Bank statements, tax assessments, payslips: translating the documents that prove what you live on
At some point, a public authority, a bank or a landlord will ask you to prove how you support yourself. Visa application, naturalisation file, a rental, a loan, enrolment at a university abroad: the list of documents is always the same. Bank statements, your latest tax assessment, three payslips, an employment contract. And if those documents are not written in the language of the body that will read them, they have to be translated by a sworn translator.
This is one of the requests we handle most often. It is also the one where a poorly prepared file costs the most unnecessary pages. Here is how to go about it.
Why a sworn translation
A bank statement is made of figures alone, and you might think anyone could read it. But the receiving body is not trying to understand your amounts: it is looking for something it can rely on. A sworn translation carries the stamp and the signature of a sworn translator registered with a court of appeal, who takes personal responsibility for the document being faithful to the original. That responsibility is what is being asked of you, more than the translation itself.
The consequence is simple: a translation you produce yourself, or that software produces, will not be accepted, however good it may be. We go into this in our article on the difference between a sworn translation and a standard translation.
The bank statement: mind the number of months
It is the most frequently requested document, and the one that costs the most when it is handled badly. A statement runs to several pages, and you are asked for several months of them.
Three months is the most common request. Six months may be asked for a long-stay visa or a banking file. Beyond that, it is rare. Before you send anything, read the receiving authority's instructions closely: “the last three statements” does not mean “the whole year”. Every extra month means pages translated for nothing.
One tip that counts: most banks let you generate a single statement covering a whole period, rather than twelve monthly statements. The document is shorter, and so is the translation.
The tax assessment: the document that reassures most
If only one document had to be provided, it would be this one. The tax assessment sums up your annual income from an official source, in a few pages, and it is hard to dispute. Prefectures, landlords and banks favour it for that reason.
The other way round, if you are settling in France with an American, British or German tax return, that is the document you will be asked for in French. The translator reproduces the whole of it: amounts, headings, official wording. Nothing is summarised, nothing is left out.
Payslips and the employment contract
These two documents prove that you have a job and that it is stable. The last three payslips are the standard format for a work visa, a rental or a loan. The employment contract is added when the terms of the position need to be shown: duration, role, salary.
They almost always come alongside the bank statements. A file proving your means rarely consists of a single document, which is why we advise you to send it to us in one go. If your plan is a job outside France, our guide to working internationally sets out the other documents usually requested.
Which direction to translate in
Into the language of the body that will read the file. If it is going to a prefecture, to the bank or to a landlord in France, your foreign documents are translated into French. If it is going to an embassy, a university or an employer abroad, your French documents are translated into their language, most often English, Spanish, German or Italian. For an immigration procedure in the United States, our guide to translation for USCIS sets out the expected format.
The price is the same whichever the direction and whichever the language.
Price, turnaround and confidentiality
Each of these documents is translated at €27 per page: bank statement, tax assessment, payslip, employment contract. You receive by email a PDF signed and stamped by the translator, with an average turnaround of 24 to 48 hours. A paper copy is sent to you if your file calls for one. To understand what makes up this price, read how much a sworn translation costs.
One question comes up often, and the answer deserves to be clear: your financial documents are used for the translation and nothing else. They are passed on only to the translator handling your file and are not used for any other purpose.
If you have the complete file in front of you, send it over to us for a quote. We count the pages, we tell you what really needs translating, and you have a firm price before we start. By WhatsApp or by phone, we also answer your questions.
