Certified Translation Services USA, USCIS Accepted | Protranslate

Certified translation services in the United States run on one federal rule and fifty sets of state paperwork, which is why the same document sails through in one state and comes back in another. Below is what agencies actually require, what a certified translation costs, and how the rules shift once you leave the federal level. If you already know what you need, upload the file and the price appears on screen. If certified, notarized and apostilled all sound like the same thing, start with that section — they get used interchangeably and they are not interchangeable.

What US agencies require from a certified translation

There is no government register of sworn or licensed translators in the United States. No state keeps one, and no federal agency issues translator licences. This throws people who moved here from Germany, Spain, Poland, Brazil or Turkey, where a court-appointed translator applies a personal stamp and that stamp is the whole point.

The American system works differently. What agencies want is a signed certification attached to the translation. USCIS states the standard at 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3): any document in a foreign language must come with a full English translation, plus the translator's signed statement that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from that language. That's the entire federal requirement. A translation is not accepted because of who stamped it, but because of what the certification says.

Because the standard is federal, it doesn't change between Boston and San Diego. A certification that satisfies a USCIS officer in Massachusetts satisfies one in Texas. Our certifications are issued on company letterhead, signed, and formatted to mirror the original document page for page.

What certified translation services cost in the US

We price per word rather than per page. That sounds like a technicality until you look at how most competitors bill: they define a page as 250 words and round up. A 380-word birth certificate is one physical page, but a capped provider charges you for two. Priced by the word, that document comes to about $37 here instead of two full pages.

The certification itself is free, revisions are free, and certified orders above $250 pick up an automatic volume discount — which is why a full immigration dossier of eight or ten documents costs noticeably less here than at a flat per-page shop. If an agency rejects one of our certified translations because of the translation, we redo it at no charge.

Certified vs notarized vs apostilled translation

These three get treated as synonyms constantly, and mixing them up is the most expensive mistake in the process. Two minutes here saves paying twice.

Certified means the translator signed a statement of accuracy and competence. This is what USCIS requires, and it's what the overwhelming majority of American institutions mean when they ask for a certified translation. It's what we provide.

Notarized means a notary public witnessed a signature. The notary doesn't check the translation and isn't qualified to — they confirm who signed. USCIS does not require notarization. Some universities, probate courts and foreign consulates do, so read the instruction sheet you were given rather than guessing.

Apostilled means a government authenticated the original document for use abroad, under the Hague Convention. For a US state-issued record like a birth certificate, that comes from that state's Secretary of State, not from a translation company. If your destination country asks for an apostille, get it before you order the translation, then send us the document and the apostille together so both are translated. Doing it in that order means paying once.

Certified translation requirements by state

The federal standard is uniform, but two things are handled at state level and they vary: driver's licence conversion, and how you obtain a certified copy of a vital record in the first place.

Massachusetts is a good illustration of how specific this gets. The RMV won't accept a translation unless the certification names the translator's qualifications, confirms the translation is complete and accurate, identifies the document and the language, and is printed on the certifying company's letterhead. Certified copies of Massachusetts birth and marriage records come from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Dorchester at $32 a copy, and anything before 1936 sits with the State Archives instead. None of that is guessable from the federal rule, and it's the kind of detail that decides whether you make your appointment or come back next month.

We publish that detail city by city rather than pretending one page covers the country. Each of these carries its own state's rules, and they genuinely differ — several explain where a translation will not help you at all:

• Certified translation in New York — the DMV's consulate-only rule for foreign licences, and what the State Department of Health says about translations
• Certified translation in Los Angeles — the California DMV's certified-translation-or-affidavit rule and LA County's threshold languages
• Certified translation in Chicago — Illinois vital-record fees, the twelve-week wait, and the Polish paperwork no other US city produces in volume
• Certified translation in Houston — the Texas rule that exempts Spanish-language driver's licences but not the rest of your file
• Certified translation in Phoenix — Arizona's documents-must-be-in-English requirement and Maricopa County's split between vital records and the court clerk
• Certified translation in Philadelphia — why PennDOT points first-year drivers at an international permit rather than a translation
• Certified translation in San Antonio — the Bexar two-counter split, and the Texas apostille sequence that has to start with the record request
• Certified translation in San Diego — the border crossings, the Navy community, and San Diego County's own record offices
• Certified translation in Dallas — Dallas County's $23 certified copy and the city-limits split on birth records
• Certified translation in San Jose — Santa Clara County's federal language coverage and the ninety-day split between health department and recorder
• Certified translation in Austin — why Austin has no USCIS field office, and the $23 city versus $22 county birth-record split
• Certified translation in San Francisco — the Language Access Ordinance threshold change and authorized-versus-informational copies
• Certified translation in Columbus — Ohio's $21.50 search fee, and why the BMV's own document list never mentions translation
• Certified translation in Cleveland — where Cleveland issues certificates for anyone born in Ohio, and the Secretary of State's notarise-first apostille rule
• Certified translation in Cincinnati — the Ohio and Northern Kentucky split, and why Ohio health departments hold no marriage records
• Certified translation in New Orleans — a closed-record state, parish rather than county records, and why the state registry holds Orleans marriages only
• Certified translation in Louisville — Kentucky's own notarised interpreter affidavit, form TC 94-197, which is not the same thing as our certification
• Certified translation in Milwaukee — Wisconsin publishes no translation format, but Korean and Taiwanese licences must go through their Chicago consulates
• Certified translation in Salt Lake City — Utah has no Secretary of State, and its Driver License Division keeps its own approved-translator list
• Certified translation in Oklahoma City — Service Oklahoma publishes no translation rule at all, and notarised documents or photocopies are refused outright
• Certified translation in Richmond — Virginia asks for a professional certified translation, and apostilles come from the Secretary of the Commonwealth
• Certified translation in Albuquerque — New Mexico wants a notarised English translation for the standard licence, and Bernalillo County is covered for Navajo as well as Spanish
• Certified translation in Tucson — Pima County's court-held marriage records, and an African community the rest of Arizona does not have
• Certified translation in El Paso — a city where 64% speak Spanish at home, and a county clerk that takes cash but no foreign currency
• Certified translation in Fort Worth — city limits across five counties, and one of only three Texas counties covered for Vietnamese
• Certified translation in Jacksonville — Florida's state record office is in your city, so a walk-in costs $9 where ordering online costs $26
• Certified translation in Memphis — Shelby County issues records for births anywhere in Tennessee, and only ever the long form
• Certified translation in Birmingham — Alabama stopped issuing marriage licences in 2019, and its apostille office wants a notarised translation
• Certified translation in Jackson — Mississippi's Choctaw-covered counties, and the marriage years only the circuit clerk holds
• Certified translation in Little Rock — Arkansas wants a proper affidavit and notarial acknowledgement, and no Arkansas county is language-covered
• Certified translation in Honolulu — Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor acts as Secretary of State, and licensing runs through the county
• Certified translation in Boise — Idaho publishes no translation format at all, and its Star Card list never mentions one
• Certified translation in Anchorage — Alaska's document list has no room for a foreign birth certificate, and 13 boroughs are covered for Native languages
• Certified translation in Hartford — Connecticut's DMV translator list is closed to new applicants, and the state now has planning regions rather than counties
• Certified translation in Providence — Rhode Island accepts a certified translation but only handles out-of-country licences at one office
• Certified translation in Buffalo — Erie County records go through the state route, not the New York City one, and Bangladesh is the largest origin
• Certified translation in Omaha — Nebraska accepts translations of marriage licences only, and says a notary is not required
• Certified translation in Wichita — Kansas publishes no translation rule, and its $20 record fee is really a five-year search fee
• Certified translation in Des Moines — Polk County beats the state on price, and Iowa tests drivers in twenty languages
• Certified translation in Charlotte — the NC Secretary of State's certified-or-notarized translation rule, and what NCDMV does not publish
• Certified translation in Indianapolis — Indiana's non-refundable search fee, the county-clerk marriage rule, and Burmese as the city's second-largest origin
• Certified translation in Seattle — Washington's missing certification-format rule, and why you should ask before buying a DOL translation
• Certified translation in Denver — Colorado's same-page affirmation and translator licence-number rule, which our federal format does not carry
• Certified translation in Washington DC — the DC DMV's embassy-or-translation-company rule and the date-order requirement
• Certified translation in Boston — the Massachusetts RMV letterhead requirement, and where to obtain a certified vital record first
• Certified translation in Nashville — Tennessee's own Certificate of Accurate Translation form, with its notary block
• Certified translation in Detroit — Michigan asks for a translation but requires no certified translator, so you may not need us
• Certified translation in Portland — Oregon's English-or-translation passport rule, and why a standard licence needs less than you were told
• Certified translation in Las Vegas — the Nevada DMV's closed approved-translator list, which we are not on
• Certified translation in Baltimore — the Maryland MVA's approved-translator, court-registry or embassy requirement
• Certified translation in Sacramento — the county's $34 birth copy against the state's $31, and what an informational copy cannot be used for
• Certified translation in Kansas City — a city spread across four counties and two state lines, and Missouri's notarised mail applications
• Certified translation in Atlanta — the Georgia rule where a translation cannot help you at all
• Certified translation in Miami — FLHSMV's three-part translator statement, and why hospital birth certificates are refused
• Certified translation in Minneapolis — Minnesota Rule 7410.0400, under which the translator may not be related to you
• Certified translation in Tampa — Hillsborough's $14 birth copy against Pinellas and Pasco, and which records only Jacksonville holds
• Certified translation in Riverside — Riverside County's 2026 fee schedule and its Spanish-language county proceedings
• Certified translation in St. Louis — an independent city that keeps its own records, and the largest Bosnian community in the country
• Certified translation in Newark — the NJ MVC certification block, and why New Jersey apostilles come from the Treasury
• Certified translation in Orlando — Orange County's own language-access counts, and the Orange-versus-Osceola fee gap

Start with the city closest to where you are filing. The federal standard never changes; the state rules around it do.

Documents we translate and certify most often

• Birth certificate translation for green cards, school enrolment and dual citizenship
• Marriage certificate translation for spousal petitions and name changes
• Diploma and transcript translation for admissions and credential evaluation
• Police and criminal record translation for immigration and licensing boards
• USCIS document translation across the full petition packet
• Foreign driver's licences, in each state's required certification format

The highest-volume pairs we handle for clients in the US are Spanish to English certified translation and Portuguese to English certified translation, followed by Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Haitian Creole and Vietnamese. We work in more than 120 languages.

Why our certified translations get accepted

Protranslate has translated documents for more than 85,000 customers in 163 countries since 2014, holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 4,101 verified reviews, and is certified to ISO 17100, the international standard for translation services. We're a member of the American Translators Association and of GALA. Every certified document goes through a second linguist before the certification is issued, which is the step budget providers quietly skip.

How to order a certified translation online

Upload the document or a clear phone photo of it, pick the target language, and say whether it needs to be certified. The price and the delivery date appear immediately — no quote form, no waiting for someone to email you back. Pay by card and the finished translation arrives by email with the certification attached. If an office wants paper, we courier a signed hard copy.