Farsi Asylum Document Translation to English

Certified Farsi to English translation for asylum

Farsi, also called Persian, is the official language of Iran. Iran is one of the top countries of origin for people claiming asylum in the UK. Most Iranian documents are printed and stamped in Farsi, and their dates need converting before a UK caseworker can use them.

A certified translation is the English text plus a signed statement from the translator. GOV.UK's page on certifying a document (opens in a new tab) asks for confirmation that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", the date, and the translator's full name and contact details. The Immigration Rules (paragraph 39B) also require a signature, and the translator's or company's credentials for leave to remain and settlement.

Each Farsi to English certified translation UK clients receive from us includes:

• a full English translation laid out like the original
• Solar Hijri dates shown with the Gregorian equivalent
• a signed, dated certificate of accuracy with our contact details
• certification from a company that is a member of the ITI, CIOL and ATC
• notes describing seals, stamps, barcodes and handwritten entries

Sample

Certified translation

Iranian national identity card (Kart-e Melli)

Farsi → English

Full name

redacted

Father's name

redacted

Date of birth

redacted

National number

redacted

Place of birth

redacted

Issuing authority

Civil Registration Organisation

Card serial number

redacted

• [Photograph]
• [Translator's note: dates are in the Solar Hijri calendar; we add 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 certify every translation to meet the Home Office's published requirements. The caseworker or judge decides how much weight to give it.

Farsi documents we translate

We translate every kind of Persian document that supports an asylum claim or appeal. Persian translation for asylum often includes:

• Shenasnameh (birth certificate booklet) and Kart-e Melli (national ID card). See ID card translation for asylum.
• Birth and marriage records, including marriage entries in the Shenasnameh. See birth certificate translation for asylum and marriage certificate translation for family reunion.
• Court summons, charges and verdicts, including Revolutionary Court papers. See court document translation for asylum.
• Arrest warrants and bail papers, covered by arrest warrant translation.
• Threats and warnings from the authorities or others, through threat letter translation for asylum.
• Church letters and baptism certificates for Christian converts. Read about baptism certificate translation.
• Medical reports from Iranian hospitals, through medical report translation for asylum.
• Chats and social media in Farsi or Finglish (Farsi typed in Latin letters). See our page on translating WhatsApp evidence for asylum.
• News reports about arrests or events, through newspaper article translation for asylum.
• Iranian driving licences, later in your life in the UK. See driving licence translation for refugees.

If your solicitor is building a full evidence set, see asylum claim evidence translation.

Farsi script and Solar Hijri dates

Farsi is written right to left in a Perso-Arabic script with 32 letters. Four letters (پ چ ژ گ) are not used in Arabic. Iranian documents often use Persian digits (۱۲۳), and a slipped dot or digit can change a name or a date. We check every one.

How we convert Solar Hijri dates

Iran's official calendar is the Solar Hijri (Shamsi) calendar. The year starts at Nowruz, around 20 or 21 March. Solar Hijri years are 621 or 622 years behind the Gregorian year, depending on the month.

For example, 1 Farvardin 1400 is 21 March 2021. We show both dates in the translation, like this: "1 Farvardin 1400 [21 March 2021]". The caseworker sees the original and the converted date together, and can check it.

This matters because a wrong year conversion can make your account look inconsistent. We double-check every date against a conversion table.

Names

Persian names can be spelt many ways in English, such as Mohammad or Mohammed, Hosseini or Hosseyni. We use the spelling in your passport or Home Office papers, so your evidence matches.

Iranian documents in Farsi

This section gives short notes on the Iranian documents we see most. For the full picture, see our Iran document translation for asylum page, which covers Iranian document translation in Farsi in more depth.

Shenasnameh. The birth certificate booklet records your name, parents, date and place of birth, and later marriages, divorces and children. Only the brown version has a photo. Read our Shenasnameh translation page for a field-by-field guide.

Kart-e Melli. The national ID card. Only the electronic smart card version is now issued in Iran. We translate both sides, including the national ID number.

Court papers. Summons, indictments and verdicts use formal legal Farsi. Revolutionary Court documents often matter a great deal in political or religious claims. Many summons now arrive electronically through the Sana system, so a screenshot may be your only copy. We translate screenshots too.

English to Farsi: Home Office letters in your language

We translate Home Office letters into Farsi so you can read your own decision. Our English to Farsi Home Office letter service covers refusal letters, reasons for refusal, interview records and tribunal decisions.

See our Home Office refusal letter translation page for how it works. Appeal deadlines are short. GOV.UK gives 14 days to appeal from inside the UK. We translate but do not give legal advice. For advice, contact a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC).

Our Farsi translators

Our Farsi translators are UK-based native speakers who work in English every day. We work to ISO-certified quality processes and never use machine translation for certified work.

1. Legal and religious vocabulary. They know Iranian court language, including Revolutionary Court and religious terms.
2. Church terms. They translate church letters and baptism records with correct Christian terms in both languages.
3. Regional names. They know Iranian place names, including Kurdish, Azeri and Baluch areas.
4. Checks and privacy. A second linguist checks names, dates and numbers. Files are handled under UK GDPR and deleted after delivery.

Some Iranian papers are written partly in Kurdish. For those, see our Kurdish asylum document translation service.

Farsi translation price and delivery time

We quote per page for most Farsi documents. A Kart-e Melli is usually one page, both sides. A Shenasnameh is priced by the number of pages with entries. Court files are quoted by length.

Prices shown are starting prices and include VAT. We confirm your exact price in a written quote before any work starts. Notarisation is not normally needed for the Home Office. For tight deadlines, choose urgent asylum document translation. See our translation prices or request a fixed Farsi translation quote.

For family members still abroad, see refugee family reunion document translation. New refugee family reunion applications have been paused since 4 September 2025, and the Home Office said in March 2026 that the route "remains paused". Please check GOV.UK for the latest position.