Qualifications for Certified Translation Services

What is required to certify a translation? What companies are qualified to prepare certified translations? Is there an official master list somewhere of translators or translation organizations that are recognized as being qualified to prepare a certified translation? These and questions like them are ones that prospective customers ask when inquiring about certified translation services.

 

Is there an official master list of translators or translation organizations that are recognized as being qualified to prepare a certified translation?

 

Below is what the American Translator’s Association (ATA) states on their website concerning certified translations:

A certified translation is a translation accompanied by a signed statement attesting that the translation is accurate and complete to the best of the translator’s knowledge and ability. Any translator or translation company may certify a translation.

 

 

The USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) adds the following about the actual certification of a translation:

A translation certification is a formal statement in which a translator shows that they have accurately translated a foreign-language document into English. Any foreign language document must be accompanied by a full English translation that the translator has certified as complete and correct, and by the translator’s certification that they are competent to translate the foreign language into English.