Can individuals translate their documents themselves for authentication?

Certified translation and document authentication are important procedures for documents requiring translation with foreign elements. Accordingly, the requester for authentication can hire a translator from a notary office to translate the languages present in the document.

However, in many cases, in order to save money and to have the translation done according to the creator's intentions, individuals have translated their own documents and brought them to be notarized. Is this case allowed by the notarization law?

1. Why does the translated document need to be authenticated?

According to Article 4, Clause 2 of the 2014 Notarization Law, notarized documents include contracts, transactions, and translations certified by notaries according to regulations. Therefore, the translation is also considered a notarized document and must be verified by an experienced notary according to legal regulations.

2. Regulations on certified translators

Currently, according to Article 1, Clause 61 of the 2014 Notarization Law, certified translators must meet the following requirements:

First, the translation of documents from Vietnamese into foreign languages or from foreign languages into Vietnamese for notarization purposes must be carried out by a translator who is a collaborator of the notarization professional organization.

Therefore, the collaborator must be a graduate of a foreign language university or another university proficient in the foreign language to be translated. The collaborator is responsible to the notarization professional organization for the accuracy and suitability of the translation content they provide.

Second, notaries receive the original document that needs to be translated, check it, and hand it to the collaborator translator of their organization to perform the translation. The translator must sign each page of the translation before the notary public certifies and signs each page of the translation.

Each page of the translation must be stamped with the words "Translated Copy" in the blank space above the right; the translation must be accompanied by a copy of the original and stamped with a seal.

Therefore, normally the translation must be done by a collaborator of the notarization professional organization and meet the above requirements in order to translate and take responsibility for their own translation.

Notarizing a translation in addition to following the proper translation procedures must adhere to the general principles of notarization for the translation. Notaries are not allowed to receive and notarize translations in the following cases:

- Notaries know or should know that the original is issued without authority or is invalid; fake original.

- The document requested for translation is erased, corrected, added, subtracted, or damaged, unusable, unclear content.

- The document requested for translation is classified as a state secret; documents prohibited from dissemination according to legal regulations.

4. Can a self-translated document be authenticated?

If an individual meets the professional requirements and is confident in their level of expertise, this issue is governed by Clause 2, Article 31 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP as follows:

For individuals who are not translation collaborators of the Department of Justice and self-translate documents for personal purposes and require the signature on the translated document to be authenticated, they must present the following documents:

- Original or certified copy of ID card or passport.

- Original or certified copy from the original document, certified copy of one of the documents specified in Clause 2, Article 27 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP. Except for translating non common languages without a language bachelor's degree, a university degree but proficient in the language to be translated.

- The translation attached to the document needed to be translated.