ISO 17100 CERTIFIED · SAME-DAY TURNAROUND · 10+ YEARS
Arabic Translation Services in London and the UK
Arabic translation services in London and the UK deliver certified, sworn, and notarised Arabic translations from £30 per page, ISO 17100, same-day.
- ISO 17100 Certified
- Same-day Turnaround
- 10+ Years
Get a free, no-obligation quote
What we do
Our services
What are Arabic translation services in the UK?
Arabic translation services in the UK convert Arabic and English documents in both directions and deliver certified, sworn, or notarised translations from £30 per page under ISO 17100, accepted by the Home Office, UK courts and Arab-world authorities.
What is the difference between certified, sworn, and notarised Arabic translation?
Certified Arabic translation carries a signed statement of accuracy from the agency, sworn Arabic translation is signed before a court or consulate, and notarised Arabic translation adds a UK notary public’s seal — each accepted by different authorities.
Which Arabic documents do we translate?
We translate 6 categories of Arabic documents for UK clients: civil and personal records, legal and court documents, immigration and visa packs, academic transcripts, medical and clinical records, and technical, commercial and marketing materials.
How much does Arabic translation cost in the UK?
Arabic translation in the UK starts from £30 per page for standard certified civil documents, with sworn and notarised translations priced per the additional consular or notary fee, and technical or marketing projects quoted per word.
How fast can Arabic translations be delivered in London and the UK?
Arabic translations are delivered same-day for civil documents under 1,000 words placed London before 11:00 GMT, within 24 to 48 hours for legal and academic packs, and on agreed milestones for technical projects above 10,000 words, all under ISO 17100 quality control.
What is our Arabic translation process from quote to delivery?
The Arabic translation process runs in 5 ISO 17100 stages: scoped quotation, source-file preparation, translation by a native Arabic linguist, independent revision by a second qualified reviser, and certified delivery with optional notarisation or apostille.
Arabic Translation Services is a professional Arabic-English language service that delivers certified, sworn, notarised and apostilled translations from £30 per page under ISO 17100 quality control, accepted by the UK Home Office, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, ENIC and the Saudi, UAE, Egyptian and Qatari authorities.
What is the difference between certified, sworn, and notarised Arabic translation?
Certified Arabic translation carries a signed statement of accuracy from the agency, sworn Arabic translation is signed before a court or consulate, and notarised Arabic translation adds a UK notary public’s seal — each accepted by different authorities. The four-tier ladder maps directly to the receiving body, and choosing the wrong tier is the single biggest cause of rejected submissions.
| Tier | What it is | Accepting authority |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Translation without certification statement | Internal business use |
| Certified | ISO 17100 statement of accuracy on company letterhead | Home Office, UKVI, HMCTS, ENIC, GMC, UK universities |
| Sworn | Signed before an Arab court or consulate | Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, Qatari courts and ministries |
| Notarised + Apostilled | UK notary seal plus FCDO apostille, plus embassy attestation where required | Non-Hague Arab states, property registries, GCC tenders |
When does the Home Office require certified Arabic translation?
The Home Office requires certified Arabic translation for every non-English document submitted with visa, settlement, naturalisation and asylum applications, including a translator’s statement of accuracy, full name, contact details and date. Our Certified Translation Services meet this requirement on every page delivered.
The certified pack includes 4 elements on agency letterhead: the translator’s confirmation that the document is a true and accurate translation of the Arabic original, the translator’s full name and signature, the date of certification, and the agency’s contact details. Scanned PDFs are accepted by UKVI; hard copies are dispatched on request for in-person appointments.
When is sworn or notarised Arabic translation needed?
Sworn or notarised Arabic translation is needed for UK court proceedings, property deeds, powers of attorney and any document destined for a Saudi, UAE, Egyptian or Qatari authority that demands consular legalisation.
- Sworn Translation Services — used where an Arab consulate or court demands the translator’s oath before a recognised official.
- Notarised Translation Services — used where a UK notary public must witness the translator’s signature and affix a notarial seal, as a precursor to apostille.
How does apostille and consular legalisation work for Arabic documents?
Arabic documents bound for non-Hague Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar require FCDO apostille followed by attestation at the relevant embassy in London, while Hague-signatory states like Morocco, Tunisia and Bahrain accept the apostille alone. Our Apostille and Legalisation Services handle both routes end-to-end.
| Destination state | Hague status | Required pathway |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | Non-Hague (acceded with reservations) | Notarise → FCDO apostille → Saudi Embassy London attestation |
| UAE | Hague signatory since 2025 | Notarise → FCDO apostille |
| Egypt | Non-Hague | Notarise → FCDO apostille → Egyptian Consulate attestation |
| Qatar | Non-Hague | Notarise → FCDO apostille → Qatari Embassy attestation |
| Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Oman | Hague signatories | Notarise → FCDO apostille |
Which Arabic documents can you translate?
We translate 6 categories of Arabic documents for UK clients: civil and personal records, legal and court documents, immigration and visa packs, academic transcripts, medical and clinical records, and technical, commercial and marketing materials. Every category is covered by our Document Translation Services in London and the UK.
| Category | Example documents | Default tier |
|---|---|---|
| Civil & personal | Birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates, family book, national ID, passport | Certified |
| Legal & commercial | Contracts, articles of association, GCC tenders, powers of attorney, court judgments, sharia inheritance rulings | Certified, sworn or notarised |
| Academic | School transcripts, university degrees, IELTS exemption letters | Certified |
| Immigration | Police certificates, bank statements, CVs, sponsor letters | Certified |
| Medical & clinical | Patient records, GMC submissions, pharmaceutical files | Certified |
| Technical & marketing | Engineering manuals, patents, websites, brochures | Standard with RTL typesetting |
What civil and personal Arabic documents can you translate?
Civil and personal Arabic translations include birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, death certificates, family books (kashf 3a’ili), national ID cards and Arabic-language passports. Each is certified for UKVI, the General Register Office, NHS registration and HMRC use, with original Arabic stamps, marginal annotations and registrar signatures rendered faithfully in the English target.
What legal and commercial Arabic documents can you translate?
Legal and commercial Arabic translations include contracts, articles of association, GCC tender documents, powers of attorney, court judgments, sharia inheritance rulings, witness statements and commercial invoices. Our Legal Translation Services pair native Arabic lawyer-linguists with a second qualified reviser to preserve the legal effect of every clause.
- Bilingual Arabic-English contracts with mirrored clause numbering.
- Articles of association for Saudi and UAE branch registration.
- Powers of attorney drafted for notarisation and Saudi consular attestation.
- Sharia inheritance rulings (i’lam al-wirathah) for UK probate.
- HMCTS-ready witness statements with statement-of-truth wording.
What academic and immigration Arabic documents can you translate?
Academic and immigration Arabic translations include school transcripts, university degrees, IELTS exemption letters, police certificates, bank statements and CVs prepared for UKVI, ENIC, UCAS and Home Office submission. Subject-area glossaries cover medicine, engineering, law, sharia studies and Islamic finance, so transcripts from Cairo University, King Saud University and the University of Baghdad map cleanly to UK degree equivalencies.
Pricing
How much does Arabic translation cost in the UK?
Arabic translation in the UK starts from £30 per page for standard certified civil documents, with sworn and notarised translations priced per the additional consular or notary fee, and technical or marketing projects quoted per word. New clients receive a 20% discount on first orders.
| Service | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certified civil document | From £30 per page | Birth, marriage, ID, transcript up to 250 words |
| Legal/commercial translation | From £0.12 per source word | Contracts, tenders, court bundles |
| Sworn translation | Certified price + consular fee | Fee set by the relevant Arab consulate |
| Notarised translation | Certified price + £75–£120 notary fee | UK notary public attendance |
| FCDO apostille | £45 statutory + handling | Per the Legalisation Office tariff |
| Embassy attestation | Variable | Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, Qatari rates |
| Same-day London delivery | +30% surcharge | Documents under 1,000 words before 11:00 GMT |
What is included in the per-page price?
The £30 per-page price includes translation by a qualified native Arabic linguist, second-linguist revision under ISO 17100, certification statement on company letterhead, PDF delivery and one round of minor amendments. ISO 17100 mandates revision by a second professional — the four-eyes principle — and we apply it to every certified file regardless of length.
What surcharges apply for sworn, notarised or urgent Arabic work?
Surcharges apply for notary public attendance, FCDO apostille, embassy attestation, same-day turnaround and complex RTL typesetting in InDesign or Illustrator, each quoted upfront before work begins. Surcharges are itemised on the quote rather than absorbed into the page rate, so the client sees exactly what the consulate, notary and FCDO charge.
How fast can Arabic translations be delivered in London and the UK?
Arabic translations are delivered same-day for civil documents under 1,000 words placed in London before 11:00 GMT, within 24 to 48 hours for legal and academic packs, and on agreed milestones for technical projects above 10,000 words, all under ISO 17100 quality control. Turnaround is not a best-efforts estimate — it is a fixed delivery commitment confirmed in writing at the point of order. Every file, regardless of speed tier, passes through the same ISO 17100 two-linguist process: translation by a subject-specialist native Arabic linguist followed by independent revision, so same-day speed never comes at the cost of accuracy.
The five delivery tiers below cover the full range of Arabic translation work we handle, from a single birth certificate needed urgently for a visa appointment to a multi-volume technical tender for a GCC infrastructure project.
- Same-day: Civil documents under 1,000 words placed before 11:00 GMT in London — including birth certificates, marriage certificates, national ID cards and passport pages — are completed and emailed as certified PDFs the same working day.
- 24 hours: Certified personal packs up to 2,500 words, such as a family book with supporting documents, are delivered the following business day.
- 48 hours: Legal and academic bundles up to 5,000 words — court orders, degree transcripts, academic references — are ready within two working days.
- 3–5 working days: Sworn translations that require a linguist’s signature to be executed before a court or Arab consulate (Saudi, UAE, Egyptian or Qatari) need additional scheduling time to accommodate the consular appointment.
- Milestone schedule: Technical, patent and tender projects above 10,000 words are managed against an agreed batch-delivery timetable, so procurement teams and legal departments track progress against deadlines rather than waiting for one large delivery.
Where a notarised or apostilled translation is required, the FCDO Legalisation Office processing time and any subsequent embassy attestation for non-Hague Arab states add further calendar days; we advise on the realistic end-to-end timeline at the quoting stage so clients can plan around official submission deadlines.
How it works
What is the Arabic translation process from quote to delivery?
1
How do you handle RTL typesetting and Arabic numerals?
RTL typesetting is handled in-house with bidirectional layout, correct ligature shaping, Arabic-Indic or Eastern Arabic numerals as the audience requires, and mirrored artwork delivered in editable InDesign, Word or PDF formats. The RTL deliverable checklist that monolingual UK agencies routinely miss includes 6 items:
- Bidirectional text flow with correctly anchored English brand names and numerics.
- Arabic-Indic numerals (٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩) for KSA, Egypt and Yemen audiences; Eastern Arabic numerals (0123456789) for UAE, Lebanon and Maghreb markets.
- Correct ligature handling for lam-alif, hamza-on-yaa and shadda-with-fatha combinations.
- Mirrored InDesign master pages, page numbers and folios.
- Right-anchored tables, charts and infographics.
- Arabic-aware OpenType fonts such as GE SS, Frutiger Arabic or Adobe Arabic embedded in the deliverable.
2
How do you handle confidentiality for legal and medical Arabic work?
Confidentiality is handled under GDPR-aligned NDAs with every linguist, encrypted file transfer, role-based access on our project management system and secure deletion of source files 90 days after delivery. Legal, medical and pharmaceutical files are routed only to linguists with the relevant subject specialisation and signed sector NDAs.
Why us
Why choose our Arabic translation agency in London?
Clients choose our Arabic translation agency for ISO 17100 certification, over 10 years of continuous UK delivery, native Arabic linguists covering all major dialects, same-day London turnaround, and translations routinely accepted by the Home Office, HMCTS, ENIC, GMC and GCC consulates. Every one of those credentials addresses a specific risk that clients face when commissioning Arabic translation: a rejection from UKVI costs time and money; an incorrect dialect choice in a marketing campaign costs credibility; a missed consular appointment because of a slow turnaround costs a commercial contract.
- ISO 17100 certified — our production process meets the international quality standard for translation services, with mandatory second-linguist revision on every certified file, giving receiving authorities confidence in the accuracy of the translated text.
- 10+ years of UK delivery — we have served private clients and businesses from our London office for more than a decade, building a track record of accepted submissions across Home Office, HMCTS, ENIC, UK universities and GMC case files.
- Native Arabic linguists across all five dialects — our translator pool covers Modern Standard Arabic, Gulf, Egyptian, Levantine and Maghrebi Arabic, ensuring every document is handled by a linguist whose native register matches the source or target variety.
- Subject specialisation — teams are assigned by domain: law and sharia finance, medicine and clinical records, engineering and patents, academic transcripts, and marketing and media, so terminology is handled by linguists who work in that field daily.
- End-to-end legalisation — we manage the full legalisation chain from certified translation through UK notary public seal, FCDO apostille and embassy attestation for Arab states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco.
- Transparent pricing from £30 per page — rates are fixed and confirmed before work begins, with no hidden fees for certification statements, headed paper or standard delivery.
- 20% new-client discount — first-order discount applied automatically, with no minimum spend required.
How do you request an Arabic translation quote?
Request an Arabic translation quote by uploading the source document through our contact form, emailing scanned files, or visiting our London office, and receive a fixed-price quote with a confirmed delivery date within 1 working hour during UK business hours. The quote is binding — the price and delivery date we confirm do not change unless the scope of the document changes after submission. Pricing starts from £30 per page for standard and certified translations, and the quote will itemise any additional fees for notarisation, FCDO apostille or embassy attestation where those services form part of the instruction.
The five steps below take most clients from first contact to approved quote in under an hour:
- Upload your document — send a scanned PDF, smartphone photograph, Word or InDesign file through the quote form. Legible scans of handwritten certificates are accepted; if a document is damaged or partially illegible, note this in the submission and we will advise before quoting.
- Specify the dialect and tier — tell us whether you need Modern Standard Arabic, Gulf, Egyptian, Levantine or Maghrebi Arabic, and which certification tier applies: standard, certified, sworn, notarised or apostilled. If you are unsure which tier your receiving authority requires, state the authority and we will confirm the correct level.
- Confirm the receiving authority — the authority determines the format of the certification statement and any specific wording requirements. Common receiving authorities include the Home Office, UKVI, HMCTS, ENIC, UK universities, GMC, Saudi Embassy, UAE Embassy and Qatari Embassy; each has its own accepted format and we apply the correct one automatically.
- Approve the fixed-price quote — the quote returned within 1 working hour sets out the word count or page count, the total fee, the certification tier, and the delivery date and method. Approval by email or through the form confirms the order and starts the ISO 17100 production process.
- Receive your translation — the certified PDF is emailed on or before the agreed delivery time. Hard copies with original signatures and, where applicable, a notary seal or FCDO apostille, are dispatched by tracked post or available for same-day London courier collection.
For urgent same-day requests — civil documents under 1,000 words placed before 11:00 GMT — indicate the urgency in the upload form so the file is routed immediately to an available subject-specialist linguist. Start the process now: Get a Free Arabic Translation Quote.