San Jacinto College: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Worth knowing about San Jac

San Jac requirements in detail

What each evaluation agency asks for the translation

San Jac leaves the translation to the agency, and its list mixes two kinds. WES wants a word-for-word translation by a professional translator, uploaded in your WES account, and does not accept translations made by applicants.

ECE wants a complete, literal, word-for-word translation in the same format; it lets applicants translate their own documents and sells an $85 waiver under which it translates internally for its report only.

FCSA, in Austin, accepts certified translations from most professional agencies and lets you or a relative translate Spanish documents. IERF wants a literal, word-for-word translation in the same format as the original.

IEE wants a certified translator and refuses translations by the applicant or a notary, and SDR, in Houston, accepts its own or another certified translator.

Other companies on the list take an outside translation only from a translator certified by the American Translators Association: The Evaluation Company, GCE, IACEI and, for translations made in the US, Josef Silny.

If you choose one of them, ask eVerbary for a translator individually certified by ATA (see below).

An approved list, with a way out

San Jac's approved evaluation services page names 31 companies, among them Texas agencies such as Bruscan in Irving, FCSA in Austin, GCE in College Station, IACEI in Denton, RIA and Transcript Research in Dallas, SDR and The Evaluation Company in Houston, and Worldwide Education Consultant Services in Brownsville.

If you already have an evaluation from a company that is not on the list, you do not have to start over: San Jac reviews it on request, sent by email with the transcript and your G#.

The same evaluation serves two purposes. For F-1 admission and for students changing visa status, it must show at least the equivalent of a US high school diploma (catalog).

For transfer credit, the catalog says foreign college work is considered only after an approved firm evaluates it, that documents must be originals or certified copies, and that Admissions and the international student counselor help students find translation and evaluation organizations San Jac recognizes (Catalog: transfer credit).

F-1 applicants: the file around the evaluation

F-1 applicants abroad apply through Apply Texas and the I-20 application, and all documents must arrive by the priority deadline, June 15 for fall or November 1 for spring (F-1 students residing outside the US (initial applicants)).

Besides the evaluation, the checklist asks for official transcripts from every college attended, in the US or abroad, and an affidavit of support with the sponsor's last three bank statements or a recent bank letter, with US dollar equivalents for all financial information.

Spouses and children coming on F-2 visas are the one place where San Jac itself asks for a translation: a marriage or birth certificate not in English goes in with a copy and the official English translation. Those certificates are translated at the same price per page as transcripts.

Documents applicants usually translate

• Secondary school transcripts and the diploma or leaving certificate, for the US high school equivalency evaluation
• College or university transcripts and degree certificates, for the evaluation and transfer credit
• Marriage certificate, for an F-2 spouse
• Birth certificates, for F-2 children

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 exactly as recorded, with the grading scale the document prints. We never convert marks to a US GPA.
• A signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead, with our contact details, delivered as a PDF you can upload.
• $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.

Uploading the translation to San Jac

• For academic records the translation goes to the evaluation company with your documents (WES, for example, takes uploads in your WES account: WES: translation requirements).

  The company then issues its evaluation, which San Jac reviews; an evaluation from a company not on the list goes to admissions@sjcd.edu with your G# (Approved international transcript evaluation services).

• F-2 marriage and birth certificate translations go in with the rest of the F-1 application documents (F-1 students residing outside the US (initial applicants)).

If you need a translator certified by ATA

Some offices accept only a translator who is personally certified by the American Translators Association (ATA). eVerbary assigns one on request, for the languages ATA certifies into English:

To order it, ask for a free quote and write in the notes that the translation is for San Jac, which program it is for, and that you need a translator individually certified by ATA, plus anything else the office asks for (notarization, delivery by email to the office).

We confirm the price and the translator before you pay. ATA does not certify other languages into English, so no translator anywhere holds ATA certification for them.

For those languages we provide a notarized certified translation instead, at $44.95 per page plus notarization ($34.90 per order); ask the office to confirm it accepts that, and write its answer in the quote notes.

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 upload it with the copy of the original wherever the institution asks for it.

Frequently asked questions