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For visa purposes, I need to attest some documents with Apostille and translate them.

I have never done this before and nothing is mentioned on the website I am referring to, so I am not sure if the correct procedure is to get the documents translated or attested first. Or does it not matter?

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  • Apostille is for original documents, usually
    – littleadv
    Commented Jan 16 at 10:07
  • @littleadv Yes, I also figured that it's the original document that needs to be certified, not the translation. But does it matter if I translate before or after that?
    – hb20007
    Commented Jan 16 at 10:08
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    "Yes, I also figured that it's the original document that needs to be certified, not the translation": this is usually not the case. The original document itself is generally a certificate. It needs to be authenticated, not certified, because it is already certifying something. The translation itself often (not always) needs to be certified by a qualified or registered translator. Details vary significantly, so a generalized question and answer may not be readily applicable to the visa for which you are applying. The translator's certificate may also require authentication.
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 16 at 10:39
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    I've moved countries twice, each with a language different than the previous. So I have had several documents translated and apostilled. The order you do it in doesn't matter. Generally, the apostille shouldn't need translating.
    – Ozzy
    Commented Jan 16 at 12:59
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    General common practice is nice, but useless if the requestor you're dealing with isn't following it. Different countries have different standards, different requirements, and different tolerance to deviations.
    – littleadv
    Commented Jan 16 at 17:19

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Judging by the comment by Ozzy which states that the order did not matter for him/her, as well as another question here where the poster was required to Apostille the translator’s statement (“I, a sworn translator, hereby certify that…”) as well, we can conclude that the document needs to be Apostilled first, with 2 possible scenarios:

If the translation of the Apostilled document is performed by a certified translator in the country which issued the document or any third-party country, then the translator’s statement will need to be Apostilled in that country as well.

If the translation of the Apostilled document is performed by a certified translator in the country which has requested the document, then the translator’s statement will not need to be Apostilled as the translator is certified and acknowledged in the country.

In both cases, the document certification takes place first.

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