Q1227. What specialized rules govern Tamil, Sinhala, and Nepali document translations?

Answered by the NYC Visa & Translation certified translation team

Tamil, Sinhala, and Nepali documents come from India/Sri Lanka and Nepal respectively, and each has specific handling rules. Tamil: used in Tamil Nadu (India) and Sri Lanka — Indian Tamil Nadu documents are frequently issued in English or bilingually (check first); Sri Lankan documents may be in Tamil, Sinhala, or English. Sinhala: Sri Lanka's majority language — official documents are issued in Sinhala, Tamil, or English depending on the issuing office and the applicant's request; the Registrar General's certificates are often available in English on request, which is cheaper and faster than translating. Nepali: Nepal's documents are in Nepali (Devanagari script); the English versions exist for some document types on request. The legalisation chains: Sri Lanka — the issuing authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, then the Thai embassy in Colombo; Nepal — the issuing authority, the relevant ministry (the Ministry of Education for academic documents), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, then the Thai embassy in Kathmandu; then the Thai translation certified by the Thai MFA (200/quoted on request per stamp). Points that matter: requesting the English version from the issuing authority at source is often the cheapest route — check availability before commissioning a translation; the Nepali educational documents need the Ministry of Education's verification (a step that adds weeks); and the names' romanisation must match the passport (all three languages' names romanise variably). Practice points: confirm the current chain with the Thai embassy concerned; and allow 4–8 weeks for the Nepali academic chain in particular.