Norwegian Translation

Norwegian work reaches us in Türkiye from three directions: residence permit and family reunification files for families moving to Norway, technical correspondence from the maritime and shipbuilding sector, and the paperwork of the trade in fish products and equipment. The terminology of the three has nothing in common, so we need to know the sector in order to route the file to the right translator.

Two written standards: Bokmål or Nynorsk?

Norwegian has two official written standards and both hold equal status. The great majority of government offices and urban institutions correspond in Bokmål, while Nynorsk is used particularly by certain municipalities in the west. In practice nearly everything sent from Türkiye is translated into Bokmål, and that is the form institutions accept. Even so, write and tell us which municipality the document is going to and we will check; a request for Nynorsk does come in now and then.

Alongside the Latin letters the alphabet includes æ, ø and å. These letters also come last in alphabetical order, so ordering address and name lists by Turkish logic produces a sequence that looks broken to a Norwegian reader. Confusion with Danish and Swedish is common as well: the three languages resemble one another on the page, but institution names and legal terms are entirely separate.

Frequent errors in translation from Turkish into Norwegian

• Overlooking the definite ending. Norwegian builds definiteness with a suffix attached to the noun, and the suffix varies with the gender of the noun. The wrong form is spotted immediately in an official text.
• Splitting a compound word. Norwegian writes compounds as one word; writing them separately divides the sense and produces a different expression, a flaw seen often in product names and technical terms.
• Freely translating the names of Turkish institutions. Rendered literally into Norwegian, a name such as “Nüfus ve Vatandaşlık İşleri” comes out looking like an institution that does not exist; the established practice is to keep the Turkish name and place an explanatory equivalent beside it.
• Muddling the date format. Norway uses day-month-year order, but the parts are separated by full stops, and a month written out in words begins with a lower-case letter.

Which documents come in

Field	Document
Migration and family	Civil registry extract, marriage certificate, criminal record certificate, proof of income
Education	Diploma, academic transcript, course descriptions
Maritime	Ship registry documents, class certificates, seafarer certificates of competency
Trade	Contracts, product certificates, health certificates

In migration files the list of required documents changes with the type of application, and one missing item holds up the whole file. It therefore helps if you forward us the list exactly as you received it; we can work out together which of the documents need translating.

Who certifies a translation in Norway?

Norway has a system of translators authorised by a state examination, and for certain transactions the stamp of a translator holding that authorisation is required. Sworn translation carried out in Türkiye is accepted for a great many applications, though for matters such as court and land registry proceedings additional certification may be required in the destination country. Which level applies is determined by the letter from the institution; forward that letter to us and we can take the right route without unnecessary expense.

For documents going out of Türkiye an apostille has become all but standard. Whether the apostille should be obtained before or after the translation is a frequent question: as a rule the apostille goes on the original, the translation follows, and the text of the apostille is translated too. Doing it the other way round means preparing the document from scratch.

Spelling of names and sending your documents

Norwegian institutions accept Turkish letters in their record systems, but in practice the spelling in the machine-readable zone of the passport is what counts, and there ç, ş, ğ, ı and ü have been reduced to plain letters. In translation we write the name as it appears in the passport and, where needed, show the original Turkish spelling in a translator’s note. Two different spellings turning up on two different documents is one of the commonest causes of delay in migration files.

Norwegian is the most worked of the Scandinavian languages in Türkiye; even so, the pool is not as wide as it is for German or English. Short civil registry and educational documents move through the standard flow, while maritime and technical files may mean waiting for a specialist translator. Tell us which institution the document is to be submitted to. For the price and the delivery date, upload your document; unit rates are on our pricing page.

The information here is general in nature; the level of certification required in this language varies with the destination country. We recommend confirming with an official source before you proceed.