This article is targeted at our Japanese clients; however, the logic of the cost-effective approach to Official Translation will hold true regardless of your location. Read on and profit!

“Official” imparts a whiff of additional cost.

This is quite proper, though, as additional services will be necessary depending on the required level of Official Translation. That is the reason why having a good understanding of What is Official Translation will help you save money & time. (You have all that buttoned down, right?)

Cost Effective Approach to Official Translation

Apostilled translation, in addition to certified translation, may also require notarization (depending on the type of document). Naturally, these additional services contribute to cost and time.

Therefore, you should adopt the following approach with Official Japanese Translation:

1. Thoroughly understand what the requirements of your application are, from the organization that is evaluating your documents.

2. Certified Translation
Common law countries -generally English-speaking countries, such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore etc.- accept Certified Translation, without additional requirements.

Will Certified Translation suffice? If yes, then you’re done and have saved some serious money & time! Follow these steps:

• Send us all your documents for certified translation.

Is there a notarization requirement? See next bullet.

3. Notarized Translation
Notarization is, unfortunately, quite expensive in Japan (reason being is that the Notary Public office falls under the Legal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice, making for a kind of monopoly).

Follow these steps:

• Get your documents notarized,
• Send us all your documents for certified translation.

(Order is important because the notarization will also need to be translated.)

Is there an apostilled requirement? See next bullet.

4. Apostilled Translation
Apostilled translation can be rather time consuming taking anywhere up to 15 days; therefore, I highly recommend reading the information at the end of the link above.

Follow these steps:

• Get your documents notarized,
• Get your documents apostilled,
• Send us all your documents for certified translation.

Order is important because the notarization and apostille may also need to be translated.

IMPORTANT
In Japan designated Notary Publics provide notarization AND apostille services at the same time i.e. one-stop service — You save money and time!

You may have noticed that Sworn Translation is not provided as an option here. The reason why is because there is no Sworn Translation in Japan.

And, finally, I would like to leave you with our oft repeated mantra:

Save yourself time, money and energy by getting your facts directly from the official authority (i.e. organizational level) that will be evaluating your translated documents

Need more information on certified translation? Click here for Certified Japanese Translation FAQs

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About the Author
Ivan Vandermerwe is the CEO of SAECULII YK, the owner of Japan, Tokyo based Certified Translation Japanese English Visit SAECULII for the latest professional case studies, articles and news on Japanese Translation Services

Copyright (C) SAECULII YK. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this article is permitted with inclusion of the “About the Author” reference as is (including text links, japan-translators.saeculii.com/english/services/japanese-certified-translations.cfm), and this copyright information. Articles may not be altered without written permission from SAECULII YK.