I’ve googled looking for a sample translation of Apostille document in Traditional Chinese for Taiwan.
The Apostille is a standard document, there is no need for specialized translation each time it is used, except perhaps names. I’m looking for the format for use in Taiwan, not a translation service. I only found one for HKG, so I can’t compare the legalese exactly, though both regions use traditional Chinese.
Any leads?
You can go to any notary public in Taiwan and they will have translation services. They are usually near courthouses.
Thanks. I’ve amended the OP to clarify what I’m looking for.
Taiwan is not a member of the Hague Convention. If a Taiwan document needs to be certified, it needs to be sent to a neighboring member country after being authenticated. It is then signed by the Apostille certification department of that member country.
How to handle Apostille certification of Taiwan documents:
Step1: Send the document to a Taiwanese notary for certification
Step2: Authenticate the documents via a Taiwan diplomatic mission
Step3: Send the documents to a neighboring country of the Hague Convention (eg. Hong Kong)
Step4: Documents are certified by international notaries of the member country
Step5: Documents are forwarded to the Apostille certification department of the member country to sign
Source (in Chinese)
No wonder. That sounded like Chinese to me.
Not directly relevant to my OP. Sorry. My documents have already been apostilled by a foreign govt. I am looking for the sample translation for the apostille form in Traditional Chinese for Taiwan. I guess the Hong Kong sample will suffice. tks.
Hong Kong and Taiwan use the same written language (Traditional Chinese) so I don’t see why the Hong Kong one wouldn’t work.
I assume you’re looking for something like this? I can’t think of any member nations that use Traditional Chinese (Mandarin, not Cantonese) as an official language, though. But if you’re translating, that really shouldn’t be that much of an issue, just read what’s there in case of discrepancies.
Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken languages. The written language is Chinese, and there isn’t any significant difference between HK Chinese and Taiwan Chinese.
Well. It’s just that the legal systems aren’t exactly identical. I am not a legal expert in any language, but there is often a difference in legal terminology between many English speaking countries. Since I am not completely au fait with Chinese legal terminology in any region, I thought it better to get a local standard but I haven’t found one yet.
Um…yes, there are significant differences. How long have you been translating?
Like what? 貨車 instead of 卡車?
There are terms that are preferred in HK and Taiwan, but it doesn’t mean the other term is incorrect. 貨車 is universally correct so a Taiwanese audience would still understand it even if they usually say 卡車.
It’s like “truck” and “lorry”. “Truck” is universal so it’s not considered incorrect in the UK even if they prefer to say “lorry”.
It’s not very likely that in a legal form, Hong Kong would choose to use non-universal words that are only considered correct in HK, or that a Taiwanese wouldn’t understand.
I’ll share mine, when it’s done. That way at least, if the notary accepts it, someone might find it useful.