Spouse Visa Document Translation Requirements: UK Guide

Why Translations Matter

The Home Office caseworker reviewing your spouse visa application has to be able to read every document submitted. The requirement is written into the rules twice, in identical words: at paragraph A1(j) of Appendix FM-SE, which governs specified evidence on the family route, and at paragraph 39B of part 1 of the Immigration Rules, which applies across all routes.

The wording is worth reading closely, because the rule asks for fewer things than most guides claim, and it changes depending on where the application is made.

"Where any specified documents provided are not in English or Welsh, the applicant must provide document in the original language and a full translation that can be independently verified by the Entry Clearance Officer, Immigration Officer or the Secretary of State."

Two things follow from that sentence alone. The original goes in alongside the translation — a translation on its own does not meet the rule. And the translation must be capable of independent verification, which is why the contact details below are required.

Which Documents Need Translating

Any document not written in English or Welsh must be translated. Common examples include:

• Marriage certificates
• Birth certificates (yours, your partner's, and any children's)
• Divorce or annulment decrees from previous relationships
• Bank statements from overseas banks
• Employment letters or payslips in another language
• Educational qualifications
• Medical reports or TB test certificates
• Court orders or custody documents

GOV.UK's own list of what to provide with a family visa application names "a certified translation of any document that is not in English or Welsh" alongside passports, tuberculosis test results and proof of finances. Our spouse visa documents checklist covers the full list.

Note that a criminal record certificate is not on this list — the certificate requirement does not apply to the family route at all. See our guide to police certificates.

What Makes a Translation "Certified"

The rule names four things. The translation must be dated, and must include:

1. Confirmation that it is an accurate translation
2. The full name and signature of the translator, or of an authorised official of the translation company
3. The translator's or the translation company's contact details
4. Only if the application is for permission to stay or settlement — that is, made inside the UK — certification by a qualified translator, and details of the translator's or company's credentials

The fourth item is the one that changes. An application for entry clearance made from outside the UK is not subject to it. The rules do not specify any qualification for a translator on an out-of-country application, and do not name any professional body anywhere.

Nothing in the rules requires notarisation or an apostille on a translation. GOV.UK's plain-English version of the same requirement, on its page about certifying a document, is shorter still: ask the translator to confirm in writing on the translation that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", the date of the translation, and their full name and contact details. That is the page GOV.UK links to from the family visa application guidance.

Who Can Translate a Document

For an application made inside the UK, the rule is explicit: a qualified translator, with their credentials given. Membership of a professional body is the usual way of evidencing that, but the rules do not name a body, and Rowan will not either — no published source lists approved organisations for this purpose.

For an application for entry clearance from outside the UK, the rules do not impose a qualification. What they do impose is that the translation can be independently verified, which is why the translator's name, signature and contact details are all required: the Home Office has to be able to reach the person who made it and check.

That verification requirement is also the practical answer to whether an applicant or their partner can translate their own documents. Rowan has seen it stated widely that they cannot. No published rule says so in those words. What the rules say is that the translation must be independently verifiable and, inside the UK, certified by a qualified translator — which in practice puts the work with someone independent.

How Much Translations Cost

Translation is a private market, not a government service, so there is no published fee. Rowan used to carry a per-page range here; it had no source and has been removed. Prices vary by language, by length and by turnaround, and a quote is the only reliable figure.

The costs that are published — the application fee, the immigration health surcharge and the optional faster services — are set out in our spouse visa cost breakdown. Translation sits outside all of them, which is why it is easy to leave out of a budget.

What The Rule Requires In Practice

• A full translation. The rule says "a full translation", not a translation of the parts that seem relevant.
• The original as well. The rule requires the document in the original language and the translation. A translation submitted alone does not meet it.
• A date on the translation. Listed separately from the four items, and easy to miss on an otherwise complete certification.
• Contact details that work. The stated purpose is independent verification by the Entry Clearance Officer, Immigration Officer or the Secretary of State.
• Accuracy of names, dates and figures. Where a translated document is being used to evidence income, the figures in it are what the caseworker assesses against the £29,000 threshold.

Special Situations

Documents in Multiple Languages

Some documents contain text in more than one language. If any part of the document is not in English, the entire document should be translated.

Previously Translated Documents

The rules do not put a shelf life on a translation. But note that the certification requirements differ between an application made outside the UK and one made inside it. A translation certified for a fiancé visa applied for from abroad may not carry the qualified-translator certification that paragraph A1(j)(iv) requires when the same person later applies inside the UK to extend or to settle.

Separately, paragraph A1(l) of Appendix FM-SE requires that where evidence covers a period ending with the date of application, it or its most recent part must be dated no earlier than 28 days before that date. That is about the underlying document, not the translation, but it means an old bank statement cannot be reused however good its translation.

Documents That Are Already In English

The test in the rule is the language of the document, not the country it comes from. A document written in English or Welsh needs no translation, wherever it was issued. A document written in another language needs one, even if English is also an official language where it was issued.

This is a different question from the English language requirement for the applicant, which turns on nationality and on a fixed list of majority English-speaking countries. Our guide to the English language requirement covers that list.

What Happens If Translations Are Missing

A document that is not in English or Welsh and has no translation does not satisfy the evidential rule it was supplied to satisfy. The Home Office guidance on relationship evidence tells caseworkers that, where a document is not in English and no certified translation is provided, they should contact the applicant and ask for one. That is a direction about relationship documents, and it does not amount to a guarantee that a caseworker will always ask.

The wider evidential flexibility guidance operates in the same way: it directs a caseworker to consider whether an applicant may have further evidence before refusing. Our guide to refusal reasons sets out what the published grounds actually are.

Translations for the Extension and Settlement Applications

This is where the rule gets stricter, not looser. An extension and an application for indefinite leave to remain (settlement) are both made inside the UK, so paragraph A1(j)(iv) bites: certification by a qualified translator, with details of the translator's or company's credentials, on top of the three requirements that apply everywhere.

Any new documents supplied at these stages — updated bank statements, payslips, a new marriage or birth certificate — fall under the same rule if they are not in English or Welsh.

You can find more guidance on the official GOV.UK family visa page.

Next Steps

The requirement in one line: for every document not in English or Welsh, the original plus a dated full translation carrying a confirmation of accuracy, the translator's full name, signature and contact details — and, for an application made inside the UK, certification by a qualified translator with their credentials.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa Documents Checklist
• Certified Copies Guide
• Spouse Visa Cost Breakdown
• Document Translation Guide

Questions and answers