Certified Passport & ID
Translation
If your passport or national ID card is issued in Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or another non-Latin script, UK organisations frequently ask for a certified translation of the biographical page before they can process anything.
We translate that page in full – names as they appear and as transliterated, date and place of birth, issuing authority, dates of issue and expiry, and the machine-readable zone – plus any visas, endorsements or entry stamps you need rendered.
WHAT THE HOME OFFICE asks for
This is the requirement in the Home Office’s own words, and it is the standard every certified translation we issue is built to meet:
Where documents provided are not in English or Welsh, you must provide a full dated and signed translation in English that can be verified. This must be dated and include the full name and signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company and their contact details.
UK Home Office guidance, gov.uk
Read it closely and it is a short list: a full translation, not a summary; in English; dated; signed; with the translator or an authorised official of the translation company named; and with contact details so it can be verified. Every one of those is on the certification page we issue with your passport.
WHAT YOU GET with every certified translation
- Accredited and sworn, fully bilingual philologist and linguist human translators
- An additional native-speaking proofreader on every project for quality assurance
- Professional DTP editing and formatting, so the translation mirrors your original
- A signed affidavit and declaration of translation accuracy
- The company wet stamp for authenticity
- Official certification on company letterhead
- Full compliance with the ISO 17100 quality standard
- A physical copy with wet stamps and company letterhead where one is needed
- Nothing of yours has to travel – a scan is enough, and hard copies come to you
- Any iterations, corrections and editing free of charge, same day or next day
WHEN YOU NEED a certified passport translation
A visa or immigration application
The Home Office needs identity documents in English in a form it can independently verify.
A right to work or right to rent check
Employers and landlords carrying out statutory checks on a non-Latin-script document commonly ask for a certified translation.
Opening a bank account
Identity and anti-money-laundering checks frequently require it where the document is not in English.
Giving notice of marriage
Register offices ask for a certified translation of a foreign identity document alongside the original.
Exchanging a driving licence or hiring a car
The DVLA and hire companies may want the identity page as well as the licence itself.
Court and legal proceedings
HM Courts & Tribunals Service requires certified English translations of identity documents filed in proceedings.
WHO ACCEPTS it
Issued to the standard the Home Office publishes, and routinely accepted by:
- The Home Office and UKVI
- Employers carrying out right to work checks
- Landlords and letting agents carrying out right to rent checks
- Banks, building societies and insurers
- The General Register Office and local register offices
- HM Courts & Tribunals Service
- The DVLA
- Universities and colleges
- Foreign embassies and consulates in the UK
If the body you are dealing with is not on this list, ask us before you order – checking what they actually require is free, and it is the fastest way to avoid paying for a level of certification you do not need.
THINGS PEOPLE get caught out by
Transliteration must match everything else
A name in Cyrillic or Arabic can be transliterated several valid ways. We use the spelling printed in the machine-readable zone of your own passport, so the translation, the document and your application form all agree.
The biographical page is usually enough
Most organisations want the photo page only. Translating every visa and stamp in a full passport costs considerably more, so tell us who is asking and we will quote for what they actually need.
A translation is not a certified copy
Some bodies want a certified copy of the passport – a solicitor or notary attesting the copy is true – which is a different thing from a translation. If you need both, we arrange both in one order.
Stamps and endorsements can matter
Where residence, entry dates or a previous visa are being evidenced, the relevant stamps need translating too. Point them out at the quote stage.
HOW IT works
Send a scan
A photograph from your phone is fine, as long as every corner is in frame and the text, the stamps and anything written on the back are readable. Your original never leaves you.
Get a fixed price
We read the document, confirm the language and the certification the receiving body wants, and send back an itemised price and a delivery date. Free, and with no obligation.
Translation and checking
An accredited, sworn linguist translates it; a second linguist who is a native speaker of the target language reads the whole thing against the source.
Certification
The translation is issued with a signed declaration of accuracy on company letterhead, dated, with the translator named and our wet stamp applied.
Delivery
By email the day it is finished, with a wet-stamped hard copy posted to your address if you need one. Corrections afterwards are free.
The full five-stage service process, and the three-stage quality assessment behind it, are set out on How It Works and Quality Assurance.
PRICE AND turnaround
PriceQuoted per job
A standard passport is priced per document with certification included, and a posted hard copy is priced per page. You get the figure in writing, itemised and fixed, before you commit – and the analysis that produces it is free.
Standard24–72 hours
One to three working days for a standard certificate, in any of the 76 languages we work in.
ExpeditedAs fast as 24h
When a deadline is close – without taking the second linguist out of the process.
0 +Years of Excellence
0 +Happy Customers
0 +Official Translators
0 Countries Approved EKO 4's Certified Translations
At EKO 4 Translations we guarantee 100%
- Document Acceptance
- Accuracy and Quality
- Delivery on Time
- Free Corrections
WHAT ELSE your document might need
A certified translation is enough for most UK purposes. Documents going abroad, or to a body that has asked for a solicitor or notary, need a layer on top – and it is ordered with the translation rather than afterwards.
Certified translation
The full service and what it covers – 114 document types, 76 languages, and what certification actually is.
Certified document translation →Sworn & notarised
When an authority wants the declaration sworn before a solicitor, or witnessed and sealed by a notary.
Sworn & notarised translation →Apostille & legalisation
For documents going abroad: an FCDO certificate on the translation we prepared, plus embassy legalisation where it is needed.
Apostille & legalisation →76 languages
The full European and Asian lists. The language changes who does the work, not what you get.
Translation languages →Some of our clients
As featured on
PASSPORT questions, answered
Do I need my whole passport translated?
Almost never. The biographical page is what most organisations ask for, plus any specific stamp or visa being relied on. Tell us who is receiving it and we will quote for that rather than for the whole book.
Which spelling of my name will you use?
The one printed in your passport’s machine-readable zone, so the translation agrees with the document and with your application. If a previous translation used a different spelling, say so at the quote stage.
Is this the same as a certified copy?
No. A certified copy is a solicitor or notary attesting that a photocopy is a true copy of the original; a certified translation renders it in English. Some bodies want one, some want both. We can arrange both in a single order.
Do you need the physical passport?
No. A clear photograph or scan of the page is enough for the whole job, including certification. Your passport stays with you – which matters more with this document than with most.
How much does it cost?
The biographical page is priced as a single document with certification included. Additional pages, stamps or visas are quoted on what is actually there rather than on a page count, and a posted wet-stamped hard copy is priced per page.
Can you translate a national ID card instead?
Yes – ID cards, residence permits and similar documents are handled the same way and at the same rate. Send both sides.
Send us the passport
A scan or a clear photograph is enough. You get back a fixed price, a delivery date, and a straight answer on whether a plain certified translation will do or whether you need a solicitor, a notary or an apostille on top – free, with no obligation, and handled confidentially under UK GDPR.
CERTIFIED TRANSLATION wherever you are in the UK
The service runs digitally end to end, so where you live makes no difference to the price or the timing. Send a scan, approve the quote, and the finished translation comes back by email – with the wet-stamped hard copy posted to your address when you need one.
Certified Government Translation Service Near You
Looking for a certified government translation service near you in London? Look no further, we've got you covered!
124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX
