Land and Property Document Translation

Property document translation for the Home Office: what you receive

Land and property are at the centre of many asylum cases. A family land dispute can lead to threats, false police cases or violence. Deeds and ownership records can also show where your family lived and who is related to whom.

Each translation includes:

• A full English translation of every page, including tables, columns, margins and endorsements.
• Descriptions of stamps, revenue stamps, thumbprints and signatures, for example "[Thumb impression of seller]".
• Plot, khasra, khatian or survey numbers copied exactly.
• A signed certification statement using the elements on GOV.UK's certifying a document (opens in a new tab) page: a "true and accurate translation of the original document", the date, and the translator's full name and contact details.
• A PDF by email and an optional hard copy by post.

Sample

Certified translation

Sale deed (land deed), registered

Urdu → English

Type of document

Sale deed

Seller's name

redacted

Buyer's name

redacted

Location of land

redacted village, redacted district

Plot (khasra) number

redacted

Area

[As written, with local unit kept in brackets]

Date of registration

redacted

• [Revenue stamp paper, value printed at top]
• [Thumb impression of seller]
• [Signature of registrar; round stamp, partly illegible]

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

Property documents we translate

Our property dispute document translation also covers complaints to the police or local council, jirga or panchayat decisions, lawyer's notices and civil court orders. When a dispute reaches court, our court document translation for asylum page explains how we handle judgments and orders.

Measurements and land terms

Land records use local units and legal terms that have no direct English match. A wrong conversion can change the meaning of your evidence.

Our approach:

• Local units stay as written. Units such as kanal, marla, bigha, katha, decimal and jerib are kept in the translation, transliterated.
• Conversions only when fixed. Some units, such as bigha and katha, vary by region. We add a metric equivalent only where the document itself gives one or the unit has a fixed legal value. Otherwise we add a short translator's note explaining the term, not a guessed figure.
• Legal terms explained once. Terms such as mutation, khasra or record of rights are translated and briefly explained in a note the first time they appear.
• Names and places. Village, tehsil, mouza and district names are transliterated consistently, and people's names follow the spelling on your passport or Home Office papers if you tell us.
• Dates. Afghan and Iranian deeds often use the Solar Hijri calendar. We keep the original date and add the Gregorian date.

Where your translated property document is used

• Home Office asylum claim: evidence of a land dispute, family ties or your home area.
• First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber): in the appeal bundle, where the Tribunal's rules require an English translation of any document not in English.
• Family matters in the UK: for example inheritance questions handled by a UK solicitor.

We do not assess whether a document helps your case. The caseworker or judge decides what weight it carries. For advice, speak to your solicitor or an IAA-regulated adviser.

Languages for property document translation

• Urdu deeds and revenue records from Pakistan, including handwritten Nastaliq, through our Urdu asylum document translation team. Many Punjab records also use Punjabi and Persian terms, which our translators know.
• Bengali deeds and khatians from Bangladesh, through our Bengali asylum document translation team.
• Dari, Pashto, Farsi, Arabic and Kurdish property papers. For country context, see our Pakistani document translation page.

Property document translation price and delivery time

Land records can be long and dense, with tables and handwriting. We quote per page or by word count after seeing the documents.

• Price: from £18 per page, or from £14 per page for 10 or more pages.
• Standard delivery: 1 working day for single certificates, 2–3 working days for longer documents.
• Urgent delivery: same day or within 24 hours, from £10 extra per document.

Prices shown are starting prices and include VAT. We confirm your exact price in a written quote before any work starts. See our translation prices page for full details.

Notarised property document translation for use abroad

For the Home Office and Tribunal, a certified translation is normally enough. A notarised translation may be needed if the papers go to an authority, bank or court outside the UK. A notary public confirms the translator's identity and signature. Some countries also want an apostille from the FCDO. See notarised translation for refugees and our apostille and legalisation service. We arrange notarisation with a UK notary public, from £45 per bundle (VAT included, confirmed in your written quote), and it adds 1 working day.