The Importance of a Quality Certified Translation

Certified translations are an important component of singular moments of a person’s life such as working abroad, immigration and citizenship applications, foreign studies, marriage with an alien, etc.

Although at a first sight all certified translations may look the same, there is a correlation between the perceived quality of a certified translation and the outcome of an application.

Camila Saunier, 7 Brands project manager, explained some of the potential impacts of the quality of a certified translated document: “Let’s take the immigration process as a case. It is true that the immigration officer follows standard rules to analyze a petition. Nonetheless, the final approval or refusal is also based on their subjective view of the case. That means that any small detail in the application contributes for the positive or negative feeling that the officer will have about a case�.

Try to imagine the different impressions an officer will have when reading a Spanish translation provided by an individual translator in a small Texan city near the border, and as an opposite, another translation provided by a recognized translation company located in New York City. It is inevitable that the officer perceives a translation company established in a city like New York much more trustworthy than the other. In other words, a translation provided by a recognized company will have lower chances of bearing a fraud.

What about the text itself? What would be the impact of a poorly translated Marriage Certificate in an immigration process? Ms. Saunier explains that “any minor error – such as a name misspelling or a wrong date format (surprisingly common) – would be enough for months of delay in an application or even the deny of a case�.

Finally, a quality certified translation will follow strict rules officially required for certified translations such as: declaration of competence by the translator, detailed contact information for the translator / company responsible for the document, language pair, etc. Other components of a quality certified translation are not a must, but they will definitely contribute for its credibility. Some of them are a company translator golden seal and the confirmation of certification of the translator by a recognized institution.

7 Brands offers certified translations in more than 400 languages. More information about our certified translation services may be obtained at http://www.7brands.com. More technical information about translations in general may be obtained with Camila Saunier, 7 Brands Project Manager, at nyc@7brands.com or call at 800-725-6498.