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Certified German Academic Transcript Translation

Get your German academic transcript translated into English by a professional human translator, with a signed certification accepted by USCIS, courts and universities. Flat $24.95 per page and a 100% USCIS acceptance guarantee.

A 1 is the best grade and a 4 is the pass

German grading runs 1 to 6 with 1 the best, 4 the lowest pass and 5 or 6 a fail — the reverse of the intuition a US reader brings. University marks are frequently given to one decimal, and a "1,3" is an excellent result.

Decimal commas are also the German convention, so "1,7" is one point seven rather than seventeen. We reproduce the marks as printed, translate the key, and convert nothing.

The documents, and the qualifications

A German academic file may hold an Abiturzeugnis for school, and for university a Transcript of Records, a Zeugnis, a Urkunde conferring the degree, and a Diploma Supplement. They are different documents and an evaluator may want several.

Older German qualifications — Diplom, Magister, Staatsexamen — do not map onto US degrees, and we translate the name of the qualification rather than asserting an American equivalent. See our German birth certificate page and our German page.

Grades are reproduced, never converted

We translate the marks exactly as the institution recorded them and we do not convert them into a US grade point average. Converting is credential evaluation, a different service with a different liability, and the agencies that do it do not agree with one another — so a number invented by a translator would be both unauthorised and probably wrong.

This matters more than it sounds, because several scales run the opposite way to the US one or past its ceiling. A Philippine 1.00 is the best mark available and 5.00 is a fail. A German 1 is the best and 4 is the pass. A Korean grade point is commonly out of 4.5, not 4.0. Each of those is misread by default, which is why the grading key printed on the document is translated with the marks — it is the part that makes the rest legible.

Who has to send it, and to whom

Evaluators and universities frequently require the institution itself to send academic documents directly, in a sealed envelope or through a secure channel, and will not accept a copy the applicant hands over. WES in particular will not accept a translation made by the applicant. A translation we produce is what goes alongside those documents, not instead of them — and it does not change who has to send the originals.

So establish two things before ordering: whether your evaluator requires institution-sent documents, and whether it wants the translation sent with them or separately. Related: our diploma and transcript page, university admissions and course descriptions.

What USCIS requires

Under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), a foreign-language document must be accompanied by a complete English translation and the translator's certification that it is accurate. Every seal, stamp and marginal note is part of the document, so every one is translated.

State agencies set their own rules — see government agencies — and what our certification states is on this page.

How it works

Upload a photo or a scan of your document, pick the language pair and check out online. You never have to mail originals: a legible copy is all we need.

A professional human translator, never machine translation, translates the document word for word and mirrors the layout of the original. Every certified translation ships with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy that meets the requirements of USCIS, courts and universities.

Your translation is delivered digitally, usually within 24 hours for documents of one to three pages, and same-day delivery is available. If anything needs adjusting, we revise it.

Certified vs. standard translation

A certified translation is a word-for-word translation accompanied by a signed statement attesting to its accuracy and completeness. It is what official bodies require: USCIS, courts, universities and government agencies. Certified translations are $24.95 per page, where a page is up to 250 words.

A standard translation is for business or personal use where certification is not needed, such as CVs, client intake forms or marketing material, and is billed at the same $24.95 per page of up to 250 words.

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