Remarkable facts about certified translation of educational documents
Beginning or continuing studies in the USA is gaining a great opportunity to change your life for better – by finding more suitable job in future, working in the field that you always wanted to, and, of course, getting properly rewarded. After months of thinking and savings you finally applied for the studies in a college. Your application has been accepted, and now the admittance department asks for the official translations or evaluation of your foreign educational documents. A clerk gave you a list of approved translation agencies, yet you are still not sure where to begin, because you hardly know what the official (certified) translation is!
In order to help students out, I, as the project manager at the Apoling Solutions, one of the leading certified translation agencies in Brooklyn, made all my best to underline the key facts about the certified translations, translators and companies, one of which you are about to hire for translation of your documents. I believe that information and facts which I have been gathering for years will facilitate your decision on whom to trust with the task of your document preparation:
– A certified translation is a word – for – word translation of the original of the document or copy of it.
– Certified translation of educational documents is not the same as the evaluation. However, if you have been asked to submit the evaluated diploma, the evaluation centers such as WES (http://www.wes.org/) will ask you to present a certified translation to initiate the process of evaluation.
– If it comes to diploma evaluation procedure, you are free to choose a translation agency on your own. An evaluation center cannot oblige you to use their services or services of any other agency they may cooperate with. The centers have the only right to ask you for the certified translation and it is up to you where you’ll get it.
– Certified translation should be done by an approved agency, and include the agency’s address and contact information. If possible, it should be done on the company’s letterhead.
– Translation should include a signature of the translator who certifies to its accuracy by signing the Affidavit of Accuracy.
– Certified translation should include the date when signed by a translator. However, it does not require a Notary stamp, which is recommended, but not a must.
– Notary public does not verify the accuracy of the translation. Notary verifies the identity of the person, who attaches his signature to the affidavit of accuracy.
– By signing the statement, the individual confirms his/her competency in the source and target languages.
– Translator is not responsible for the truthfulness of the source document’s content.
– A translator is not allowed to decode any abbreviations. However, he/she may do a favor to a client, make a research on the subject, and decipher the abbreviation in the “translator’s remarks,” referring to an internet source or printed materials, where he/she obtained the information on the abbreviation meaning.
If some parts of the text in the original document are illegible, and a translator is not able to verify the meaning, he/she should not make any assumptions regarding the meaning of the unclear content. A translator should add a special note, and state that the text is illegible.
I believe that most of your questions were answered, and now you are about to make a right decision regarding where to start from, what to pay attention to, and whom to employ for the task of translating your diploma or other education –related documents.
If you have questions, please, write a post, – we’ll be glad to answer any of them.