Urdu Asylum Document Translation to English

Certified Urdu to English translation for asylum

A certified translation is an English version of your document with a signed statement from the translator. The statement says the English is a true and accurate translation of the Urdu original.

GOV.UK's page on certifying a document (opens in a new tab) asks the translator to confirm in writing that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", the date of the translation, and their full name and contact details. For UK Visas and Immigration, the Immigration Rules (paragraph 39B) also ask for the translator's signature. For leave to remain and settlement applications, they ask for the credentials of the translator or company.

Every Urdu to English certified translation UK clients receive from us includes:

• the full English translation, following the layout of the original
• a certificate of accuracy, signed and dated
• our company name, address and contact details, plus translator credentials (we are members of the ITI, CIOL and ATC)
• notes for stamps, seals, signatures and anything unclear

Sample

Certified translation

Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), front and back

Urdu → English

Name

redacted

Father's name

redacted

Gender

[As printed on the card]

Identity number

redacted

Date of birth

redacted

Date of issue and expiry

redacted

Permanent address

redacted, redacted district

• [Photo of the holder]
• [Signature or thumb impression of the holder]
• [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

We certify our work to meet the Home Office's published requirements. The caseworker or judge then decides how much weight to give each document. The Home Office does not "approve" translators, so be careful of any company that says it does.

Urdu documents we translate

Most Urdu papers we see in asylum cases come from Pakistan. We translate civil records, police and court papers, political evidence and personal letters. Common examples:

• Police papers. First Information Reports, complaints and police summonses. See our page on police report translation for asylum.
• Identity documents. CNIC, Form B and other NADRA records, covered in ID card translation for asylum.
• Family records. Nikah Nama, NADRA birth and marriage certificates, and divorce papers. For divorce records see divorce certificate translation for refugees.
• Birth records. Union Council and NADRA birth certificates. See birth certificate translation for asylum.
• Court papers. Charge sheets, bail orders, summonses and judgments, covered in court document translation for asylum.
• Political evidence. Membership cards and party letters. Read about political party card translation.
• Press reports. Urdu newspaper cuttings about you or your family, through our newspaper article translation for asylum service.
• Medical records. Hospital notes and doctors' letters from Pakistan, covered in medical report translation for asylum.
• Land and family property. Fard, mutation records and sale deeds, handled through property document translation.
• Police character certificates. For later applications, see police clearance certificate translation.

If your solicitor needs a full set translated for your first claim, our asylum claim evidence translation page explains how we handle a mixed bundle.

Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi scripts we cover

Urdu is written right to left in the Nastaliq style of the Perso-Arabic script. Letters join and slope, and dots sit above and below the line. In handwriting, several letters can look alike, so reading them needs experience.

Urdu (Nastaliq)

Printed Urdu is fairly easy to read. Handwritten Urdu is harder. Many FIRs and Nikah Nama forms are still filled in by hand, often quickly and with official stamps on top. Our translators read the text in context and mark any word that cannot be read as [illegible], rather than guess.

Punjabi (Shahmukhi)

In Pakistan, Punjabi is written in Shahmukhi, which uses the same Perso-Arabic letters as Urdu. In India, Punjabi uses Gurmukhi, a different script. We offer Punjabi translation for asylum from both scripts. Our Punjabi asylum document translation page gives more detail.

Sindhi

Sindhi in Pakistan uses its own Perso-Arabic alphabet with extra letters. Land records, school papers and local letters from Sindh may be in Sindhi, Urdu or both. See Sindhi asylum document translation.

Names and spellings

Urdu names can be spelt in English in more than one way. We match the spelling on your passport, eVisa or Home Office letters, so your name looks the same across your evidence. If your spellings already differ, a statutory declaration for name spelling may help.

Pakistani documents in Urdu

This is a short guide to the Urdu documents we see most. Our Pakistan document translation for asylum page covers the wider set in more depth.

FIR. A First Information Report records a complaint at a police station. Many are now computerised, but many are still handwritten. Read more on FIR translation.

CNIC. The Computerised National Identity Card is issued by NADRA. We also translate Form B (child registration), NICOP and NADRA certificates. See CNIC translation.

Nikah Nama. The Islamic marriage contract, registered with the Union Council. NADRA then issues a computerised Marriage Registration Certificate. Our Nikah Nama translation page explains each column.

Warrants and court orders. Arrest warrants and proclamations often mix Urdu and English legal terms. See arrest warrant translation.

English to Urdu: Home Office letters in your language

Home Office letters are long and written in formal English. Reading a decision in a second language, under stress, is hard. An English to Urdu Home Office letter translation lets you and your family follow every point.

We often translate:

• asylum refusal letters and reasons for refusal
• interview records and screening notes
• tribunal decisions
• letters from your solicitor

Our Home Office refusal letter translation page explains this service in full. If you want to appeal, act quickly. GOV.UK says you usually have 14 days to appeal from inside the UK. We translate; we do not give legal advice. For advice, speak to a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC).

Our Urdu translators

Our Urdu team are native speakers who grew up reading Urdu and use English professionally. Each Urdu translator for asylum work has experience with Pakistani legal and civil documents, and we never use machine translation for certified work.

What this means for you:

1. Document knowledge. They know how an FIR, Nikah Nama or NADRA record is laid out, and what each field means.
2. Dialect awareness. They read Urdu as used across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir, including local place names.
3. A second check. A second linguist checks names, dates, numbers and stamps against the original.
4. Confidentiality. Your files are handled under UK GDPR, uploaded securely and deleted after delivery.

Urdu translation price and delivery time

We price most Urdu documents per page. A CNIC or birth certificate is usually one page. An FIR with a stamped copy, or a long court file, is quoted by page or by word.

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 usually need notarised translations. Some other bodies do. See notarised translation for refugees if one has been asked for. For deadlines, use our urgent asylum document translation service.

Upload your documents for a fixed Urdu translation quote. Full rates are on our translation prices page.

For family members 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 the route "remains paused". Check GOV.UK for the latest position. For marriage records, see marriage certificate translation for family reunion.