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EU Sworn Translator Network — France, Germany, Spain, Italy
Direct access to court-registered sworn translators across 11 EU jurisdictions — seal & signature carry legal validity by themselves.
Quick Answer
For court filings, immigration, and civil registry in France / Germany / Spain / Italy / Portugal / Belgium / Netherlands / Poland / Czech Rep / Austria / Romania, notary-certified translation is NOT enough — you need a translator sworn before the destination country's court or ministry. We coordinate directly with the correct sworn translator per jurisdiction. 5–10 business days.
FAQ
- Which EU countries require sworn translation (not just notarized)?
- Sworn/certified translation is MANDATORY for legal filings in: France (traducteur assermenté près la Cour d'Appel), Germany (öffentlich bestellter Übersetzer), Spain (traductor jurado MAEC), Italy (traduttore giurato del Tribunale), Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, and Romania. Notary certification alone is REJECTED for court, immigration, and civil registry.
- Do you use in-country sworn translators?
- Yes. We coordinate with sworn translators registered with the destination country's court/ministry — France Cour d'Appel de Paris, Germany OLG (Oberlandesgericht), Spain Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (MAEC), Italy Tribunale. Their seal + signature gives direct legal validity; no further apostille of the translation required within EU.
- Turnaround and courier?
- 5–10 business days for standard documents (birth, marriage, degree, criminal record). 10–15 days for complex legal (court judgments, corporate M&A). Delivered by DHL Express to your EU or Thailand address with tracking.
- Combining apostille + sworn translation?
- Correct workflow: (1) Thai document → MOFA legalization (or apostille after Thailand joins Convention), (2) send legalized original to EU sworn translator, (3) sworn translator translates and stamps. The seal covers both the translation AND certifies the source document was received legalized. Total 10–20 days.
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Contact: 081-562-0444 · LINE @NYCLI · contact@ilc.ltd
Knowledge bases behind every service
7 knowledge bases, 4,882 keywords and 3,057 answered questions written by our lawyers and translators. Free to read, no sign-up.
- Certified translation — every language
Certified translation across civil, academic, corporate, contractual, financial, medical, technical and IP documents — with the Notary → MFA → embassy legalization chain handled end to end.
Thai–English THB 500–1,200/page · other languages THB 800–2,500/page
1,000 keywords · 500 questions · 16 clusters
- Thai MFA consular legalization
Thai MFA legalization workflow: fees, turnaround, inbound foreign documents, and how the chain connects to destination-country apostille requirements.
THB 200/stamp (3 working days) · express THB 400/stamp
882 keywords · 500 questions · 16 clusters
- NAATI certified translation (Australia)
NAATI-certified translation for Australian partner, student, skilled and qualification-assessment lodgements, stamped by a NAATI-credentialled translator.
THB 1,300–2,500 per document · 5–7 working days
500 keywords · 408 questions · 16 clusters
Official sources
The information on this page follows the official sources below. Always check the latest version before you file.
- กรมการกงสุล — บริการรับรองเอกสาร (นิติกรณ์)— กระทรวงการต่างประเทศ
- สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง — วีซ่า รายงานตัว 90 วัน TM.30— Immigration Bureau
- กรมการปกครอง — ทะเบียนราษฎร ทะเบียนครอบครัว— Department of Provincial Administration
- สภาทนายความในพระบรมราชูปถัมภ์ — ทนายความผู้ทำคำรับรองลายมือชื่อและเอกสาร— Lawyers Council of Thailand
- สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา — ฐานข้อมูลกฎหมายไทย— Office of the Council of State
Related services
Most document work runs across several steps — jump straight to the next one you need.
- Certified translation
- Consular legalization
- Notary Public
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Expert reviewed: This page is written and checked by practitioners with 15+ years of hands-on filing experience, sourced from the responsible authorities and signed off by a second reviewer before publication — meet the team · editorial policy
Not sure which service you need? Read the guides
Each guide answers first, then explains: decision criteria, comparison tables, the real process and the mistakes we see most often.
- Choosing a certified translation provider
How to pick a translator accepted by consular, embassy and receiving bodies
- Services for expats living in Thailand
Signature certification, residence, marriage and everyday paperwork
- Notary Public and consular legalization
The correct order of steps before sending documents abroad
- Choosing the right visa and work permit
Compare visa categories and the documents each one needs translated
- Translation by language
English, Chinese, Japanese, European, Arabic, Russian and embassy rules
- Specialized translation
Contracts, financial statements, MSDS, ISO and BOI filings
Talk to us first: 083-249-4999 · LINE @NYC168 · contact@ilc.ltd
Why 'sworn translator' means different things across Europe
Continental European systems generally attach the certification to a person appointed by a court or ministry: the traducteur assermenté in France, the traductor jurado appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the beeidigter Übersetzer sworn before a German Landgericht, the traduttore giurato who swears the translation before an Italian court registrar. Thailand has no equivalent register of sworn translators. What Thai practice offers is a translator whose signature the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will verify, which is a different mechanism reaching a similar destination.
That mismatch is the source of almost every refusal. A Thai document translated in Bangkok is accepted in Madrid only if the receiving body accepts the Thai chain, or if the translation is redone by a Spanish traductor jurado after the Thai original is legalised. Deciding which of those two routes applies, before paying for anything, is the substance of the work.
Route selection by destination
| Destination | Typical requirement | Where the translation is produced |
|---|---|---|
| France | Traducteur assermenté listed with a Cour d'appel | Usually in France, after Thai MFA and French consular legalisation of the original |
| Spain | Traductor jurado appointed by MAEC | In Spain, or by a jurado based abroad whose seal MAEC recognises |
| Germany | Beeidigter/ermächtigter Übersetzer | Usually in Germany; some consulates accept a Thai translation legalised by the German embassy in Bangkok |
| Italy | Asseverazione before a court registrar, or consular translation | Italian consulate in Bangkok is often the cleanest single step |
| Netherlands / Belgium | Beëdigd vertaler in the Wbtv or local register | In-country, after the Thai chain on the original |
| Poland / Czechia | Tłumacz przysięgły / soudní tlumočník | In-country; Thai translations are rarely accepted directly |
Sequencing that avoids paying twice
- Confirm what the receiving body will accept: Registry office, university, court and immigration authority in the same country often differ. Ask in writing and keep the answer.
- Legalise the Thai original first: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the destination's embassy in Bangkok. Legalising a translation instead of the original is the most common wasted step.
- Translate at the right end of the chain: If the destination requires its own sworn translator, send the legalised original and have the sworn translation produced there.
- Keep the stamps intact: Sworn translators in Europe describe every seal and endorsement they see, so the instrument must reach them unbound and unaltered.
The 2027 change and what it does not change
Thailand's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention enters into force on 28 February 2027. From that date a Thai apostille replaces the two-stage MFA plus embassy chain for use in Convention states, which covers all EU members. It does not change the translation requirement: an apostille authenticates the Thai signature, and a French or Spanish authority will still require a translation produced in the form its own law recognises. Plan the translation route separately from the authentication route.
Common mistakes and how we avoid them
More questions we are asked
- Can you provide a sworn translation valid in the EU from Bangkok?
- For some destinations and some purposes, yes, through the embassy-legalised route. For France and Spain in particular, the final translation usually has to be produced by an appointee of that country.
- Is a NAATI translation accepted in Europe?
- Generally no. NAATI is an Australian credential and European registrars look for their own national appointment systems.
- How long does the full route take?
- Plan three to six weeks where the translation is produced in Europe, dominated by consular appointment queues and courier time rather than translation itself.
- Do I need multiple originals?
- Often yes. Receiving authorities frequently retain the legalised instrument, so order duplicates when two bodies will each keep a copy.
- What about documents going the other way, from Europe to Thailand?
- The European document is apostilled or legalised at source, then translated into Thai and, where the receiving office requires it, verified through the Thai MFA.
Frequently asked questions
- What makes a Thai translation 'certified' and who is allowed to certify it?
- A certified translation is a translation issued with a signed certification statement from a translation agency or qualified translator confirming the text is a true and complete rendering of the original. Thailand has no single government translator register for general use, so acceptance depends on the receiving authority: the Department of Consular Affairs accepts translations submitted with the original document for legalization, embassies usually accept agency-certified translations, and some foreign authorities additionally require a sworn or NAATI translator. We confirm the receiving body's rule before translating so the document is not rejected later.
- Do I need the original document or is a scan enough for translation?
- A clear scan is enough to produce the translation, but the original is normally required for the legalization step that follows. The Department of Consular Affairs checks the translation against the original or a certified true copy issued by the responsible Thai authority, so if you plan to legalize, send us a high-resolution scan to start the translation and keep the original ready for submission.
- How should Thai names be spelled in an English translation?
- Always match the spelling printed in the passport, even when it differs from Royal Thai General System transliteration. Authorities compare the translation against the passport and treat any mismatch as a different person, which is one of the most common causes of rejection. If a name has been spelled differently on older documents, we add a spelling-variation note or arrange a name-consistency affidavit.
- How long does a certified translation take and can it be rushed?
- Standard civil documents such as an ID card, house registration, birth or marriage certificate are typically ready in one to two working days, while contracts, court judgments and academic transcripts take longer because of terminology checks. Same-day handling is possible for short standard documents if the scan arrives in the morning; rush handling does not shorten the separate MFA legalization queue.