It came from a checklist, a solicitor, or a clerk at a counter. A CORU or NMBI application form listing certified copies. A solicitor handling a property sale in Spain. An embassy in Dublin that handed the file back. Or the Department of Foreign Affairs, which won't apostille a translation until a notary has signed it. Whoever said it, the word “notarised” rarely comes with an explanation of what it means or whether you actually need it.
Both routes need a translator and a notary, and most people end up chasing each one separately. We do it as one job. We're an Irish registered translation company and the notary arrangement is already in place, so your document gets translated, bound and notarised without you booking a thing. Tell us where it's going and you'll get a written price back the same working day.
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Most people who ask us for notarisation turn out not to need it. A certified translation carries a signed statement from a named translator confirming the English matches the original. That's the format ISD, the General Register Office, universities and employers work from every day, and for them it's enough.
Notarisation adds a different thing on top. An Irish notary public witnesses the translator signing, then issues a notarial certificate under their own seal. The notary isn't checking the language. They're creating a record a foreign authority can verify, which is why this step exists at all.
So the rule of thumb is simple. Staying in Ireland, certified is almost always enough. Crossing a border, or going in front of a court or a regulator that asks by name, and you'll need the notary. We'll tell you which one applies before you pay for anything.
The translation itself is done by a native speaker who works with Irish paperwork every week, and signed by an accredited, ITIA-affiliated translator whose name and contact details stay on the document. The notary then witnesses that signature. Two named people, both traceable, which is exactly what the office at the other end is looking for.
Before you book a notary yourself
Ireland has no register of sworn translators. If someone asked you for one, they usually mean certified, or certified plus a notary.
A notary, a solicitor and a commissioner for oaths do different jobs. For anything leaving Ireland it's usually the notary you need.
They verify who signed, not whether the translation is good. The accuracy still rests entirely on the translator.
Translate, notarise, then apostille. If your document is going abroad, ask about the whole chain rather than one piece.
They sound alike. They're completely different jobs. And this one confusion sends back more applications than anything else on this page, largely because plenty of regulators quietly want both.
Nothing gets translated here at all. Someone with authority looks at your original, compares it to the photocopy, and certifies that the copy is true. A notary can do it. So can a solicitor, a commissioner for oaths or a peace commissioner, depending on who's asking.
Here it's the opposite. A translator produces the English version and signs a statement confirming it's complete and accurate, name and contact details attached. Nobody has looked at your photocopy. The whole thing rests on the translator.
Take NMBI. Overseas applicants supply certified copies of their passport, qualification parchment and transcript, plus certified English translations of anything not already in English. Two separate requirements sitting on the same pile of paper, and missing either one stalls the file.
A notarised translation is where the notary witnesses the translator's signature and adds a notarial certificate. That's not the same as certifying a photocopy, even though the same notary may do both for you in one sitting.
Send us the letter or the checklist you were given rather than paraphrasing it. The wording tells us which of the three you actually need, and it takes us two minutes to read. For the certified-versus-sworn side of it, our sworn translation page goes further.
Healthcare is where this comes up most. If you're a nurse, doctor or allied health professional arriving from outside Ireland, your regulator will want certified copies before it will look at your file.
Overseas applicants supply certified copies of identity documents, any evidence of a name change, the qualification parchment, the transcript, the diploma supplement and their current registration certificate. Anything not in English needs a certified translation as well. A notary is one of the officers who can certify those copies.
CORU registration runs on certified copies of identity and qualification documents, with certified translations where needed. One detail gets misreported a lot online. The six-month limit applies to the Statutory Declaration and your proof of current address, not to notarised copies of passports, degrees or transcripts. Those carry no mandatory six-month window, so you don't need to redo them. The current requirements are set out on CORU's own registration page.
Foreign directors, shareholders and company formations often need notarised identity documents and powers of attorney. Where a document is going to be relied on by a registry or a bank, the notary's seal is what makes it usable rather than the translation alone.
Here's the honest part. Universities, NARIC, ISD and the GRO almost always accept a certified translation on its own. If you're registering an IRP or building an immigration file, our immigration document translation page is the one you want, and it's cheaper.
Going abroad with an apostille? Then notarisation isn't optional. The Department of Foreign Affairs sets out exactly how the paperwork has to be built, and a bundle that skips a step gets handed straight back across the counter.
For legalisation, the Department of Foreign Affairs requires the work to come from an Irish registered translator or an Irish registered translation company. The translator signs, dates and sets out their qualification to translate on the document itself. We are an Irish registered translation company, so this part is already covered before we start.
Translated documents must be bound together, and the notary's certification has to sit on the English version or on a covering notarial certificate. Loose pages, or a notary stamp in the wrong place, is one of the most common reasons a bundle is refused at the counter.
Once notarised, the Department authenticates the notary's signature. For a Hague country that finishes it. For anywhere outside the Convention the destination's embassy in Ireland adds a second stamp. Our apostille and DFA legalisation page covers that leg.
The Department won't legalise translations of foreign passports, foreign birth certificates or foreign educational qualifications, even when the translation was done here. Those belong to the country that issued them. Knowing this early saves a wasted notary appointment.
Civil law countries such as Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Brazil tend to expect the notarised format as standard, so if that's where your document is heading, assume the notary step applies and ask us to confirm.
Five come up again and again, and each wants it for a different reason. Knowing the reason usually tells you how strict they'll be about the format.
One pattern runs through all five. Not one of them is judging the translation itself. They want a named, traceable person standing behind it, and a notary's register entry is exactly that.
Do this yourself and it's three jobs. Find a translator. Find a notary. Then get the two of them to agree on how the document should be assembled. We run all of it as one, and the first step costs you nothing.
A photo is enough. Include the letter or checklist you were given, because the exact wording decides which of the three formats you need.
We tell you whether certification alone will do, and price the notary step separately so you can see exactly what it adds.
The translator signs and states their qualification, the pages are bound the required way, and the notary certificate goes where it belongs.
Posted to you by registered post. If it needs an apostille, we take it to the Department rather than handing it back for you to queue.
Because a notary appointment is involved, this takes longer than a plain certified translation. We'll give you a realistic date based on notary availability rather than a number that sounds good on a website.
Split out so you can see what each stage adds, instead of one number that hides the notary fee inside it. Most people only ever need the first level.
Certified Translation
No notary · what most Irish applications need
Certified + Notarised
Notary attends · certificate and seal applied
Notarised + Apostille
Full chain · for documents going abroad
The figures above are starting prices, not a final quote. What you pay depends on the document, its length, and how many separate items need a stamp, and bulk pages earn a discount. The Department's own apostille fee is set by the State and applies on top where that stage is needed. Your final price is confirmed in a written quotation before any work begins, so nothing starts until you have approved the cost.
A quick way to place yourself before you send anything. The left column is the only one you need to be sure about.
| Where it's going | Certified | Notarised | Apostille |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISD, IRP registration, citizenship | ✓ Enough | No | No |
| Universities, NARIC, employers | ✓ Enough | No | No |
| NMBI, CORU, Medical Council | ✓ Plus certified copies | A notary can certify | No |
| Courts, solicitors, cross-border cases | Sometimes | ✓ Often | Case by case |
| Any translation going overseas | Not on its own | ✓ Required | ✓ Usually |
If your row lands in the first two, you don't need this page and we'd rather say so than sell you a notary appointment. To be clear about our limits: we don't give legal or immigration advice, we can't tell you what a foreign authority will accept, and we won't claim a notary stamp fixes a problem with the underlying document. What we do is prepare the paperwork properly and tell you honestly which format you need. Our office is at 6 Fern Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18, and there's a person on the end of +353 87 441 3817.
Nurses arriving, companies filing abroad, and a few people who'd already been sent back once for the wrong format.
"NMBI wanted certified copies and certified translations. I thought they were the same thing. They explained the difference and did both in one go."
"My first bundle came back from the Department because the notary certificate was on the wrong page. They rebuilt it properly and it went through."
"I'd booked a notary myself and wasted the appointment because the translation wasn't ready in the right form. Second time they handled both."
"They told me I didn't need notarisation for my IRP at all, just a certified translation. Saved me the notary fee and a week of waiting."
"I was about to redo my notarised passport copy because a forum said it expires. They checked CORU's rules and told me it didn't. Saved me a second notary fee."
"We send client files here rather than coordinating a translator and a notary ourselves. It comes back assembled correctly every time."
"Doctor moving from Egypt. Qualifications, transcript and good standing certificate all needed certifying and translating. One job, one price."
"Power of attorney for my father's estate in Italy. Notarised and apostilled without me making a single phone call."
"Setting up an Irish company with a director based in Vietnam. His documents needed notarising and translating both ways. Handled calmly."
"Brazilian consulate wanted a notarised format I'd never heard of. They knew exactly what was meant and produced it first time."
The things people actually ask before booking anything. If yours isn't here, ask on WhatsApp.
Whether you're registering with NMBI or CORU, filing abroad, or sending an Irish document out with an apostille, the body asking decides the format. Send us their exact wording and we'll confirm what you need and what it costs, in writing, before anything starts.
One team, one job. An Irish registered translation company with the notary step arranged for you, a signed statement on everything we issue, and a free reissue if our paperwork is ever the reason it comes back.