Sworn Translation, also know as Public Translation, is a type of translation that is performed when a document requires legal acknowledgement, in other words, it is a translation service which confers public faith to an original document that has been translated from another language.

The most common requests for this service are birth certificates, power of attorney, diplomas, personal documents, certificates, legal processes and many others.

A translation or version of a legal document must be performed by a certified professional known as a Public Sworn Translator or a Public Translator and Official Interpreter (TPIC).

Sworn Translations are valid and recognized throughout Brazil. For a document to be conferred a legal status, it must contain the signature of a certified Sworn Translator, recognized in notary publics, and, depending on the document, it must also be registered at the Registry and Titles of Documents Department.

Sworn or Public Translation has as its main objective to validate foreign language documents in Brazil or vice-versa, making the translated version the official legal version. Therefore, it must be done on a special paper containing the Sworn translator’s and Business Interpreters letterhead with a standardized text formatting thus ensuring that the document’s format will never match that of the original version.

As instituted in Brazil by Legal Degree N. 13609 of the 21^st of October, 1943 with confers public faith to this translation discipline. Legal documents may only be translated by a Public Translator and Business Interpreter who duly authorized by a public entrance exam and who has been registered in the Chamber of Commerce of the state which he or she is domiciled in.

Validity

A document is only valid when it has been done by a public or sworn translator, that is a professional that is registered in the Chamber of Commerce of his or her domicile state. The document is valid throughout the country, and such documents are required for distribution by government bodies, private companies, and teaching institutions such as schools and universities.

Price

The price of Sworn Translations varies according to the document type, size and delivery deadline which are determined by a Pricing Table Recognized by a State’s Chamber of Commerce in which the translation will take place.  For Sworn Translations, its price is based on the amount of pages, which is defined as having 1.000 characters without spacing (according to the § 2.° of Jucesp Deliberation N. 005 of November 10th, 2011)

Deadlines

The delivery deadline also will depend on a document’s size and the delivery volume arranged beforehand by other clients as well as it`s urgency. On average, a document containing up to two 25 line pages will be delivered within five days. Urgent services normally incur a 50% charge of the original price and there may be other additional costs depending on the complexity or illegibility of a document.

To become a Sworn Translator

In order to become officially recognized as a sworn translator you must be a Brazilian citizen living in Brazil. You will need to have passed a public entrance exam administered by your State’s Chamber of Commerce. These entrance exams occur in very long intervals which range from 10 to 20 years, but, a Public Translator once having passed on this exam is not a civil servant nor does he or she need to work for the government in any capacity. There are no preparatory courses available for this exam, only ad-hoc classes once the exam’s public notice has been made publicly available.

Considering that only Sworn Translators are permitted to execute Public Translations, they are a necessary professional to count on in situations when a foreign document needs to have legal value in Brazil. In case such a translation is executed by a translators who is not duly recognized for this activity in the Chamber of Commerce, the translated document will be void.

How to contract this type of service

The best way to contract a sworn translator is by contacting Lins Translations directly, which has a highly qualified team that can execute a wide array of services.

However, if for some reason there is no sworn translator available in Brazil to execute a translation in a certain language, you will need to contact your consulate or embassy which will then delegate the service to an “ad-hoc” translator, in other words, a translator with a proven competency for performing a translation in that language even though he or she is not certified or permitted to practice this activity.