Bulgarian is one of the few languages we offer for which we rarely receive enquiries. Having received an urgent enquiry from a solicitor for a sworn translation from Bulgarian for use in divorce proceedings, the translation presented an interesting project for a case study.
Our client, being familiar with the process, sent over an initial email detailing all the information we required to provide a quote: a scanned copy of the document, the language in which it was written, the purpose of the translation, their deadline for receipt of the sworn translation and the details for the affidavit (the County Court at which the case was to be heard and the names of the petitioner and the respondent). Private individuals getting in touch may not have all of this information depending at what stage of the process they are at. However, if you are able to supply a copy of the document we should still be able to provide you with a quote and will let you know how you can proceed.
A sworn translation comprises a copy of the original, a translation and an affidavit which is sworn by the translator before a solicitor or Notary public. We therefore provided our client with a comprehensive quote which took into account the translator’s time and travel expenses for attending the solicitor’s offices, as well as the solicitor’s fee for the swearing of the translation. Although Bulgarian translators in the UK seem to be in short supply, with only four being registered with the ITI (Institute of Translators and Interpreters and three with the IoL (Institute of Linguists), we were able to confirm the availability of a suitable and experienced translator.
Having received written confirmation from our client that they were happy for us to proceed on the basis of this quote, we instructed our translator to proceed with the translation. Please note that for private clients, we require payment in advance. More details on the payment methods we accept can be found here.
The next working day the completed translation was returned by the translator and was proofread by our in-house team. The finalised translation was then emailed to our client for their approval. Most importantly, the spellings of both parties’ names needed to be confirmed as they had been transliterated into English from the Cyrillic alphabet. Once our client had confirmed by email that the personal details on the translation were correct, we instructed our translator to arrange for the translation to be sworn.
We were able to return the completed sworn translation to our client by Special Delivery within 5 workings days and by their deadline. Please note that although we try to accommodate urgent deadlines wherever possible, sworn translations usually take 5-8 working days to complete depending on the translator and the solicitor’s availability.