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Do stamps and seals need to be translated?

Eudoxus

Newbie
Jul 17, 2023
2
0
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Vienna
The Translation of Documents section of the IRCC page on spousal sponsorship indicates that documents not in English or French must be translated. Does this also apply to documents which are entirely in English or French except for a stamp or seal in a foreign language? Instructions for other immigration procedures (e.g., those concerning refugees) do indicate that stamps and seals must be translated, but the instructions specific to spousal sponsorships are silent on the matter.

In our case we have some documents, such as police certificates, that are entirely in English except for the signer's stamp which is in German or Russian, and is simply the name of the relevant ministry. We would rather not pay for the cost of a certified translation, or of getting a non-certified translator to swear an affidavit, for a mere two to five words. But of course, if applications are always (or even sometimes) returned if they do not bear such translations, we will of course provide them. Has anyone here submitted English documents with foreign-language stamps without a translation of the stamps? If so, were these documents accepted or did the IRCC demand a translation?
 

Eudoxus

Newbie
Jul 17, 2023
2
0
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Vienna
We did translate the stamps and seals. In the end we discovered that it wasn't strictly necessary to use a professionally certified translator; the instructions say that it's also possible to have anyone fluent in the source and target languages to perform the translation and to swear an affidavit attesting to their fluency and the accuracy of their translation. So we got a trilingual (English/Russian/German) friend of ours to do the translations. We accompanied her to the Canadian consulate to swear the affidavits, and the consulate also certified the copies. The total price this way was much lower than if we had hired a professional translator and used a notary public to certify the copies.