Download the mission’s current list and note the date on it.
3. Write down for each document where it is obtained and how long it takes; the slowest document sets the timetable.
4. Leave documents subject to a currency requirement until last; one obtained too early may count as out of date on the day of the appointment.
5. Mark the documents that need a layer of certification and allow extra time for them.
6. Have the translations made in a single batch, once the documents are complete.
7. Check the file item by item against the list before the appointment.

Common mistakes

• Using an out-of-date list. The list followed by someone you know who applied a year ago may no longer hold good.
• Altering the spelling of a name. In the translation the name must match the spelling in the machine-readable zone of the passport; otherwise the documents look as though they belong to different people.
• Obtaining documents too early. Where a document is subject to a currency requirement, being early works against you.
• Forgetting the declaration of consent. In applications involving children who are minors, this document is usually required separately and in certified form.
• Preparing only one copy. Where applications are made to more than one country, each mission retains its own copy.
• Leaving the translation to the last day. With documents that require certification this is the riskiest choice of all.

What changes if the application is refused?

Where an application is refused, much of the paperwork may have to be renewed for a second attempt, because the currency requirement on most documents is recalculated against the new appointment date. The translations, by contrast, are not produced afresh: they are repeated only for the documents that have been renewed. Keeping the translations and the terminology choices from the first file is therefore a practical advantage.

When you send us your file as a whole through the quote form, we mark up which document needs which layer and draw up a timetable working backwards.

This page is for general information; requirements for translation, certification and delivery may vary with the type of document. Because practice can change, take the requirement in force at the time of your application as the reference.