Certified translation

What it means

A certified translation is produced by a translator on the justice ministry’s register. It is bound to the original or a certified copy and carries the translator’s clause and seal.

Authorities, courts, banks and registers normally accept a foreign-language document only in that form. An ordinary translation, however accurate, carries no legal weight.

A sworn translator’s clause confirms that the translation matches the source text, not that the document itself is genuine. If a copy is translated, its conformity with the original has to be certified separately, and with a foreign document, such as a power of attorney signed abroad, the signature may need authentication too. The translation replaces none of these certifications.

How it works in practice

Companies need one to incorporate with a foreign member, register a foreign director, employ foreign staff or file documents for procurement.

For a document going abroad the order matters: apostille the original first, then translate it together with the apostille. Reversing that means doing the whole thing again.

Ordinary invoices and contracts in English need no sworn translation for the accounts. In a tax audit, however, the tax administrator can ask for translations of foreign-language documents and insist on an official translation for important ones. For key contracts with foreign partners we therefore advise clients to have a Slovak version ready before anyone asks for it.

What to watch out for

The translation is bound to a specific document, so a new version of the document needs a new translation. Allow for it in your timeline: translators are not free on the day you need them.

Authorities accept some documents only up to a certain age from issue, for example a criminal record extract or an extract from the Commercial Register. If you translate a document issued several months earlier and the procedure drags on, the authority may ask for a fresh extract and with it a fresh translation, so you pay twice for the same thing.