Sudanese Document Translation for UK Asylum Claims

Sudanese documents we translate for asylum

Sudanese evidence also often includes WhatsApp messages and voice notes from family. See our page on translating WhatsApp evidence for asylum for how we translate chats with dates and times.

How Sudanese documents are issued

Civil registration and the national number

Since 2011, the General Directorate for Civil Registration, part of the Ministry of Interior, has issued Sudan's national number and national ID cards (Landinfo report on Sudanese civil registration, via ecoi.net (opens in a new tab)). The national number links a person's records together. We copy it digit for digit on every translation, so a caseworker can match your ID card, birth record and passport.

Landinfo also notes that Sudanese documents use Arabic text with Western numerals. That means the numbers are usually easy to read, but the text around them, such as place names and office titles, needs a translator who knows Sudanese usage.

Education certificates

The Sudan School Certificate is the national secondary school exam certificate. It lists subjects and grades in Arabic. We translate subject names, grade terms and the exam year in full. If you want to use it for study or work in the UK, UK ENIC can issue a Statement of Comparability (opens in a new tab), which needs an English translation.

Damaged, partial and replacement documents

Many Sudanese documents reach the UK as phone photos, old copies or papers damaged by water or folding. We translate every readable word. Where text is missing or unclear, we mark it "[illegible]" or "[torn]" rather than guessing. If a document was replaced by a new one after 2023, we translate both, so the difference is clear.

Languages used on Sudanese documents

Sudanese official documents are written in Arabic. Some university papers and older certificates also include English. Our Arabic asylum document translation page explains how our translators handle Arabic handwriting, dialect and legal terms.

Some people from Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and other regions speak languages other than Arabic at home, but their official documents are still in Arabic. If you have letters or messages in another Sudanese language, ask us and we will check whether we can help.

Dates and names on Sudanese documents

Dates

Sudanese civil documents mainly use Gregorian dates in Arabic text. If a religious document, such as a marriage contract, also shows an Islamic (Hijri) date, we translate both dates as written and do not change either. We always write the month in words in English, for example 5 March 2019, to avoid confusion between day-month and month-day formats.

Names

Sudanese names normally follow the pattern of your own name, your father's name and your grandfather's name, sometimes followed by a family or tribal name. The same name can be spelled in English in many ways, such as Mohamed, Mohammed or Muhammad, and Abdelrahman or Abdul Rahman. We use the spelling on your passport or Home Office papers for every document. If you have no passport, tell us the spelling you have used with the Home Office.

Sudan document translation for asylum: price and delivery

Most Sudanese documents are one page. A school certificate with a transcript, or a set of family records, is quoted as a group.

• Certified translation: from £15 per document for ID cards and single certificates, or from £18 per page for longer documents
• Standard delivery: 1 working day for ID cards and 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. For interviews or hearings coming up soon, see urgent asylum document translation. Full fees are on our translation prices page.

What you receive

You receive a certified PDF with a signed statement that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", the date, and the translator's full name and contact details. This follows GOV.UK guidance. Each translation is signed by a qualified translator, and we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC.

Sample

Certified translation

Sudanese national ID card, front and back

Arabic → English

Full name

redacted

National number

redacted

Date of birth

redacted

Place of birth

redacted, Sudan

Mother's name

redacted

Date of issue

redacted

Issuing authority

Civil registration, Ministry of Interior

• [Photo of the holder]
• [Round stamp, partly illegible]
• [Translator's note: names are spelled to match your passport or Home Office file.]

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

Your files are confidential under UK GDPR and deleted after delivery. We do not give legal advice. For help with your claim, speak to a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA).