Sworn translation for your administrative formalities
from Wavre to Nivelles and Jodoigne
Civil status, residence, nationality, studies and vehicles: what the administration asks for, and nothing surplus. Nationality, marriage, diploma equivalence, imported car: the file accepted the first time it reaches the counter.
1 h
Reply to a request
24 h
Express on a birth or marriage record
70+
Working languages
0
Trips to plan for
Documents in the private clients & formalities field
Many families settle in Walloon Brabant in order to work in Brussels, and move on a few years later. In between, the children have to be enrolled, a marriage has to be recognised, a driving licence has to be exchanged. Each of those steps calls for a translated document, and usually a sworn one.
Civil status records
Births, marriages, divorces, deaths and certificates of single status presented to your municipality's population office.
Foreign court decisions
Divorce judgments, adoption orders, arrangements concerning children and attestations to be recognised in Belgium.
Diplomas and schooling
School reports, attendance certificates and diplomas requested when enrolling a child or building an equivalence application.
Driving licences
Foreign licences presented with a view to an exchange, together with the certificates that go with them.
Personal documents
Residence certificates, criminal record extracts, powers of attorney, medical certificates and employment contracts.
Legalisation at the FPS Justice
Where the recipient asks for a legalised signature, we take care of it. Any apostille on the original document remains for you to request.
The private clients & formalities field in Walloon Brabant
The people who call us almost always have a list of documents in hand and an appointment already booked. We start by establishing what is genuinely required: is the sworn translation enough? does the signature also have to be legalised? does the country of origin demand an apostille on the original? The answers vary from one department and one country to the next, and a surplus document costs money without serving any purpose.
Walloon Brabant has a high proportion of residents born outside Belgium, here for a post with a multinational, a European institution, a laboratory or the university. Their birth and marriage certificates, diplomas and driving licences have to be rendered into French before reaching the municipal counter. Just as often the movement runs the other way: a Belgian document heading for Flemish Brabant, for a federal administration or abroad goes out in Dutch or English.
There is no reason for you to travel: a sharp photo of your documents starts the work, and the stamped copy arrives at your home by registered post. If the date is close, say so when you ask: a sworn translation can be ready within 24 to 48 hours.
- Birth, marriage, divorce and death
- Criminal record extract and certificate of good conduct
- Qualification and transcript for recognition
- Driving licence and foreign registration certificate
When a written translation stops being enough
For some steps, a written translation does not replace a person standing beside you and rephrasing on the spot.
Municipal counters
Declaration of arrival, assembly of a marriage file or submission of documents to the population office.
Family formalities
Family reunification appointments, meetings connected to a marriage or to the acknowledgement of a child.
Professional appointments
Signing an employment contract, a banking appointment or a meeting with a social security body.
Medical appointments
A consultation, a planned hospital stay or a meeting with a care service.
Before having anything translated, ask the authority for the written list of documents expected, and above all whether it wants a sworn or a standard translation. That single question spares a great many people from paying twice: first for the wrong version, then for the right one.
What happens between your upload and the handover
Your private clients & formalities file stays with one and the same project manager, from the first document received to the final handover.
- 01
Send the document over
Any readable phone snap will do, however badly framed. Booking an interpreter instead? Send the date, the address and the pair of languages involved.
- 02
After 1 h you know price and deadline
You learn the figure, the delivery date and which route applies: sworn where an authority insists, standard everywhere else. Nothing to pay, nothing to sign.
- 03
The file goes to a specialist
Your text is handed to a linguist who uses private clients & formalities terminology daily, then passes under a second pair of eyes.
- 04
Handover or on-site assignment
The digital version reaches you by email. If a counter wants the stamped original, it travels by registered post. For a spoken assignment, the interpreter is there at the agreed hour.
A document to translate for an official step?
Photograph it, send it over, get a priced quote within the hour. Everything is settled without you having to travel.
What really counts on a private clients & formalities file
We also say when it is not needed
Sometimes a document does not need translating at all, or a multilingual extract from the municipality of origin will do. We say so before invoicing.
Everything is settled remotely
Send a photo, collect the finished file in your inbox, and let the stamped copy travel by registered post whenever the original is demanded. Nothing on your side involves leaving home.
A linguist from your own trade
We do not send a specialised text to a generalist. Urgency changes nothing about that rule, it only makes it harder to honour.
Confidentiality put in writing
Nobody touches your file without a signed confidentiality undertaking. Storage sits on servers inside the European Union, and one written request from you is enough to erase everything.
The quoted amount is the invoiced amount
No surcharge surfaces along the way. Translation, revision and handover all sit inside the figure you approved at the start.
Travel included within our area
Our interpreters drive to Wavre, Nivelles, Waterloo, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Braine-l'Alleud, Rixensart or Jodoigne with no mileage charge.
Frequently asked questions
Is a photo taken on a phone enough?
For the quote, yes, provided the whole document fits in the frame and the stamps are legible. If a sharper scan turns out to be necessary for the translation itself, we ask for it at that point and not before.
What is the difference between a sworn and a standard translation?
The sworn translation carries the stamp, signature and statement of conformity of a translator on the Belgian national register: that is the version municipalities, the federal services and the courts ask for. The standard translation is just as accurate but has no official status, and it does what is needed when nobody has to endorse it.
Do we have to come to Wavre?
Never. The quote, sending the document, payment and delivery all happen online. Where an authority requires the stamped original, it goes out by registered post to the address you give, in Belgium as much as abroad.
My document is wanted for tomorrow, what now?
Call rather than write. We check straight away whether a sworn translator for the right combination is free and we give you a straight answer. In common languages, a civil status record often goes out within 24 h.
Get your free quote within the hour
Send us your document or your date: firm price, precise deadline, no obligation. You then decide, with everything in front of you.