Notarized Translation Services

A notarized translation is a certified translation whose Certificate of Translation Accuracy has been signed before a notary public, who confirms the signer’s identity and adds a notarial certificate and seal. The notary does not read the translation and does not vouch for its accuracy; that is the translator’s certification. Prism Language Solutions notarizes translations in New York on request, usually the same day, for the recipients that require it: some state courts, foreign consulates and embassies, apostille offices, and a minority of universities and licensing boards. USCIS does not require notarization, and we say so rather than sell it.

Last reviewed September 11, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Language Solutions

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Notarized Translation vs Certified Translation

A certified translation is the translation plus a signed statement from the translator, or from the agency on the translator’s behalf, that it is complete and accurate and that the signer is competent in both languages. That statement is what receiving offices rely on. A notarized translation is the same package with one more step: the person signing the certificate does so in the presence of a notary public, who verifies their identity, administers an oath or takes an acknowledgment, and attaches a notarial certificate with their seal and commission details.

So the notary adds a layer of proof about the signature, not about the words. What a court or consulate gets from notarization is confidence that the certificate is not forged and that an identifiable person stands behind it, which is why the bodies that ask for it are the ones that treat the certificate as sworn evidence rather than a routine attachment.

Who Asks for a Notarized Translation

In our experience the recipients that require notarization fall into a short list. State courts where the rules call for a translator’s affidavit rather than a declaration; New York’s CPLR 2101(b), for instance, requires an affidavit by the translator stating their qualifications and that the translation is accurate, and an affidavit is a sworn, notarized statement. Foreign consulates, embassies and registries processing a marriage, a citizenship claim, a property transaction or a pension for a US resident, many of which come from the civil-law tradition where notarization carries more weight. Apostille offices, because a state Secretary of State authenticates the notary’s signature, so a translation bound for use abroad under the Hague Convention usually has to be notarized first. Some universities, licensing boards, banks and insurers, by internal policy rather than by law; their instructions say so, and we follow them.

The pattern to notice is that the requirement comes from the recipient’s written instructions. If those instructions say certified, notarization adds nothing. If they say notarized, sworn, or affidavit, it is required, and we ask you to send us the instructions so the wording of the certificate matches what they expect.

Notarized Translation for USCIS

USCIS does not ask for notarized translations. The regulation, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), requires a full English translation with the translator’s certification of accuracy and competence, and the checklists for Forms I-130, I-485, N-400, I-589 and I-751 repeat that language without mentioning a notary. A notarized certificate is not rejected, but it earns nothing, and applicants who pay for it are paying for the word rather than the requirement. The document set and the actual causes of Requests for Evidence are on the USCIS translation page.

Notarization does come up in consular processing abroad, where an individual post may ask for it, and where a US document is going to a foreign authority, which is really an apostille question. Where a client is filing the same translated birth certificate with USCIS and with a consulate, we notarize one set, leave the other plain, and charge for one notarization.

Notarized Translation Cost

Notarization is inexpensive, and it should be. New York caps the notary’s own fee at $2 per notarial act under Executive Law section 136. What you pay a translation company for is the handling: printing the certified translation, getting the signer and the notary in the same room, and mailing or couriering a wet-signed hard copy, because a notarized translation is a physical document. As a guide we charge about $15 to $25 per document for notarization on top of the certified translation, with the hard copy and postage itemized on the pricing page. Notarization is arranged in our New York office, normally the same day, and multiple pages of one document are covered by one notarial certificate.

Notarized Translation for an Apostille

When a translation is going abroad, notarization is usually the first link in a chain. The translator’s certificate is notarized; in New York the notary’s signature is then certified by the county clerk of the county where the notary is qualified; and the Department of State issues the apostille, at $10 per document, authenticating the notary. The foreign authority receiving the apostilled translation sees an unbroken line from the translator’s signature to a certificate their own law recognizes under the Hague Convention. We handle the notarization and can guide the county clerk and Department of State steps; the whole route, including translating an apostille that arrives from abroad, is set out on the apostille translation page.

One caution: an apostille authenticates the notary, so if the translation is notarized in a state other than the one that will issue the apostille, the chain breaks. Tell us which state’s apostille you need before we notarize.

How to Order a Notarized Translation

Send the document through the quote form or by email with the recipient’s instructions, and say where the hard copy should go. A project manager confirms whether notarization is actually required, quotes the translation and the notarization as separate lines, and gives a delivery date. Short documents in common languages such as Spanish, Italian or Polish are translated, certified and notarized within a business day; the PDF is emailed the same day and the notarized original follows by mail or courier. If the recipient needs the translation bound to the original document rather than to a copy, send the original by tracked mail.

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