Do I need certification to run a translation business?

A stranger asked: If I am not doing any translations, but just own and run the business, what kind of translation certificates do I need? For translating birth certificates and marriage certificates and other documents like those, do I have to have to be certified? I thought that if your company logo and your signature is on the forms you need to be certified. Is that true?



The Spanish Translator: Whether you are doing translations yourself, or instead are just interested in contracting work out to other translators, the requirements are basically the same, and that is that you don't need any kind of certification to run a translation business or to translate.

That being said, when translating things like birth, death, or marriage certificates, while you don't need to be certified, these documents often do need to be notarized. The reason is because the agencies requesting the certificates require any translated certificate to be notarized. It's important to note that notarization in no way certifies or attests to the correctness of the translation, but rather it's a way of demonstrating that the person who did the translation is in fact the person he/she says. In addition, some translators like to add a translator certification statement that says that the person who did the translation did it to the best of their ability.

Hopefully that helps, and good luck starting your own translation business!