- What is a public translation
- What is the use of a public translation?
- What is the validity of a public translation?
- Where is the public translation valid?
- Who is the official or public translator?
- Who regulates the work of a public translator?
- What is the difference between translation and version?
- How much costs a translation service?
- What is a "lauda"
- How to make a quote for a public translation?
- The public translation is more expensive than a regular translation?
- A common translator may perform a sworn translation?
- How is the visual presentation of a public translation?
- Situations in which a sworn translation is mostly required?
- What types of documents are commonly translated and sworned?
- I am fluent in English. May I translate a document myself and ask for a public translator to sign my translation?
- What is consularization?
- What is the Convention de la Haye?
- Which countries are signatories to the Convention de la Haye?
- Where can I find a list of all public translators authorized to work in Brazil?
1. What is a public translation?
A. The public translation, commonly known as sworn translation, is the one performed by a public translator, which is commonly called a sworn translator.
2. What is the use of a public translation?
A. The public translation is legally required in Brazil and other countries in order that documents, written in a foreign language, may take legal effects at Federal, State and City offices, court, as well as entities maintained, supervised or directed by public authorities
3. What is the validity of a public translation?
A. A public translation has an indefinite validity, like a deed drawn up in a notary, this is the general rule. However, it is always linked to the original document, the source of the translation, and therefore must respect the same validity period as that document. Some entities may have administrative requirements regarding the maximum period accepted by a sworn translation, it is always advisable to question them in order to avoid inconvenience.
4. Where the public translation is valid?
A. By having faith and credit, the public translation is valid throughout the national territory. Its foreign language versions are recognized in virtually every country in the world.
5. Who is the official or public translator?
A. Best known as sworn translator, is a professional recognized by the Ministry of Labour, duly authorized by the Registry of Companies of his State, and appointed by the State government to grant public faith into translations. By signing a public translation, the translator says, before the law and society, that the original document to which it refers is legitimate and that its content is correct and translated in accordance with the practices of language between the two idioms and cultures involved in the process.
6. Who regulates the work of a public translator?
A. The State Registry of Companies of each brazilian State regulates the work of a brazilian public translator.
7. What is the difference between translation and version
A. There are two short forms to explain the direction of translation. In general, it is understood by "translation" when a foreign language is translated into Portuguese, and "version" when the Portuguese is translated into a foreign language..
8. How much costs a translation service??
A. The values for each type of translated document are suggested by the Registry of Companies of the State of registration, the body that regulates and supervises public translations in the State. Values are suggested per "lauda", depending on the type of document (common or special texts), whether it is a translation or a version. Definitions of common and special texts are commonly made by the Registry of Companies of the State of registration and must be available in the Resolutions that deliberate on the fees. In the case of JUCEPE - Registry of Companies of Pernambuco, the current resolutions dealing with fees for public translators are as follows:
Jucepe Resolution No. 002 of August 25, 2011 and
Jucepe Resolution No. 001 of September 22, 2012.
9. What is a "lauda"?
A. According to the Portuguese language dictionaries, "lauda" is any printed sheet, which can produce various sizes. There are book publishers who work with pages of 2,100 characters, including spaces in the count. For a public translation, a "lauda" is a page with 25 typewritten lines. As regards to public translations, JUCEPE - Registry of Companies of Pernambuco, has determined the equivalence of a "lauda" of a sworn translation to 1,000 characters, not counting the blank spaces. Therefore, to know how much a translation would cost, you must multiply the number of final translated text characters, not counting the blank spaces, divide by 1,000 and multiply by the price suggested. The first page is full charged. Then next pages are acharged to each tenth of a "lauda".
10. How to make a quote for a public translation?
A. The quote for a sworn translation is approximate. Analyzing the original document, the translator evaluates the average value of the cost and time for the service to be performed. The exact final price is only known at the end of the work, when the characters without spaces actually obtained on the translator's official page are counted. Each group of 1,000 characters without spaces is equivalent to one "lauda". In general, the budget will be very close to the final result. An effective way to request quotes is to send the documents you want translated to the translator's email. It is important that the documents are scanned in good resolution - at least 300 dpi, not photos, preferably in pdf format, front and back when applicable. Then the translator will run a character counting tool so that it can return a detailed quote, cost and time frame. In case of difficulties in digitizing the documents, the originals or legible copies of these need to be made available.
11. The public translation is more expensive than a regular translation?
A. It is not. The prices of sworn translations are within the market values practiced by professional translators in different regions of the country, in addition to being suggested by the Registry of Companies of the state where the public translator is registered. Sometimes they can even be cheaper than certified translations.
12. A common translator may perform a sworn translation?
A. He may not. As a sworn translation has public faith, it has the equivalent value of a document registered at a notary. certified by the State to carry out this task.
13. How is the visual presentation of a public translation?
A. As it has a value similar to a deed drawn up in a notary, the sworn translation presents brief sworn texts, which contain the opening and closing of the work, so that the document gains the legitimacy of a public document. In addition, the translator writes notes that describe graphic signs present in the original document, such as stamps, seals, signatures, consular notes, erasures and drawings, for example.
14. Situations in which a sworn translation is mostly required?
A. Exchanges programs, students interested in doing postgraduate studies abroad or who are returning to the country, foreigners doing business in Brazil, Brazilians doing business abroad, going to reside in other countries, foreigners moving to Brazil, Brazilians who are going to marrying foreigners, who wish to ratify divorce effected abroad, registration of birth or death of Brazilians abroad, validation of foreign driver's licenses in Brazil, among other cases.
15. What types of documents are commonly translated and sworned?
A. Resumes, certificates and diplomas, school transcripts, letters of introduction, background checks, statements, powers of attorney, medical certificates, money orders, vaccination books, identity cards, civil registration certificates, property certificates, driver's licenses, correspondence , judgments, petitions, rogatory letters, legal opinions, contracts, among others.
16. I am fluent in English. May I translate a document myself and ask for a public translator to sign my translation?
A. You may not. The public translator is responsible for the full content of the translation of public documents under his responsibility. The texts under his responsibility must therefore be his own authorship.
17. What is consularization?
A. To be effective in another country, public documents issued in the territory of a country need to go through specific procedures, known generically as document legalization. This procedure mainly involves two sequential steps: 1) "legalization", commonly done with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the document was issued; and 2) "consularization", carried out at the Consular Office of the country to which the document is intended (Source: Legalization of documents. MRE - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2021. Available at: http://www.portalconsular.itamaraty. gov.br/legalizacao-de-documentos/legalizacao-de-documentos#sobrelegalizacao. Accessed on: 04/30/2021). If you have doubts about the need to legalize your documents, the best way to find out is to ask the entity where you intend to file these documents if it is required or not. If so, do the legalization before requesting the sworn translation. The MRE - Ministry of Foreign Affairs website provides basic guidelines on the legalization of documents issued in Brazil and on the process of legalization of documents issued abroad. Reading these guidelines is recommended.
18. What is the Convention de la Haye
A. In order to eliminate the steps of legalization and consularization and speed up the legalization process, some countries got together and signed the Convention de la Haye, allowing, with a single act - the "apostille" -, that the document has validity in all other countries who are signatories of the Convention (more than 110). This Convention de la Haye entered into force in Brazil in 2016. The "Convention on the Elimination of the Requirement to Legalize Foreign Public Documents", the full name of the Convention, is also known as the "Convention de la Haye". For more information about the Convention de la Haye and how to apostille your document, we suggest you access Portal of the CNJ - National Council of Justice, the Brazilian body responsible for applying the Convention in Brazil (Source: Convention de la Haye. MRE - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2021. Available at: http://www. portalconsular.itamaraty.gov.br/legalizacao-de-documentos/legalizacao-de-documentos#apostila. Accessed on: 04/30/2021).
19. Which countries are signatories to the Convention de la Haye?
A. The list of signatory countries to the Convention de la Haye is available on the CNJ Portal - National Council of Justice, at Countries Signatories to the Convention de la Haye.
20. Where can I find a list of all public translators authorized to work in Brazil?
A. The Registry of Companies of each State must publish on their website the list of active public translators, accredited to exercise the office. The website of FENAJU - Federação Nacional das Juntas Comerciais publishes, by legal determination and based on the information provided by the Registry of Companies of each State, the National Register of Public Translators and Interpreters, where it is possible to obtain, by location and language pair, the contact of all public translators legally active in the country.
