Sworn translator

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

This link may help you with this.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks Cynic. I have looked at the link but is that sufficient for the Belgium visa? It has to be a sworn translation and then apostilled (and the translation apostilled).

It says it does; if you follow the process (like I just did), it tells you.

Great thanks

HbG wrote:

Thanks Cynic. I have looked at the link but is that sufficient for the Belgium visa? It has to be a sworn translation and then apostilled (and the translation apostilled).

It is worldwide recognised and coming from the UK government its trusted more so than other places that might charge less.

Another point regarding the UK Government documents.  There are many non-Government companies that are offering this service, but only the UK Government can apostille UK Government issued documents, so should you use one of these 3rd parties, you will be paying a middle-man a commission to pass your documents onto the UK Government, when you can go straight to the UK Gov and save some money.

One last point, I'm not 100% sure, but I think that English is one of the three recognised languages for acceptance of other Government documents (the others being French, German).

Worth checking with whoever you are applying to before you spend your money.

Cynic wrote:

One last point, I'm not 100% sure, but I think that English is one of the three recognised languages for acceptance of other Government documents (the others being French, German).

Worth checking with whoever you are applying to before you spend your money.

A bit off topic, but in Denmark, they recognise English. So well worth as Cynic says check first.

Thanks Cynic.
I have emailed the Belgium Embassy directly to ask who they recommend we use... still waiting a reply.
The certificate needs translating as well and the translation also apostilled so I will get that done first.
We have a Belgian lawyer advising us but even she contradicts herself!
Because there is a lot of conflicting advice I wondered if anyone on here had direct, recent experience of making a long stay visa application.

The Belgian lawyer told us we needed it translated. The Belgian website states only French, Dutch is recognised but i have seen other websites advising English doesnt need to be translated.
Maybe it has changed since Brexit!? There is also a note on the website saying any correspondence in english will be replied to in french or dutch!

HbG wrote:

Maybe it has changed since Brexit!?

Brexit hasn't happened yet, so no change there.

Ask your lawyer about an agreement between EEA countries that legal documents can be in the mother tongue of requesting country, plus English, French or German.

In my experience, for visa application, certificates in English is accepted by Belgian consular offices. Some may ask for a translation in rare cases. However, once you are in the country, for further procedures (registration in some townhalls, application for citizenship, etc), translation to one of the official languages is required. The original needs to be apostilled, and translation just needs to be legalized. Most of the sworn translators will legalize the translated document for you (of course at a price).

I can suggest the one I used (can send you the contact info by PM) to translate my birth certificate (issued and apostilled in India) to French and get legalized here.

Thanks Aneesh! Its good to hear from someone with personal experience. How do I PM you?