Louisiana Board of Pharmacy: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Sample translation: a Congolese secondary school transcript

This is what an order looks like when it is delivered, with a fictitious student. The PDF starts with the signed certification page, and the translation follows the original line for line: every abbreviation is explained, stamps, seals and signatures are noted in brackets, and the grid stays the same, so an admissions officer or a credential evaluator can match it without guessing.

Swipe to see the second page →

What to notice

• Two school years in the same grid as the original: every subject, grading period, exam and total, so each grade can be read against its maximum.
• The French rating abbreviations are translated (TB becomes VG, Very good), and every abbreviation is explained in a translator's note at the foot of the same page, including one the original never defines.
• Dates are written the US way (the original's 02/07/2015 is February 7, 2015).
• The photo, seals and signatures are noted in brackets where they appear.

Download the sample PDF

More sample translations

Worth knowing about Louisiana Board of Pharmacy

Louisiana Board of Pharmacy requirements in detail

Two translations on the way to a Louisiana license

The first set is for the FPGEC.

Your pharmacy transcripts and degree go to ECE and your foreign license or registration goes to NABP, each with an official word-for-word translation signed and dated on every page by the translator, with an accuracy attestation and proof of the translator's credentials; you may not translate them yourself (FPGEC Bulletin: Documentation Requirements, FPGEC Bulletin: Submit Documentation (license and registration), ECE).

Order that translation through a free quote and say it is for the FPGEC, so we confirm the format before you pay.

The second goes to Louisiana itself. The application asks for a copy of your birth certificate and, if it is recorded in another language, a certified translation copy attached to it (Sample pharmacist license application).

It also asks for legal documents for every name change since birth, such as a marriage license or court document, and does not accept a driver's license or Social Security card for that purpose (Sample pharmacist license application).

The Board does not state a translation rule for name-change documents; if yours are not in English, attaching a certified translation in the same form is the safe choice; confirm with the Board if in doubt.

Intern registration and the hours clock

Louisiana gives foreign graduates a different intern registration: it requires the FPGEC certificate and expires two years after the date of issue, while US students' registrations run to one year after graduation (LAC 46:LIII.703, Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 46, Part LIII, intern page).

Credited hours expire two years after the intern registration expires.

Because you cannot use a US college's dean attestation, the 1,740 hours must be earned as pre-licensure practical experience in a licensed pharmacy whose permit was not on probation, under a pharmacist licensed for at least two years, with one affidavit per pharmacy site (Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 46, Part LIII).

Hours earned in another US state count only when that state's board certifies them directly to Louisiana (Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 46, Part LIII).

Experience letters from your home country are not part of this count, so they do not need a translation for Louisiana.

Documents applicants usually translate

• Birth certificate, uploaded with the Louisiana application
• Marriage certificate or court document showing a name change
• Pharmacy school transcripts and degree, for the ECE report inside FPGEC
• Pharmacist license or registration from your country, for NABP

What an eVerbary translation includes

• A complete English translation of every page, stamps, seals and handwritten notes included, laid out like the original so each line can be matched.
• Grades, hours and credits exactly as recorded, with the grading scale the document prints. We never convert marks to a US GPA or equivalency.
• A signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead, with our contact details, delivered as a PDF you can upload or print.
• $24.95 per page with no word cap, certification included; 24 hours for one to three pages as standard. Regular clients who need it can get delivery in as little as 30 minutes, on request.
• Notarization added at checkout ($34.90 per order) when the office asks for a notarized translation.

Submitting the translation to Louisiana Board of Pharmacy

• Upload the birth certificate and its certified translation in the online application for a new pharmacist license; the Board also takes paper applications on request from licensing@pharmacy.la.gov (Application process: pharmacist license, sample application).

  FPGEC translations go by mail with your documents to ECE and NABP (FPGEC).

• eVerbary delivers the certified translation as a PDF you can upload, usually within a few hours and in 24 hours at most for one to three pages.

  For the FPGEC, which does not take electronic documents, we can mail a sealed, signed hard copy ($19.95 Priority or $37.95 Express in the US); write in the order notes that it is for the FPGEC.

How to order

1. Scan or photograph every page of the document, front and back, including any stamps on the reverse.
2. Upload it, choose the language and "certified", and see the price before paying.
3. Receive the PDF, usually within 24 hours for one to three pages, and submit it with the copy of the original wherever the office asks for it.

Frequently asked questions