How Much Does Legal Translation Cost?

    Danilo Coviello

    Whether you are looking for legal translation services or want to get into legal translation as a freelancer or translation agency, it can be hard to find out how legal translation services are priced. Letโ€™s look into different pricing and how much legal translation costs.

    What are legal translation services?

    A legal translation service is needed for the translation of any legal documents or any paperwork or file needed for the legal system. This can include a long list of document types, such as:

    • Birth certificates
    • Death certificates
    • Marriage certificates
    • Academic documents
    • Official documents
    • Business documents
    • United States Citizenship and Immigration Services paperwork
    • Witness testimonies
    • Recordings of meetings

    All of these translations need accuracy and precision with high translation quality. Any small error could cause major legal issues, so it is vital that legal translators are highly skilled. Many legal documents also need to have certified translations, where qualified translators confirm that a translation is an accurate and true representation of the original document. This is often also called a sworn translation.

    What are the types of legal translations?

    There are many types of legal translation for different needs. Court translations which are official translations; certified translations for government agencies like USCIS; and notarized translations for consulates. More complex documents like business contracts and court documents need a high level of detail. There are also specialized translations that need advanced expertise and subject matter knowledge. Examples would be patent translations and immigration law translations. Different types of translation are required based on the source document and certification requirements.

    What are the factors that influence the cost of legal translations?

    The pricing of legal translations depends on various aspects. Complexity and specialization of the document are key; technical court documents for example cost more due to the need for expertise. Language combinations also impact pricing, less common languages cost more. Cost is also influenced by turnaround time and urgency, the shorter the deadline the higher the cost. The total price also reflects the word count and if you require additional services such as certification by a notary public.

    Cost of Certified Translation of Legal Documents

    Certified translations are required for many legal documents to ensure certificate accuracy and compliance with specific standards. On average the cost of certified translation varies based on language combination, complexity, and specific requirements like a notaryโ€™s signature. Pricing is per word or per page, certified translations cost more than standard translations due to the expertise and accuracy required. If on a budget some providers offer per-hour options but the total cost of the project depends on the scope.

    Request a quote

    Price of certified translation of legal documents

    The price for certified translation of legal documents can vary. Basic per-word or per-page pricing applies to most documents, but the cost goes up for complex documents. Urgency and project management also play a role. The rates translation industry experts charge reflect the level of precision required especially for documents going to courts or consulates. Most translation service providers offer quotes based on the specific document requirements so you can ask any questions if you need to know how much professional translation will cost upfront.

    How much does a professional translation usually cost?

    The hiring costs of professional translation services differ from state to state, as well as industry. For example, legal translations generally cost more than simply translating a product instruction manual or educational diploma. The average translation rate per word is $0.10 to $0.50.ย However, there are a lot of different factors that affect the cost of translation services. While this makes it hard to give an exact figure for translation, we can look at some of the most common things that affect the average cost toย translate a legal document.

    The languages โ€“ finding an English to Spanish translator in California is easier than finding an expert Arabic translator, and the price will reflect the cost to hire a translator to handle uncommon languages in the USA.

    Machine or human translation โ€“ some documents can be machine translated but others need a human touch because of their complexity or other requirements โ€“ machine translation is cheaper.

    Per-piece or per word legal translation costs

    To understand translation rates, the first thing is to become familiar with the two main ways that documents are priced.

    Per-word pricing means that you pay a set fee for a certain number of words in the document or file you want to have translated. The equivalent of this for audio or video files is per-minute pricing. This is generally the most common way of pricing translation jobs, and it is important to know the word count of your document so you can find out how much translation services cost for your document.

    Request a quote

    Some documents may be charged per piece. You will find that certain document translation rates apply for some common documents, such as a birth certificate โ€“ this is because some items, like a birth certificate, will only have a certain amount of text on them, so the translator can be sure that the job will take roughly a set amount of time. However, depending on what your original document is, you may find that you can only pay a per-word cost.

    How much does a 1000 word translation cost?

    Obviously, each different translation professional will usually charge a different translation rate. However, most translation prices are within the range of $0.10 to $0.50 per word. This means that a 1000 word document could cost anywhere from $100 to $500. Of course, you may find lower rates, special offers, or higher rates for experts with certain experience. You will also often find that urgent translations have a higher cost since the translator will have to change their work schedule to complete them.

    Do all professional translators charge the same?

    No, each language service provider will usually charge different rates for their legal document translation services. This is because their pricing will be relevant to the cost of living where they are, their experience, and their qualifications within the field. The best way to find out their pricing is to request a translation quote, which most people within the translation industry let you do with only a few clicks.

    Do agencies and freelancers charge different amounts?

    Yes, you will often find that translation agencies, translation companies, and freelancers will charge different translation fees. Some may offer a per-word rate, others an hourly rate. There are pros and cons to using each kind of translation, so you should look beyond pricing to figure out which way you want to go. A freelancer can be more suitable if you have a regular type of translation, whereas agencies often have specialists in a wider range of fields, meaning you are more likely to get the high-quality translation that you need.

    Are all language translations the same cost?

    No, the price for translation of different languages can differ. This is because some uncommon language pairs cost more than translating common languages, like an English to Spanish translation, and you may have to find a specialist, which means you may have to pay more to hire a translator who specializes in those languages. However, it is important to make sure you still find someone skilled at handling your specific language pair โ€“ if you use someone who is not as skilled at translating into your target languages, while the work might be cheaper, it may not be suitable for what you need.

    Is it cheaper to have an in-house legal translator?

    If you work in a company that needs a lot of translated text, you may find it is cheaper to hire an in-house translator, but this is uncommon. Unless you have a constant stream of work to justify hiring an in-house translator, it is often cheaper to hire a freelancer or translation company for each individual job you have. While an in-house translator may have a lower document translation cost per piece, the overall cost of hiring an in-house translator is high.

    Legal translation costs compared to regular translation.

    While prices vary in all types of translation services, the document translation costs in legal translation services are often higher than in more generalized translation. Of course, it still pays to shop around and find a good quote for your translation needs.

    Why is legal translation more expensive than regular translation?

    Legal translation is often more expensive because the translation process is more detailed, and because there are higher requirements for knowledge and experience. Compared to a simple blog translation, legal translation needs a lot more specialist skills.

    Is a certified translation more expensive?

    Yes, certified translation cost is usually higher than standard translation. This is because a certified translation has additional requirements that must be met. Anyone who has the qualifications to do certified translation can charge more since their skills are in higher demand.

    How much does machine translation cost?

    With the popularity and accessibility of things like Google Translate, lots of people wonder if they can use machine translation instead of professional human translators.

    Machine translation rates are usually 65% to 75% of human translation rates. For example, if the human translation rate is $100 per 1,000 words, the machine translation post-editing should be around $65 to $75 per 1,000 words. Machine translation post-editing is when a human translator checks, corrects, and refines machine translated text. This mostly happens with large translation projects.

    What is machine translation?

    Computer assisted translation (or CAT tools) means using a piece of computer software to do translations based on its translation memory โ€“ this means that it looks at previously translated segments and translates a document using this. Since computers are fast and do not require constant input from a human, CAT can be a lot cheaper to use.

    Is computer translation software reliable?

    While CAT tools can be useful for fast and cheap translations, you have to rely on their translation memories to translate documents โ€“ if the computer has seen a word or short phrase before, it will translate that section the same way as it had before. This means that if the computer cannot see the nuance in different documents, it may translate a legal document incorrectly, which is a problem when you need high translation quality. While a computer translation may be cheap and fast, they are usually less accurate than expert human translators -machines are not currently providing curated localization solutions to the same accuracy that a human can. Even if you want documents translated fast, you can find translation companies that can offer this without using computer translation.

    Also read: What is legal translation and what makes it different

    How much should I charge for translating a document?

    If you are thinking of offering translation services and are unsure what translation services cost, there is unfortunately no simple answer. You need to base your cost on the time it will take to complete a specific job and deliver an accurate translation to your client. You must also consider your living costs โ€“ your income needs to cover all your expenses, plus taxes, etc., so you need to estimate how much you should charge for translation work you do.

    However, you will have lower costs than commercial translating companies, so price your services accordingly. For example, the costs professional translation companies incur include the usual business overheads. Also, the costs certified translation services need to cover in terms of legalization and notarization in other countries often make their services more expensive.

    Should I charge per piece or per word?

    While most people charge per word, there may be some items where you want to charge per piece. You may even charge by the hour in some cases. For example, translating birth certificates for immigration services may take a set amount of time, so you can give a cost per hour upfront. Ultimately though, you need to find what kind of pricing structure works best for you depending on the specific translation requirements.

    Can I charge more if i have more experience?

    Yes, as already mentioned, translation services cost more if a translator has more experience in a certain field, if they speak a target language that it is hard to find translators for, or if they guarantee the quality of the translation by certification or other means.

    Conclusion

    Legal translation projects are a very highly skilled specialization within a translation service. Because of this, legal translation services cost more than regular translations. The price may be different if you need a specific document or specific target languages, as the rates that translators charge vary. However, translating legal documents usually means that you need high translation quality, which means that it is often best to look at the quality and accuracy of the final translation, rather than the price. Legal translation is important as it can be a vital part of immigration, marriage, and contracts for businesses, so it is always worth making sure that a translation service provides exactly what you need, and great service, rather than simply choosing the cheapest per word pricing offer for whatever you want to translate.

    GET A QUOTE