The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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16 The Linguist Vol/55 No/5 2016 www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES Jaquelina Guardamagna on how to meet regulations when translating documents destined for the Home Office I f you need to submit a document in a foreign language to the Home Office, you must first have the document translated and then provide the government department with both the original document and the translation. Most of the documents I translate for this purpose are the ones required to apply for licences or certificates of sponsorship, and EEA (European Economic Area) family permits. These include birth, marriage and civil partnership certificates, bank statements, wage slips, flight tickets, criminal record certificates and letters of reference from employers, colleges and universities. This may be due to the languages I work with (Spanish and English) and the influx of people from Latin America arriving in the UK; translators who work with the languages of countries in conflict may need to translate documents required for asylum applications and other types of visas. The result of the recent UK referendum on EU membership may mean that different regulations will apply in terms of visa applications and family permits, which in turn, may affect the amount of work I will receive in the coming years. The Home Office requirements for translation are specified in detail by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) on their official website. It states: "The work should be carried out by an individual who is professionally accredited or a translation company which holds the same accreditation. If the translation is carried out by an individual it will only be accepted from individuals who are accredited members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) or the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL). If the translation is carried out by a company, rather than an individual, then that company should be accredited by either the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) or the Association of Translation Companies (ATC)." 1 It goes on to outline the level of membership required from each body for each scenario (generally full membership). Translations are also accepted from embassies and High Commissions. 2 Meeting requirements To comply with Home Office requirements, I provide certified translations as a full CIOL member. I complete the translation in a digital document and send it back to the client so that they can check that data such as the spelling of names, dates and I.D. numbers are accurate. Then I print the translation, add my stamp, signature and a statement of truth on headed paper, with my contact details and the CIOL logo, as specified by the SIA. My responsibility as a professional linguist is to provide an accurate translation of the documents I receive from the client. I am not in charge of checking whether the information Working for Whitehall © SHUTTERSTOCK