Question about Translations

[itscoezy]

When you have a document translated by a certified translator, do you also then need to take it to the Canadian Consulate to have them sign it in front of an official at the consulate?

I contacted a certified translator from this website: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/mexico-mexique/emerge-urgence/servprofgdl.aspx?lang=eng&view=d#translators ( we are applying from Mexico) and they are saying I'll need to travel to their city and go the consulate with them so they can have it signed. Is this correct? I'm confused as I thought if you go with a certified translator you are not required to visit the consulate.

Thanks

 

[thanh245]

i think i read somewhere before that as long as the translator is certifiied, and of course the document is either in french or english, then it is fine.

 

[tink23]

i think i read somewhere before that as long as the translator is certifiied, and of course the document is either in french or english, then it is fine.

Yes, I believe u are correct. If it's a certified translator then there's no need to go to the consulate with the translation.

 

[Nessa]

I just brought it to a certified translator and it was fine. I didn´t get it notarize or bring it to a consulate or anything.

 

[itscoezy]

Thanks everyone..
not really sure what to do! I love how the immigration process is sometimes not very black and white.

There have been people who send no documents with translations and get accepted, and then others who are translating every last piece of evidence like bank statements, life insurance policies etc etc. Some getting certified translators and going to the consulate, others who didn't.
I really wish things were the same across the board!

Thanks so much again for your input!

 

[OhCanadiana]

When you have a document translated by a certified translator, do you also then need to take it to the Canadian Consulate to have them sign it in front of an official at the consulate?

I contacted a certified translator from this website: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/mexico-mexique/emerge-urgence/servprofgdl.aspx?lang=eng&view=d#translators ( we are applying from Mexico) and they are saying I'll need to travel to their city and go the consulate with them so they can have it signed. Is this correct? I'm confused as I thought if you go with a certified translator you are not required to visit the consulate.

Thanks

It's hard in Mexico because you can't really get something certified per se unless you go to the Embassy (vs. in the US where you can go to any bank or FedEx Office/UPS Store and get a notary public to certify the translator's statement about the translation). The easiest way to do it in Mexico is with a 'perito traductor' who can stamp the documents as a certified translator in their own office (in Mexico they don't swear document by document but they get a special stamp that they can use on documents).

 

[Nessa]

I don´t know if this has anything to do with it but I have to do a completely unrelated application for school here in Mexico...

since some of my documents from my undergrad are in english they are asking me to get it translated by a certified translator, then notarized and then I have to bring it to the canadian embassy to get in legalized!

So maybe that is like the super official way of getting stuff translated...but on the mexico forms it never specifies this whole complicated process...it just says to get it translated by a professional. I think they would specify if you had to go through all of that.

 

[Fencesitter]

My wife translated our work IDs when we worked for the same company (that's where we met). There were only a few things to translate, like name, date, position. I've read that small things like this are not a problem. If you are translating a whole document, or something more important, definitely get it translated by a certified translator, or better yet, a notary public.

FS

 

[OhCanadiana]

My wife translated our work IDs when we worked for the same company (that's where we met). There were only a few things to translate, like name, date, position. I've read that small things like this are not a problem. If you are translating a whole document, or something more important, definitely get it translated by a certified translator, or better yet, a notary public.

FS

Fencesitter - it's a cultural thing. In Mexico, notaries are actually lawyers with advanced degrees who the have to take specialized exams. You use them for very specialized things like house closings, there's no way they would take a sworn statement that a document is translated correctly (as outlined by the instructions). The way translators get around this is to offer to go to the Canadian consulate and make a statement in front of a consular officer who serves in his/her function as a notary public of Canada. However, just like other things are diffferent in Mexico and other countries (eg, you need a letter from the Embassy to get your police certificate in Mexico and other countries), certified translations are simply different and therefore confusing since the guide does not quite fit the situation. There are 'perito traductores' who are certified by the Mexican Justice Department to translate and have special stamps to 'swear' that translations are accurate.

Itscozey - you could go with the translator if you want to, however, in my experience some friends I was helping were about to do that and decided not to and they we fine.

Nessa - legalizing documents in a separate procedure for countries that were not signatories to The Hague Convention on apostilles and therefore do not recognize apostilles as certifying the authenticity of a document. Therefore, you have to go through several steps to get the document authenticated in the originating country and then the receiving country.

 

[Fencesitter]

Okay. Just so other know, for simple stuff (like translating "Name"), I don't think a certified translation is required. It's more for whole documents or more important stuff like birth certificates, etc...

FS

 

[itscoezy]

I just counted, we have 16-18 documents we "need" to translate (waiting on one last document to arrive)... I think I'll reconsider what documents I'll have translated if some have gotten away with out doing them. (-_-) they are so expensive!

 

[Nessa]

just do the birth certificate, marriage certificate and state police report through a certified translator!


That´s what I did and it was fine!

For the rest I just translated myself and sent the spanish and english versions.