Amharic Asylum Document Translation to English

Certified Amharic to English translation for asylum

The Home Office, the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and your solicitor need to read your evidence in English. A certified translation does this. It is a full English version of the document, signed by the translator, with a statement that it is accurate.

GOV.UK's page on certifying a document (opens in a new tab) asks the translator to confirm it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", and to give the date and their full name and contact details. Every Amharic to English certified translation UK clients receive from us includes:

1. A signed certificate of accuracy.
2. The translator's full name, contact details and credentials (we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC).
3. The date of translation.
4. Every stamp, seal, signature and handwritten note described in square brackets.
5. Ethiopian calendar dates shown with their Gregorian equivalent.

Sample

Certified translation

Ethiopian identity card (Kebele ID), Amharic

Amharic → English

Full name

redacted

Father's name

redacted

Sex

redacted

Date of birth

redacted [Ethiopian calendar date, converted]

Region / zone

redacted region

ID number

redacted

Issue date

redacted

• [Round stamp: kebele administration office]
• [Translator's note: Ethiopian calendar dates are given as written, with the Gregorian date 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 cannot promise how much weight a caseworker or judge gives your evidence. We make sure the translation meets the Home Office's published requirements and can be checked easily.

Amharic documents we translate

Amharic is the working language of Ethiopia's federal government, so many national papers are written in it. We translate:

• Identity documents: kebele ID cards, passports, and the newer Fayda national digital ID issued by Ethiopia's National ID Program (NIDP).
• Civil records: birth, marriage and death certificates, and letters from local administrations.
• Police and court documents: summons, arrest warrants, charge sheets, court decisions and detention records.
• Political and community evidence: party membership cards, letters of support and threat letters.
• Medical papers: hospital cards, discharge letters and injury reports.
• Education and work: school certificates, university transcripts and employment letters.

For identity documents in any language, see ID card translation for asylum. Police statements, warrants and detention papers are covered on our police report translation for asylum page.

Amharic script and Ethiopian calendar dates

The Ge'ez (Fidel) script

Amharic is written in the Ge'ez script, also called Fidel. Each character stands for a consonant and vowel together, and there are hundreds of them. Small changes to a character change the sound, so names need careful checking. We write names in English as they appear in your passport or Home Office papers.

The Ethiopian calendar

Ethiopian documents usually use the Ethiopian calendar. It runs about seven to eight years behind the Gregorian year. It has 12 months of 30 days and a short 13th month of five or six days. The Ethiopian new year normally falls on 11 September (12 September in some years).

For example, Ethiopian year 2016 ran from September 2023 to September 2024. A date early in that year falls in 2023; a date later in the year falls in 2024. We convert every date and show both, for example "12 Tir 2016 (21 January 2024)". This matters when a caseworker compares dates in your statement with your documents.

Some documents also give times in the Ethiopian way, where the day's hours are counted from about 6 in the morning. We note the Ethiopian time and the matching clock time so nothing looks inconsistent.

Documents from Ethiopia in Amharic

Ethiopia's regions use different languages. Oromia uses Afaan Oromo, written in the Latin-based Qubee alphabet, and Tigray uses Tigrinya. Many people from Ethiopia therefore hold documents in more than one language.

• Oromo papers: see Oromo asylum document translation.
• Tigrinya papers, and Eritrean families who also use Amharic: see our Tigrinya asylum document translation page.
• Ethiopian Orthodox Church papers often use the Ethiopian calendar. See baptism certificate translation.
• Birth records for age or family evidence: see birth certificate translation for asylum.

Preparing documents to support your claim? Our asylum claim evidence translation page explains what to send and when.

English to Amharic: Home Office letters in your language

Letters from the Home Office are long and written in formal English. An English to Amharic Home Office letter translation lets you read every point in your own language.

We translate refusal decisions, interview records, tribunal determinations and letters from your legal representative. See our Home Office refusal letter translation page for details.

If you are in the UK, the time limit to appeal a refusal is usually 14 days. Please contact a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) quickly. We provide translation, not legal advice.

Our Amharic translators

Our Amharic translators are UK-based native speakers who read Ge'ez script fluently and know Ethiopian official language. They understand the terms used by kebele offices, police and courts. Every translation is signed by a qualified translator, and we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC. We never use machine translation for certified work.

Solicitors and caseworkers searching for an Amharic translator UK asylum work can trust also get consistent name spellings across a whole bundle. A second linguist checks all names, numbers and dates. Your files are kept confidential under UK GDPR and deleted after delivery.

Amharic translation price and delivery time

Our prices depend on the number of pages and how hard the document is to read. Handwritten or faded pages take longer.

Prices shown are starting prices and include VAT. We confirm your exact price in a written quote before any work starts.

You receive a signed PDF by email, ready to send to your solicitor or the Home Office. See our translation prices page for how we calculate costs, or ask for a fixed Amharic translation quote.