Depending on the country, it can be a nightmare
We had a client who was about to marry a Sicilian girl and move to Sicily.
Although he is a physiotherapist, at the time he didn't know whether he would find work there; all he knew was that she was the love of his life. They had met in Valencia, where they lived happily until the wedding.
A few months before the wedding, her father, a dentist in a small Sicilian village, was about to retire and, as his beloved daughter had just finished her degree in dentistry, she could carry on running the practice he had worked so hard to build.
Our client, a Valencian born and bred, felt his heart skip a beat every time he thought about the radical change of living on an island and having to plan a whole new career.
What was clear was that he would follow his future wife to the ends of the earth.
Álvaro, as he was called, spent time researching the country and its customs while settling in Italy, which might look like the same setting as Spain but is nothing like it.
He tried a few jobs, but none of them fulfilled him.
To work as a physiotherapist, he first had to get his degree recognised.
He would curse the day he decided to do it, because it turned into a huge mess. He had to translate his entire academic record into Italian, plus a criminal record certificate, and the translations also had to be sworn by an official Italian translator qualified in Italy.
But it got even more complicated, because some types of document, such as academic or civil registry records, are exempt from legalisation (the apostille) between Spain and Italy, whereas criminal record certificates in Italy ‘almost always carry an apostille’.
The apostille could be requested when applying for the certificate online from the Spanish Ministry of Justice, so Álvaro first had to find out whether his criminal record certificate would need to be apostilled.
As if that weren't enough, for official translations to be legally valid in Italy, you have to go through one of the following three routes:
– legalisation of the translator's signature at an Italian consular chancery in Spain,
– the translator swearing the translations before a court in Italy, or
– notarial authentication of the translations in Italy.
Each of these three routes meant additional costs and delays, depending on the case.
In the end, the notarial route was the fastest, but also by far the most expensive – on top of the revenue stamp and the time of the translator who swears the translation.
Swearing the translations at court, known as ‘asseverazione’, is a middle ground, but you had to factor in costs such as the revenue stamp (at least one €16 stamp per document) and a fee for the time the translator needed to complete the procedure at court.
Then you had to check whether all the documents could be sworn on the same day, because the court clerk usually set a limit on the number of documents each translator or expert could swear.
As for timing, it depended on how backed up the court was, because the office in question was only open two days a week. Usually, if the formalities couldn't be completed the same week, they were done the following one.
Anyway, thank goodness Álvaro got in touch with us and left everything I've described above in our hands.
We got down to work and took the shortest time it is possible to take in Italy to get a European academic qualification recognised.
We did it in record time and, thanks to that, our client was able to work as a physio in Sicily. He hasn't stopped working since and brings home a good salary.
Every country is a world of its own; even within Europe, you always come across quirks.
If you want to save yourself a lot of hassle, hire an agency that specialises in sworn translation and interpreting. Yes, it comes at a cost, but the peace of mind of having professionals take a lot of work and headaches off your hands is priceless.
For sworn translations and/or interpreting: arenas@learndix.com.
If you'd like to take a look at our website: www.learndix.com.