Tigrinya Asylum Document Translation to English

Certified Tigrinya to English translation for asylum

Eritrea is one of the top nationalities claiming asylum in the UK. Tigrinya is the main language of most Eritrean documents, and it is also spoken in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Good Tigrinya translators are hard to find in the UK, and many agencies simply list the language without the specialist knowledge.

A certified translation is the English text plus a signed statement from the translator. GOV.UK's guidance 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", with the date and their full name and contact details. The Immigration Rules (paragraph 39B) add the translator's signature and, for leave to remain and settlement, their credentials.

Every Tigrinya to English certified translation UK clients receive from us has:

• a full English translation, set out like the original
• dates shown as written, with the Gregorian date added where a church calendar is used
• a signed and dated certificate of accuracy
• our company details and translator credentials (we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC)
• notes on stamps, seals, signatures and faded or torn areas

Sample

Certified translation

Baptism certificate, Eritrean Orthodox church

Tigrinya → English

Name of person baptised

redacted

Baptismal name

redacted

Date of birth

redacted [Gregorian date added in brackets]

Father's name

redacted

Mother's name

redacted

Church

redacted church, redacted

Date of baptism

redacted [Gregorian date added in brackets]

• [Round stamp: church, partly illegible]
• [Signature of the priest]
• [Translator's note: church calendar dates are shown as written, with the Gregorian date in 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 to meet the Home Office's published requirements. The decision-maker decides how much weight to give each document.

Tigrinya documents we translate

Many Eritreans leave with very few papers. What they do have is often a church certificate, an ID card or a letter kept by family. We translate all of these, including phone photos sent by relatives.

• Eritrean national ID cards. See ID card translation for asylum.
• Birth certificates from the civil registry, through birth certificate translation for asylum.
• Baptism and church certificates from the Orthodox Tewahedo, Catholic and Evangelical churches. See baptism certificate translation.
• Marriage records, church and civil, for marriage certificate translation for family reunion.
• National service and military papers, including Sawa papers and release letters, through military service document translation.
• School and training certificates, covered by education certificate translation for refugees.
• Summonses and warnings from the authorities or others, covered in threat letter translation for asylum.
• Letters from family and witnesses, often handwritten.

If your solicitor is preparing a full set for your claim, see asylum claim evidence translation. For appeals, we also prepare translations for asylum appeal bundle translation.

Tigrinya script and Eritrean dates

Tigrinya is written in the Ge'ez script, also called Fidel. Each character stands for a consonant plus a vowel, and there are more than 200 characters. Amharic uses the same script, so we are careful to tell the two languages apart.

Which calendar is on your document?

This is where many translations go wrong. Different Eritrean and Ethiopian documents use different calendars.

The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months and runs about seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. Its new year falls in September. So a baptism certificate from an Orthodox church may show a year that looks seven or eight years "too early".

We write the date as it appears, then give the Gregorian date in brackets. That way the caseworker can see both, and your age and timeline stay consistent.

Names

Eritrean names usually follow the pattern of your own name, then your father's name, then your grandfather's name. There is no family surname in the British sense. We keep that order and match the spelling used on your Home Office papers.

Eritrean documents in Tigrinya

Eritrean document translation is most of our Tigrinya work. These are short notes on the documents we see most. For a full guide, see our Eritrea document translation for asylum page.

National ID card. Issued by the Department of Immigration and Nationality, which has branches in each Zoba (region). The card is printed in Tigrinya and Arabic, is for citizens over 18, and does not expire. We translate both languages on the card.

Baptism certificates. Often the only proof of birth and family for Eritreans. Orthodox certificates usually use the Ethiopian calendar and include the names of godparents and the priest. Handwriting and church stamps are common.

National service papers. Documents connected with Sawa, the national service training centre, and later postings. Release papers, transfer letters and summonses may all be relevant to an asylum claim.

Birth certificates. Issued by the Public Registration Office, in Tigrinya or English. We translate the Tigrinya parts and keep English entries as written.

English to Tigrinya: Home Office letters in your language

Home Office decisions are long and in formal English. We provide English to Tigrinya Home Office letter translation so you can read your refusal letter, interview record or tribunal decision in your own language.

Our Home Office refusal letter translation page explains more. Appeals have short deadlines. GOV.UK gives 14 days if you are in the UK. We translate only. For advice, speak to a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC).

Our Tigrinya translators

Our Tigrinya translators are qualified, UK-based professionals who work into English. We work to ISO-certified quality processes and never use machine translation for certified work.

1. Eritrean document knowledge. They know ID cards, church certificates and national service papers.
2. Calendar skills. They convert Ethiopian calendar dates and check each one twice.
3. Church language. They read the Ge'ez used in Orthodox church records.
4. Privacy. Files are uploaded securely, handled under UK GDPR and deleted after delivery.

Amharic and Oromo

We also offer Amharic translation for asylum. Amharic is the working language of the Ethiopian federal government, written in the Ge'ez script, with Ethiopian calendar dates. See Amharic asylum document translation. Oromo is written in a Latin-based script called Qubee. See Oromo asylum document translation.

Tigrinya translation price and delivery time

Tigrinya documents are usually priced per page. An ID card or baptism certificate is normally one page. Handwritten letters and longer papers 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.

The Home Office does not normally need notarised translations. For deadlines, use our urgent asylum document translation service. See translation prices or ask for a fixed Tigrinya translation quote.

Many Eritrean families want to bring relatives to the UK. Our refugee family reunion document translation page explains which papers matter. 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". Check GOV.UK for the latest position.