Translation of birth certificate

[Trebbz 0]

Hi!

I know y'all must be sick of seeing this question, but the things I saw on here are really confusing and sometimes date from way back.

I am from Quebec, and my birth certificate is, of course, in French.

Now, I saw a few places where they say you can translate your documents yourself if you're fluent in both languages and certify it.

Other places, I saw you absolutely need a certified translation.

I must have read 50 + posts and I saw a lot of contradictory information, can people tell me about their experience? I have my interview in Montreal next Wednesday.

Thanks for your help, VJ!

[DJandLY 1]

If you can pay it, nothing beats an official document.

[Georgia16 2,858]

Some let people translate themselves others don't.

I used Rev.com for my documents. You have it in few days and just need to print it out. They aren't expensive.

[PickleChips 56]

I used Rev.com for my QC birth certificate too. It cost very little and was worth the peace of mind.

[Trebbz 0]

I used Rev.com for my QC birth certificate too. It cost very little and was worth the peace of mind.

Did you have both the front and the back of the certificate translated?

I was skeptic about that website, but with 2 of you telling me that you used it, I felt it might be worth it.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Trebbz

[Georgia16 2,858]

Did you have both the front and the back of the certificate translated?

I was skeptic about that website, but with 2 of you telling me that you used it, I felt it might be worth it.

They were very friendly and nice answered question really fast and had mine within 2 days. I would use them again.

[NikLR 13,230]

Montreal allows self translation for BC from French to english. If you want though, online translations are cheap. At least if you're fluent you know that you've gotten what you've paid for.

[PickleChips 56]

I did the front and not the back. You can self translate if you want to, I just did it because I thought I would have to use the translation for other things once I moved to the US. For example, I needed it for my military ID because the officer in charge of IDs was not able to read my birth certificate in French. But I'm an uber prepared person though, it certainly wasn't necessary to have it officially translated.

[Lemonslice 4,922]

The back is translated on the État civil website - http://www.etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca/en/certificate-copy-act.html

Security features of certificates and copies of acts

The certificates and copies of acts we issue include security features that ensure their authenticity. These features, described on the reverse side of the documents, are the following:

• Watermarked security paper
  The drawing below, or part of it, can be seen by holding the paper up to a light.
  
• Chemical protection
  Chemical indicators incorporated into the paper cause stains to appear when the paper is exposed to ink solvents.
• Engraving
  Fine, continuous blue lines are printed at the top of the document, giving a relief effect and a rough feeling to the touch.
• Latent image
  When holding the document at eye height and looking at it horizontally, a fleur-de-lys is visible in the upper right-hand corner of the engraving. This image cannot be reproduced by a photocopier.