Certified Police Clearance
Certificate Translation
Criminal record certificates tend to have a limited validity, and they are usually obtained late in an application because they take time to issue. By the time one reaches us there is often not much of the window left, so we treat them as priority work.
The whole certificate is translated: the issuing authority, the period and jurisdiction covered, the wording of the result, the reference number, the date of issue and the seals – and if anything is recorded, that is translated exactly as written rather than softened.
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 police certificate.
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 police certificate translation
A visa route that requires one
Several UK immigration routes require a criminal record certificate from countries you have lived in, and it must be in English.
Employment screening
Regulated sectors ask for overseas police certificates as part of pre-employment checks, alongside a DBS check for UK history.
Professional registration
Healthcare, education, finance and legal regulators require them where an applicant has lived abroad.
Working with children or vulnerable adults
Employers in these sectors ask for overseas certificates as a matter of policy.
Adoption, fostering and immigration sponsorship
Certificates covering each country of residence are commonly required.
Emigrating or applying for a visa elsewhere
A UK ACRO certificate going abroad usually needs translating into the destination language, and often an apostille too.
WHO ACCEPTS it
Issued to the standard the Home Office publishes, and routinely accepted by:
- The Home Office and UKVI
- Employers and screening agencies
- The NMC, GMC, GDC and other regulators
- Schools, colleges and universities
- Local authorities and adoption agencies
- HM Courts & Tribunals Service
- 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
Validity is short
Many authorities will not accept a certificate more than three or six months old. Get it translated as soon as it arrives rather than at the end of the process.
The scope wording matters
A certificate says which jurisdiction and which period it covers. That sentence is often what the caseworker is checking, and it is translated exactly, not paraphrased.
Nothing is softened
If a record is listed, it is translated precisely as written. A translator who smooths the wording of a criminal record has produced something worse than useless.
Going abroad? Apostille it
A UK ACRO certificate for a foreign authority normally needs translating and then apostilling – translate, certify, apostille, in that order.
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 police certificate 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
POLICE CERTIFICATE questions, answered
How quickly can you turn one round?
These are treated as priority work because they expire. Standard is 24 to 72 hours and expedited delivers as fast as 24 hours – tell us your deadline and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you pay.
Will the Home Office accept it?
Yes, and we guarantee acceptance. It carries a dated declaration of accuracy, the translator named and signed, our contact details, company letterhead and our wet stamp.
Do you need the original certificate?
No. A clear scan or photograph is enough, including the back and any security features. Given how long these take to obtain, we would rather you kept hold of it.
What if the certificate lists something?
It is translated exactly as written. Our job is accuracy, not presentation – and a translation that softens a recorded entry would be rejected and could put an application at risk.
Does it need an apostille?
For a UK authority, no. For a foreign one, usually yes. The sequence is translate, certify, then apostille – see our apostille and legalisation page.
Can you translate certificates from several countries at once?
Yes, and it is cheaper than ordering them separately. Send them together and they are quoted as one job with a single delivery date.
Send us the police certificate
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
