Certified Asylum Document Translation in the UK

Upload your documents for a fixed quote

To translate documents for Home Office asylum use, you do not need to post anything to us. A clear photo from your phone is usually enough for us to price the work.

Our upload form asks for three things:

1. Your document. A photo or scan of every page, including the back of ID cards and any page with stamps.
2. The language. If you are not sure, tell us the country the document comes from. We will work it out.
3. Your deadline. For example, the date of your Home Office interview or a Tribunal hearing.

You can also send your documents on WhatsApp at +44 7482 545337. We reply with a fixed price and a delivery date within 1 hour, between 8am and 10pm UK time, 7 days a week. The price does not change after you accept it.

Asylum documents we translate

Most people bring a mix of identity papers, evidence of what happened to them, and family records. Good asylum evidence translation covers all of it, including stamps, seals, handwritten notes and text in the margins. Each document type has its own page explaining how we handle it.

Many documents are old, torn or handwritten. We translate what is legible and mark anything that cannot be read as "[illegible]", so nobody guesses. We never add, remove or "improve" anything in your document.

Translation for every stage of your case

Your case has different stages, and each stage needs different papers. We know what is usually needed at each point.

Making your claim and preparing for your interview

Before your substantive interview, your evidence needs to be in English so the Home Office caseworker can read it. Our asylum claim evidence translation page explains which documents people usually send and how to prepare them.

Appealing a refusal

If the Home Office refuses your claim, the time limit to appeal is usually 14 days from receiving the decision if you are in the UK. The Tribunal rules say a document not written in English "must be accompanied by an English translation" (rule 12, Tribunal Procedure Rules 2014 (opens in a new tab)). Our asylum appeal bundle translation service delivers paginated PDFs ready for the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).

Understanding your refusal letter

Refusal letters are long and written in legal English. We can translate one into your own language so you understand the reasons. See Home Office refusal letter translation.

Bringing your family to the UK

New refugee family reunion applications have been paused since 4 September 2025, and in March 2026 the Home Office said the route "remains paused". Please check GOV.UK for the latest position. Families may still apply through other routes. Our refugee family reunion document translation page explains what documents are usually needed.

After you get status

Once you have status, you may need translations for jobs, the NHS, the DWP or housing. Our refugee document translation UK service covers these. Later, you may apply for settlement or a British passport; see refugee ILR and citizenship translation.

When time is short

If your interview or hearing is very close, we offer urgent asylum document translation, with same-day delivery for short documents where possible.

We translate. We do not give legal advice about your claim or appeal. For advice, speak to a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC).

Languages spoken by asylum seekers in the UK

In the year to June 2026, the most common nationalities claiming asylum in the UK were Pakistani, Eritrean, Iranian, Sudanese, Afghan and Bangladeshi (Home Office statistics (opens in a new tab)). Their documents are mostly in the languages below. Our translators are native speakers who also know the local documents, scripts and calendars.

• Urdu (اردو). Pakistani CNICs, FIRs and Nikah Namas, often handwritten in Nastaliq script. See Urdu asylum document translation.
• Arabic (العربية). Documents from Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Eritrea. See Arabic asylum document translation.
• Farsi (فارسی). Iranian Shenasnameh, court summons and Revolutionary Court verdicts, dated in the Solar Hijri calendar. See Farsi asylum document translation.
• Tigrinya (ትግርኛ). Eritrean ID cards, baptism certificates and national service papers in Ge'ez script. See Tigrinya asylum document translation.
• Pashto (پښتو) and Dari (دری). Afghan Tazkiras, marriage records and letters. See Pashto and Dari asylum document translation.
• Bengali (বাংলা). Bangladeshi NID cards, General Diaries and FIRs. See Bengali asylum document translation.
• Kurdish (کوردی / Kurdî). Sorani in Arabic script and Kurmanji in Latin script, from Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. See Kurdish asylum document translation.

We work in 140+ languages in total, including Amharic, Somali, Albanian and Vietnamese. See the full list of asylum document translation languages.

Dates and names

Many asylum documents use a different calendar. A paper Tazkira, for example, often shows an age in a Solar Hijri year rather than a date of birth. We translate the date as written and add the Gregorian equivalent in a translator's note. We spell names the way they appear on your eVisa, passport or Home Office letters, if you tell us. This keeps your documents consistent.

What the Home Office asks for in a translation

This is the question most people ask us first. Here is what GOV.UK says, word for word.

The GOV.UK page Certifying a document (opens in a new tab) says the translator should confirm in writing on the translation:

• that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document"
• the date of the translation
• their full name and contact details

The Immigration Rules (paragraph 39B(f)) add more for UK Visas and Immigration. The translation must also carry the translator's signature. For leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain (ILR) applications, it must be certified by a qualified translator, with details of the translator's or the company's credentials.

Every certified translation for asylum claim UK use that we deliver includes all of these:

• a signed statement that it is a true and accurate translation of the original document
• the date of translation
• the translator's full name and signature
• our company name, address and contact details
• the translator's qualifications and our professional memberships (ITI, CIOL and ATC)

Sample

Certified translation

Birth certificate (example of our certified layout)

Arabic → English

Full name

redacted

Date of birth

redacted

Place of birth

redacted

Father's name

redacted

Mother's name

redacted

Registration number

redacted

Issuing office

Civil status office

• [Round stamp: civil status office, partly illegible]
• [Signature]
• [Translator's note: the layout, stamps and handwriting of the original are described in square brackets.]

Translator's statement

I confirm that this is a true and accurate translation of the original document.

Date

DD/MM/YYYY

Translator

Full name

Signature

We never use machine translation for certified work. Every certified translation is done by a qualified human translator and checked under our ISO-certified quality processes.

No translation company is "approved" by the Home Office, because no such approval scheme exists. Be careful of websites that say so. We certify to meet the Home Office's published requirements. The caseworker or judge then decides how much weight to give your evidence.

How ordering works

Our asylum translation services UK-wide work fully online, so getting your documents translated takes four steps.

1. Upload. Send photos or scans through our form, by email at info@asylumdocumenttranslations.co.uk or on WhatsApp at +44 7482 545337.
2. Quote. We check every page and send a fixed price and delivery date, usually within 1 hour (8am–10pm UK time, 7 days a week).
3. Pay. Accept the quote and pay securely by card, bank transfer, PayPal or another common method. For orders over £100, you can pay in 2 or 3 instalments. We start work after the first payment, and release the final certified translation once the last payment is received. Solicitors can ask to be invoiced on agreed terms.
4. Receive. You get a signed, certified PDF by email. You can also ask for a printed hard copy sent by Royal Mail tracked post.

Before delivery, a second linguist checks names, dates, numbers and stamps against the original. If you spot a spelling error in a name or date, tell us and we will correct it free of charge.

Confidential handling of your documents

Your documents contain private details about you and your family. Some may put people at risk if they were seen by the wrong person. We take this seriously.

• UK GDPR. We process your data under UK data protection law. Read our privacy policy.
• Encrypted upload. Files are sent over an encrypted connection and stored securely.
• Confidentiality agreements. Every translator signs a confidentiality agreement (NDA) before working on your file.
• Deletion. We delete your files after delivery, on the schedule set out in our privacy policy.
• Impartial translators. Our translators do not know you, and we ask them to tell us about any conflict of interest. They translate what is on the page and nothing else.

You can learn more about us, our translators and how we work. Asylum Document Translations is based at 33 Willmore Road, Birmingham, B20 3JH, United Kingdom. Our office hours are Monday to Friday 9am–9pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am–6pm (UK time).

Prices and delivery times

We price by the page, and you get a fixed quote before you pay. Short documents such as ID cards usually cost less than full pages of text. We are VAT registered, and all prices shown include VAT.

Prices shown are starting prices and include VAT. We confirm your exact price in a written quote before any work starts. For orders over £100, you can pay in 2 or 3 instalments. UK registered charities, refugee community organisations, law centres and people they refer get 15% off all translations.

See our full asylum document translation prices, with worked examples, or get a fixed quote for your documents.

When you need notarisation

For the Home Office, the Tribunal and HM Passport Office, you normally need a certified translation, not a notarised one. The Immigration Rules set out what a translation must include and do not mention notarisation. Please do not pay for notarisation unless someone has asked you for it.

Some organisations do ask for it. These include some embassies, overseas authorities, banks and courts. In those cases, our translator signs a declaration in front of a UK notary public. See notarised translation for refugees to check whether you need it.