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Certified Afghan Property Deed Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record the ownership of land and buildings in Afghanistan, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
The qabala, and the courts
An Afghan title deed (qabala) is issued and registered through the courts rather than a land registry, and it carries a court seal, a register number and the names of witnesses.
There are registered (shari) and customary (urfi) deeds, and the second is far more common: a document written between parties before witnesses and never taken to court. Those are very different in weight, and we name which the document is.
Overlapping records, and the destroyed ones
Decades of conflict destroyed or dispersed court and municipal records, and the same land is frequently covered by more than one deed from different eras and different authorities.
That is the normal state of Afghan land documentation rather than evidence of fraud. We translate each document with its issuing body and date and leave the comparison to the adjudicator.
What changed after 2021
Deeds issued before and after August 2021 carry different seals, letterheads and authorities, and a US file may hold both.
We describe the seals as they appear and do not harmonise them or assert whether an issuing authority is recognised. That is the receiving body's question and the difference is exactly what they are examining.
Dari, Pashto and the jerib
Areas are in jerib (about 2,000 square metres), biswa and biswasa, and boundaries are described by adjoining owners on four sides.
Documents are in Dari or Pashto and dates use the Solar Hijri calendar, converted individually. See our Pashto page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Shari or urfi deed?
Court-registered or customary. The customary deed is far more common and carries much less weight.
There are two deeds for the same land.
Common. Records were destroyed and reissued across eras. We translate each with its issuing body and date.
My documents look different from one another.
Seals and authorities changed in August 2021. We describe each as it appears.
What is a jerib?
About 2,000 square metres. Areas are in jerib, biswa and biswasa.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.