IRCC Translation Requirements for Your Documents
When IRCC needs a translation, who counts as a certified translator, when an affidavit is used, and how to upload a translation with its original.
The Celpip Plus team
Checked against IRCC's own pages, linked in each section
IRCC reads documents in English and French. Anything in another language has to come with a translation, and IRCC has rules about who can make it and what has to go with it.
The general rule comes from IRCC's help centre and applies across applications. Most of the detail below comes from IRCC's page on scanning and uploading documents for Express Entry. We say "for Express Entry" where that is the source. If you are applying through another program, the basics are the same but your own instructions decide the details, so read them alongside this guide.
What language should my documents be in?
IRCC's help centre says supporting documents must be in English or French unless IRCC tells you otherwise. For a document in any other language, it asks for three things:
- the English or French translation
- an affidavit from the person who translated it
- a certified photocopy of the original document
That is the general answer. The Express Entry page is more specific about the translator and the affidavit, as the next sections explain.
What does Express Entry ask for with a translation?
For Express Entry, IRCC asks you to upload the translation together with a scan of the original document, or a scan of a certified photocopy if the translator worked from that copy.
The translation itself should be stamped by a certified translator, and IRCC says the translator should also stamp any photocopy they worked from. IRCC accepts an affidavit in place of the certified translator's stamp only when a certified translator can't do the translation. So for an Express Entry upload, the certified translator is the normal route and the affidavit is the fallback.
The translation has to cover the whole document. If the original has seals or stamps that are not in English or French, IRCC says those need translating too.
Who counts as a certified translator?
For Express Entry, IRCC defines a certified translator as a member in good standing of a professional translation association, in Canada or in another country. Their membership number should appear on their seal or stamp on the translation.
The translator does not have to be in Canada, so a certified translator in your home country can do the work. And a translator who is still working toward certification does not qualify.
Our advice is to ask a translator for their association and membership number before you pay. If they can't give you one, their translation would need an affidavit, and IRCC only accepts that when a certified translator isn't available.
When is a translator's affidavit used?
An affidavit is a written statement the translator swears is true. For Express Entry, IRCC says the translator swears it before someone authorized to administer oaths, and it has to refer to both the translation and the original document. In Canada that can be a notary public, a commissioner of oaths or a commissioner of taking affidavits. Outside Canada, it can be a notary public or the equivalent. You and your family members can't take the affidavit.
IRCC's wording on the Express Entry page is to use this option "only if a translation cannot be completed by a certified translator." The help centre's general answer lists an affidavit as one of the standard items, so if you are applying through another program, check which version your instructions use.
Who is not allowed to translate my documents?
For Express Entry, IRCC says a family member, representative or consultant of the applicant can't translate your documents. That holds even if the person is a lawyer, a notary or a translator by profession, so a sibling who works as a certified translator still can't do yours. For police certificates, IRCC's help centre separately says translations by family members are not accepted.
What is a certified true copy?
A certified true copy is a photocopy that someone authorized has compared with the original and confirmed. For Express Entry, IRCC says the copy must be readable and the person certifying it must write their name, signature, title, the name of the document and the date, along with this statement:
"I certify that this is a true copy of the original document."
In Canada, notaries public, commissioners of oaths and commissioners of taking affidavits can certify copies, according to the same page. Outside Canada, IRCC says to check with local authorities. You can't certify your own copies, and neither can a member of your family; IRCC's list covers parents, guardians, siblings, spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and first cousins.
When you upload a scan of the original itself, you don't need a certified copy. The certified copy is for when you are scanning a copy rather than the original.
How do I upload a translation with its original?
IRCC keeps one file per upload field, and only the last file uploaded to a field is saved. So the translation, the scan of the original and any affidavit have to go into the same file. The IRCC document upload guide covers that rule in more detail.
We suggest one PDF per document, in this order: the translation first, then the affidavit if there is one, then the scan of the original or certified copy. An officer reads the English or French first and checks it against the original behind it.
If you have paper pages and a phone, convert the photos to a PDF with JPG to PDF, keeping every page and stamp in the frame. If the translator sent their work as a PDF, merge it with the original into one PDF. Check the combined file against your account's size limit before you upload, since a translated document often doubles the page count.
What should you check before ordering a translation?
These are our own suggestions, not IRCC requirements:
- Ask for a translation of every page, including the back of a certificate if it has writing or stamps.
- Check that names and dates match your passport spelling. A translation that spells your name differently from your other documents invites a question.
- Order translations early. Police certificates, birth certificates and transcripts are often the documents that need them, and they are also among the slower ones to get.
- Keep the translator's contact details in case IRCC asks a question about the translation.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. IRCC's help centre says a police certificate in another language needs a translation by a certified translator, and that translations done by family members are not accepted.
Not your spouse or any other family member. For Express Entry, IRCC says translations can't be done by a family member, representative or consultant of the applicant. A friend is not on that list, but IRCC still asks for a certified translator, or an affidavit when a certified translator can't do the work, so a friend would need to meet those rules.
For Express Entry, yes, if they are not in English or French. IRCC says the translation has to cover seals and stamps as well as the main text.
For Express Entry, you upload the translation together with a scan of the original document, or a scan of a certified photocopy if the translation was made from that copy.
Not as a certified translator. For Express Entry, IRCC says a translator who is still in the process of becoming certified does not qualify.
The basic rule, English or French or a translation, applies across IRCC. The details can differ by program, so read the instructions for your own application. The specific rules in this guide come from IRCC's Express Entry upload page.