Sworn Translation
Court-appointed translator's translation.
A sworn translation is a translation produced by a translator who has been formally sworn before a court or government authority and is officially registered as a sworn translator. Sworn translation is common in civil-law countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina) where the legal system relies on court-appointed translators for foreign-language documentary evidence.
In the United States, the equivalent is generally certified translation — the US legal system does not appoint sworn translators in the civil-law sense. US courts and USCIS accept certified translations (with a translator's signed certificate of accuracy) rather than requiring sworn translators.
When a receiving authority specifically requires a sworn translation — for example, a German court requesting a document translated by a German-sworn translator — the document typically needs to be re-translated by a translator sworn in the relevant jurisdiction. Most certified translation vendors can refer to sworn-translator networks in major civil-law jurisdictions.