Home / South African Passport Translation
Certified South African Passport Translation
eVerbary translates your South African passport into English for $24.95 per page with no word cap, by a professional human translator, with a signed certification. Most orders are delivered within a few hours. Accepted by USCIS and by US universities, colleges and schools, or your money back.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, no word cap. No hidden fees.
Money-back guarantee
Accepted by USCIS and by US universities, colleges and schools, or your money back.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
Usually already in English
South African passports are issued by the Department of Home Affairs; regular passports are green, official ones navy blue and diplomatic ones maroon. The personal details on the data page are in English with a machine-readable zone, so for most US purposes the data page needs no translation.
What may need translating are the other pages: endorsements or observations in Afrikaans in older passports, and visas and entry stamps from other countries. If an office asks for the full passport, every page and stamp not in English is translated. See our Afrikaans page.
The passport spelling becomes the reference
The passport is the document US officers see first, so we follow its spelling for every name in a South African file. Surnames with particles are where the trouble starts: van der Merwe on the passport may become Vandermerwe or Merwe on a US form, and a double surname like Janse van Rensburg may be split. We keep each document's own form and note the passport form.
The ID number on the passport ties it to every other South African record. See our identity card page and our name change page.
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 one sheet of your document is one page, with no word cap.
A standard translation is the same professional human translation without the certificate, for when you only need to understand the content or for internal or informal use. It is billed at the same $24.95 per page with no word cap.
Frequently asked questions
Does my South African passport need a translation?
The data page usually does not, since the personal details are in English. Afrikaans endorsements or foreign stamps do, if the office wants those pages.
My surname is split differently on my US documents.
Common with Afrikaans surnames. We reproduce each document's form and follow the passport spelling; how it goes on a form is for you or your attorney to decide.
Do you translate visa stamps from other countries?
Yes. Any stamp not in English on the pages you submit is translated.
Ready to get started?
Upload your documents and receive your certified translation, typically within 24 hours.