Settling in Germany often means that you have to translate official documents, like marriage or birth certificates or rental or employment contracts. Some even need to be certified translations (German beglaubigte Übersetzung). Here’s how to do that cheaply and online.
Maybe you just got a lease contract and now you want to make sure you understand all the pitfalls. Or you just got a job offer and now you want to check all the details in the work contract. Google Translate may help as a start but sometimes a good quality translation really matters.
And especially if you need the translation for an authority, it usually needs to be a certified translation (German: beeidigte Übersetzung) – meaning that the translator needs to be officially approved.
In such a case it’s not enough to get the translation from a German friend, no matter how good his or her language skills are. You need a court-sworn translator, i.e. a translator who is authorized to legally certify documents in Germany.
Online service Lingoking
There are zillions of translation services in Berlin and Germany, but one attracted my attention because they
- immediately give you a price offer (quotation) online
- also offer certified translations for German authorities
The service is called Lingoking *, and it works like this:
- Go on their site
- Choose a “product”, i.e. what type of translation you need (can be: Birth certificate, Certificate of employment, Certificate of Nationality, Certificate of no impediment, Certificate of registration, Contract, Criminal Record, Death Certificate, Diploma / Degree, Divorce Certificate, Divorce Decree, Driver’s license, Marriage certificate, Residence Confirmation, School certificate, Short text translation, Tax assessment, Testament / Will)
- Select the source and target languages, and the number of pages
- Click on Calculate and directly get their offer
Even better: I’ve got a coupon for my readers that gives you a 5% discount. Just use berlincheap36 in the Summary (after clicking “Calculate”).
See here a table of some example prices (valid as of September 2018), for translations from English to German:
| Document type | Price | Discounted price (with coupon berlincheap36 ) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | €52.90 | €50.26 | Check * |
| School certificate | €59.90 | €56.91 | Check * |
| Exam certificate | €59.90 | €56.91 | Check * |
| Employment certificate | €86.89 | €82.55 | Check * |
| Criminal record | €52.90 | €50.26 | Check * |
| Certificate of no impediment | €52.90 | €50.26 | Check * |
| LinkedIn profile | €99.90 | €94.91 | Check * |
If you know a similar translation service, please let me know in the comments!
Links marked with a star (*) are affiliate links. If you click on such a link and then shop or order something, we will receive a commission for your purchase with which we can cover our expenses and keep the site free of ads. This does not change the price for you.
