New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Worth knowing about NYSED

NYSED requirements in detail

Option 1 or Option 2: who translates depends on the route

NYSED gives foreign graduates two ways to verify their nursing education (RN Pathway 5: graduates of foreign nursing schools).

Under Option 1, TruMerit (formerly CGFNS) collects and reviews your credentials and sends NYSED a report.

TruMerit's own rule for that service is that all documents be in English; an LPN applicant's secondary school diploma may be translated by the applicant or someone the applicant chooses, and otherwise TruMerit translates for an additional fee (TruMerit CVS-NYS).

NYSED notes that applying without TruMerit is often harder and slower, but not required.

Under Option 2, your school certifies your education on Form 2F and sends it with the transcript, and the transcript needs a qualified translation under NYSED's general rule (Nurse Form 2F: Certification of Foreign Education).

Whichever option you use, documents you submit yourself, such as the diploma in its original language, also need a qualified translation (RN checklist). The LPN pathway for foreign graduates uses the same wording (LPN pathway 4).

What NYSED means by a qualified translation

NYSED reviews translations and translators individually.

Its examples are a translation bureau or agency satisfactory to the Department, a US college language instructor (whose affidavit must be on school stationery and name the course taught), and consular or foreign-government officials, who must verify the content and not only the translator's identity (General licensing information: qualified translations). The applicant is not among the examples.

For an eVerbary order, that means a certified translation with notarization added at checkout ($34.90 per order), so the certificate of accuracy is a notarized affidavit.

NYSED asks for the translation in the original rather than a photocopy, together with a copy of the document in its original language; keep a photocopy of the whole package and send it too if you want the original back.

Where NYSED's pages differ

The RN pathway page asks for a translation by "a translation services acceptable to NYSED" (RN Pathway 5: graduates of foreign nursing schools); Form 2F and the RN checklist say "qualified translation" and point to the general information page, which sets the affidavit and notarization requirement (Form 2F, general information).

The application-forms page still names CGFNS, while the pathway pages and the current Form 2F name TruMerit, the same organization under its new name (Nursing application forms, RN).

Form 2F says the school must send the form and transcript, and that a qualified translation is also required, but not whether the translation travels in the school's envelope or separately. Ask the Office of the Professions before you order, and tell your school if it should enclose the translation.

Documents applicants usually translate

• Nursing school transcript or mark sheets, sent by the school with Form 2F
• Nursing school diploma, submitted in its original language with a translation
• Syllabi that the school sends with Form 2F
• Foreign nursing license and its Form 3F verification, if issued in another language
• Secondary school diploma, for LPN applicants who use TruMerit

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 of up to 250 words, 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 NYSED

• NYSED wants the signed, notarized translation in the original, with a copy of the document in its original language (General licensing information: qualified translations).

  Your school mails Form 2F and the transcript itself in a sealed school envelope (Nurse Form 2F: Certification of Foreign Education); NYSED does not say whether the translation must be inside that envelope, so confirm with the Office of the Professions how it should arrive.

• After you file Online Form 1, the pathway page links to an upload for additional documentation to your application (RN Pathway 5: graduates of foreign nursing schools). eVerbary can mail the translation to you in a sealed, signed envelope: choose the hard copy at checkout with your address ($19.95 Priority or $37.95 Express in the US, $49.95 or $78.95 to other countries) and write in the order notes that it is for NYSED.

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