Sworn translations from English into Italian in Lecce

Lecce is the administrative centre of Salento, the peninsula that runs between the Adriatic and the Ionian sea as far as Santa Maria di Leuca. Tourism, the University of Salento and a property market that attracts foreign buyers have changed the character of the area over the last twenty years.

This office prepares sworn translations from English into Italian in Lecce, certified before the competent officer and delivered ready to be filed. Anyone holding papers issued by an English-speaking authority finds a service that follows the entire path, from the quotation to the delivery of the sworn file.

The service is addressed to English-speaking residents of the province and to everyone arriving with documents drawn up in English: for British and Irish citizens who have bought a house in the baroque towns, for those coming from the United States, Canada and Australia, and for applicants from India, Nigeria, Ghana and the Philippines who work along the coast.

Beside the ordinary civil status files there is a second category of work, less common elsewhere. These are the notarial acts that accompany the purchase of a house in the villages of Salento by people resident abroad.

The official translations in Italy produced here are accepted in Nardò, Galatina, Casarano, Copertino, Gallipoli, Otranto and Tricase, and in the other municipalities of the province of Lecce.

Powers of attorney, notarial deeds and property sales

Anyone buying property in Italy without living there almost always resorts to a power of attorney, the act by which a person is instructed to sign in the buyer's name before the notary.

Where the power of attorney is drawn up in English and signed before a solicitor in London, a notary public in New York or a commissioner for oaths in Dublin, the Italian notary accepts it only when it is accompanied by a sworn translation into Italian and, where the Convention applies, by the apostille of the country of origin. The same holds for company incorporation deeds, for acceptances of inheritance and for renunciations.

English legal vocabulary has no mechanical counterpart in Italian: an affidavit, a deed poll or a grant of probate name institutions that Italian law arranges in another way. The Italian text must let the institution be recognised, without replacing it with a term that in this country means something else.

It is prudent to send the draft of the act well before the date fixed for the signature, so that the notary may examine the Italian text in advance and point out any addition needed.

Sworn translations in Apulia and across the south

The office covers every Apulian province and the Lucanian, Calabrian, Campanian and Lazio provinces where our clients have procedures under way. Those living in Salento need not reach any counter: the papers travel electronically and the sworn file arrives at the address indicated.

Within the region we follow sworn translations in Bari, the regional capital, certified translations in Brindisi, the neighbouring province to the north, official translations in Taranto, sworn translations in Foggia and certified translations in Barletta-Andria-Trani.

Towards Basilicata and Calabria we work on official translations in Matera, on sworn translations in Potenza, on certified translations in Cosenza and on official translations in Catanzaro.

Towards Campania and Lazio we follow sworn translations in Naples, certified translations in Salerno and official translations in Rome.

The English documents translated into Italian

The acts listed below are those most often requested in the province. The sequence opens with powers of attorney, for the reason just described.

Power of attorney and notarial deed: general and special powers, incorporation deeds, acceptances of inheritance and renunciations are presented to the Italian notary in sworn translation.
Birth certificate: birth certificates serve for transcription, for registration with the registry office, for marriage and for Italian citizenship applications.
Marriage certificate: marriage certificates allow transcription in the Italian civil status registers, reunification with a spouse and the reconstruction of family records.
Criminal record certificate and pending charges: criminal records and certificates of pending charges recur in citizenship applications and in numerous recruitment procedures. Their validity is limited in time.
Passport and identity card: passports and national identity cards accompany nearly every file and are attached in sworn translation so that the holder of the other acts may be identified.
Certificate of family status: certificates of family status are asked for in family reunification, in residence procedures and in citizenship files.
Driving licence and vehicle registration document: licences issued outside the European Union and vehicle registration documents are translated and sworn in order to drive during the period allowed and for the conversion procedure.
Diploma and educational certificate: diplomas, university degrees and transcripts listing subjects and marks are requested by the University of Salento and by the schools of the territory.
Divorce certificate and divorce decree: divorce decrees allow marital status to be updated, make a new marriage possible and are produced in proceedings on custody and maintenance.
Certificate of no impediment to marriage: it is required of anyone intending to marry in a municipality of the province of Lecce and having to prove freedom of status.
Tax code, residence certificates, death certificates and other identity documents or administrative acts issued by English-speaking authorities accompany residence permits, civil status files and inheritance procedures.

Registers in the English-speaking world take many forms: some countries keep them nationally, others by state or by county, and a certificate may be a short extract or a photographic copy of the original entry, with seals and wordings that differ from one office to another. The differences are formal, yet they must be recognised so that the Italian text is accepted at the counter without a second request.

Court of Lecce - Sworn translations

Where sworn translations from English are accepted in Lecce

A translation sworn by an official translator carries full legal validity before every Italian administration. In the city and in the province the files delivered by this office are habitually submitted to:

the Prefecture of Lecce, for Italian citizenship applications and for the procedures of the territorial government office;
the Police Headquarters of Lecce and the district offices of Gallipoli, Nardò and Casarano, for residence permits, renewals and family reunification;
the Municipality of Lecce, with its registry office and civil status office, and the corresponding offices of the lower Salento;
the competent Civil Motor Vehicle Office, for the conversion of driving licences issued abroad;
the Court of Lecce and the Office of the Public Prosecutor, for civil proceedings, for legalisations and for family cases;
the University of Salento, the schools and the training bodies of the territory, for enrolment and for the recognition of qualifications;
the Apulian health authorities, the local health offices and the notaries of the district, for welfare procedures and for deeds of sale.

In Salento many families keep ties with Australia, with Canada and with the United States, where entire villages of the province emigrated during the twentieth century. Applications for the recognition of citizenship by descent follow that thread, and they require the acts of each generation to be translated and sworn.

The service also covers consular acts, that is, the documents issued in Italy by foreign representations. Certificates and declarations drawn up in English by the consular offices of English-speaking countries call for the same sworn certification as acts coming from abroad.

The same translations keep their validity outside Italy, before the Italian Embassies and the Italian Consulates in the European countries gathered in the menu: Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Oath, legalisation and request for a quotation

Sworn translation and certified translation denote the same thing: the translator assumes before a public official the responsibility for the correspondence between the source text and the Italian one. Legalisation is instead a further step, provided for only in certain procedures, which takes place at the Office of the Public Prosecutor.

The apostille concerns the source document and not the translation: it is affixed in the State that issued the act and cannot be obtained in Italy. On powers of attorney intended for a signing before the notary this is the first point to verify, because without that stamp the notary does not proceed.

On certificates copied from registers overseas, variant spellings of surnames occur often, the result of the phonetic transcription practised by the officers of the time. The Italian text keeps the form appearing in the act, leaving to the Italian officer the assessment of the correspondence between one spelling and another.

The quotation is free of charge, is calculated on the actual text of the acts and gives a final figure inclusive of duties, revenue stamps, sworn statement and delivery, with the delivery date. It remains valid for seven days, and a scan or a photograph of the documents sent by email or by messaging is enough to obtain it. Every file is prepared by an official translator entered on the Register of Experts of the Chamber of Commerce, and it is sent out ready for the notary or for the office that will handle the procedure.

This office works exclusively on sworn translation services in Italy towards Italian; the opposite direction, from Italian into English, does not form part of the service. Italian-speaking readers will find the same subject at traduzioni giurate di inglese a Lecce.