Tamil Asylum Document Translation to English

Certified Tamil to English translation for asylum

A certified translation is an English translation with a signed statement from the translator. GOV.UK says the translator should confirm it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", with the date, their full name and contact details (Certifying a document, GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)).

Every Tamil to English certified translation UK customers receive from us includes:

• the full English translation, laid out like the original
• a signed certificate with that accuracy statement and the date
• the translator's full name, contact details and credentials; we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC
• notes for stamps, seals, signatures and anything unreadable

Sample

Certified translation

Police complaint entry, Sri Lanka

Tamil → English

Police station

redacted Police Station, redacted district

Entry number

redacted

Date and time

redacted

Complainant's name

redacted

Address

redacted

Nature of complaint

[Handwritten text, translated in full]

Recording officer

redacted

• [Handwritten: text continues on the reverse]
• [Round stamp: Police Station, partly illegible]
• [Signature]

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

The Home Office does not approve individual translators. It sets out what a translation must contain, and the caseworker or judge decides how much weight the evidence gets.

Tamil documents we translate

Most Tamil paperwork we see comes from Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern Provinces. Common documents include:

• Identity: National Identity Card (NIC), passports, and our wider id card translation for asylum service
• Civil records: birth, marriage and death certificates; see birth certificate translation for asylum
• Police and court papers: complaint records, summons, detention and release papers, court orders. Our police report translation for asylum page explains how we handle these
• Medical papers: hospital discharge notes, treatment records and letters from doctors
• Letters and statements: letters from family, community leaders or clergy, and witness statements

For your Home Office interview, our asylum claim evidence translation service covers the papers you rely on. The same certified format suits family applications; see refugee family reunion document translation. New refugee family reunion applications have been paused since 4 September 2025, so check GOV.UK for the latest position.

Tamil script and dialects

Tamil uses its own script, written left to right. Handwritten Tamil can be hard to read on old or faded forms.

Sri Lankan Tamil differs from the Tamil of Tamil Nadu in India. Some everyday words, spellings and forms of address are different. Our translators work with Sri Lankan Tamil routinely, so a village name or a local official's title is not mistranslated.

How we handle names and dates

• Names: Tamil names often use an initial for the father's name, placed before the given name. We keep the order as written and follow the spelling in your passport or Home Office papers if you tell us.
• Dates: Sri Lankan civil documents use the ordinary Western (Gregorian) calendar. We write dates in full, for example "14 March 2009", to avoid confusion.
• Stamps and damage: we translate every stamp and seal we can read, and mark anything illegible as "[illegible]" rather than guess.

Documents from Sri Lanka in Tamil

Sri Lanka has two official languages, Sinhala and Tamil, and English is widely used as a link language. Many civil forms are printed in all three languages. The handwritten entries, however, may be in Tamil only.

If some of your documents are in Sinhala, our Sinhala asylum document translation team works alongside our Tamil translators. One certified set can then cover your whole file.

English to Tamil: Home Office letters in your language

We also translate the other way. If you received a decision you cannot fully read, we can provide an English to Tamil Home Office letter translation. This covers refusal letters, interview records and tribunal decisions.

Our home office refusal letter translation service turns a refusal letter into clear, accurate Tamil, so you and your family can follow what it says. We translate the letter only. For advice on what to do next, speak to a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA). Appeal deadlines are short: 14 days from the decision if you are in the UK.

Our Tamil translators

Our Tamil translator UK asylum team are qualified, UK-based professionals who translate Tamil into English. We never use machine translation for certified work.

• Quality processes that are ISO-certified, and membership of the ITI, CIOL and ATC
• Experience with Sri Lankan civil, police and court documents
• A second check of names, dates and numbers before delivery
• Confidential handling under UK GDPR, with encrypted upload and files deleted after delivery

Tamil translation price and delivery time

A short NIC or birth certificate usually costs less than a long court judgment.

• Certified translation: from £18 per page
• 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; see urgent asylum document translation

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

You receive a PDF by email, and a signed paper copy by post if you need one. The Home Office does not usually ask for notarisation. If another body does, we offer notarised translation for refugees from £45 per bundle. For a fixed price on your documents, request an asylum translation quote for Tamil documents.