Sworn translation of a foreign passport or identity card

First of all: do you really need it?

The Questura, the Comune and the tax agency read a passport as it is: the data page gives name, surname and dates in Latin characters, following the international standard. Do not order a translation if nobody has asked you for one. Requests do come in these cases:

• an identity card with data only in Arabic script, filed with an office that has to transcribe the details;
• the passport's annotation or observations pages, when they prove another surname (for example a spouse's), a change of name or a restriction;
• a notary or court attaching the translated copy of a party's document to a deed or case file;
• an Italian identity document to be used abroad, when the foreign body does not accept the Italian ID card or passport without translation.

How the name is spelled: the passport as reference

The passport is the document every other translation is aligned with. When we translate a birth certificate, a diploma or a certificate in Arabic, we give the name with the passport spelling, if you provide it. Uploading the data page with your order prevents the same name appearing three different ways in three documents, one of the most frequent reasons for queries at the Comune and the Questura.

What the translation contains

• the data page: name, surname, sex, date and place of birth, document number, dates of issue and expiry, issuing authority;
• the machine-readable zone at the bottom of the page, reproduced as it is;
• the annotation pages and, if required, the visas and entry stamps you need to document;
• for an identity card, front and back, including the address and any notes on the back.

The photo and security features are not translated: they are described in brackets.

Cost

25 € per page: a passport data page is one page; an ID card front and back is usually one too, if the back has little text. We confirm the total before starting. Signed and stamped PDF by email within 24-48 working hours.

Common mistakes with a passport or ID card

• Having every passport page translated, visas included, when the office only wanted the data page.
• Sending a cropped photo, without the machine-readable zone or the back of the ID card.
• Ordering translations of other documents without giving the passport spelling, and ending up with different names.
• Translating an identity document the Italian office did not ask for: ask before spending.

Often translated together with a passport

• Sworn translation of a birth certificate, with the same spelling of the name
• Sworn translation of a driving licence
• Sworn translation of a power of attorney or notarial deed
• Guide: residence permit, which documents to translate
• Guide: who can do a sworn translation in Italy