Translating documents - who can act as translator? [SOLVED]

[ekristensen]

Hi everyone

My husband and I are moving from Denmark to Canada (I'm the Canadian one) in 2010, so some of his documents are in Danish, like the police certificate, some supporting documents, etc.

We have an acquaintance who is an English professor at the University of Southern Denmark (and former deacon of the university) who is more than willing to translate the documents and sign his name to them.  However he is not a certified translator... will CIC accept his translations? I saw some other people on the forum here, when dealing with foreign documents, would translate them themselves and get a family member or friend to verify that the translation was correct.  I don't know if that worked, though.

Any help you could give me would be much appreciated :)

[ariell]

No. They need to be done by a certified translator. The CIC guidebook states "If your documents are not in English or French, send a notarized (certified) translation with a copy of the originals".Translating unofficial documents (like emails or letters) can be done by your friend.

[ekristensen]

Thank you for your quick reply :)

Just to clarify... you mention the unofficial documents can be translated by a friend.  The "official" documents which need to be a certified translation, does this JUST include the documents specifically asked for in the application, i.e. police check and marriage certificate (the only 2 official documents we need translated)?

Because as supporting documents we have a copy of his work contract in Danish and a copy of my temp. residence permit here in Denmark showing when it expires in 2010 - both of which are not specifically asked for, they are just being included as voluntary supporting documents.  Would these be considered official or unofficial?

[ariell]

Yes,  I meant the official things that are asked for on the document checklist like birth certificate and police report. Those must be translated by a certified translator. You can chose to have the other things done by a certified translator but I think once you see the cost, you will change your mind! :-) I would have your friend do those.

[ekristensen]

Great, that means we only have 3 or so documents to have translated by a certified translator!  Thanks again for your help :)

[WomanOnTheMove]

Our problem was that the application materials did not include much information on the definitions of "certified translation", "accredited translator", "certification (notarization)", and "notarized (certified)", all of which appear as terms in the materials.  It was not clear what Canadian immigration would accept or not accept.