Translation

Sworn translation

Marriages, house moves, nationality applications, deaths, adoptions, diplomas, school reports…

A sworn translation is often necessary when an official document in a foreign language must be submitted to a government body, court or public institution. Examples of such documents are birth certificates, diplomas, contracts and court judgments.

A sworn translation guarantees that the translated content is faithful to the original and has been produced by a translator approved by a Belgian court, giving it legal value.

A sworn translation is presented in PDF format and bears the sworn translator’s electronic signature. 

Legalised translation

In some cases, the sworn translation also has to be legalised.

Using a sworn translation in Belgium

The sworn translator’s electronic signature has the effect of legalising the document when the sworn translation is used in Belgium, so there is no need to request additional legalisation.

Using a sworn translation abroad

The sworn translation usually has to be legalised by the FPS Foreign Affairs. You can check this here: select ‘Use a Belgian document abroad,’ start typing the name of the country in which you will use the sworn translation, then select it from the list that appears.

• If the original document was issued in Belgium: for the sworn translation to be legalised, the original document must be considered ‘official’. It will therefore need to be officialised. You can check the requirements here.
• If the original document was issued in another country: for the sworn translation to be legalised, the original document must be considered ‘official’. In most cases, this means that the original document must first be legalised in the issuing country. You can check this here: select ‘Use a foreign document in Belgium,’ start typing the name of the country in which you will use the sworn translation, then select it from the list that appears.