Standards

IBCOT Standards for Official-Document Translation

These are the practices every IBCOT member is taught in the required Member Standards Orientation and the IBCOT Official Document Translation Training Program, and is held to under the Code of Ethics. The IBCOT Certified Official Document Translator examination tests them. Where a receiving office gives written instructions that differ, the member follows those instructions.

How the credential is earned What membership includes

1

Completeness

The translation renders everything on the page: headings, entries, empty fields, margin notes, stamps, seals, signatures, footers and fine print, and the back of every page that carries anything.
Nothing is silently dropped, added, corrected or invented. Where the source looks wrong, the translation reproduces what the document says and a neutral note records the issue.
A summary or partial translation is made only at the client's written request, is labelled as such, and states what was left out.
Every page and reverse side is translated in order and marked, for example [Page 1 of 2] and [Reverse side of page 1].
The register and strength of the source are kept. Abbreviations stay abbreviated. Titles and qualifications are translated at the level the source states, never upgraded and never given an equivalent.

2

Names

Names are copied exactly as the source writes them, letter for letter, with every accent and diacritic, in the source's order, with compound surnames and particles intact. Given names are never translated.
A different spelling in the client's other papers does not change the translation; the difference is for the client or their attorney to explain.
Names in another script are transliterated with one recognised system, applied consistently and named in a translator's note. A Latin spelling already shown in the source is used as it stands.
Variants and aliases are reproduced where they appear. The translator never chooses the "correct" one.

3

Dates, numbers, identifiers and currencies

Dates are rendered with the month in words and a four-digit year, in brackets, so no reader can misread them. Where the order cannot be established, the date is reproduced as written with a note. Dates written in words stay in words.
Numbers, registry and document numbers and identifiers are copied character for character, including leading zeros, hyphens, slashes and spaces, and checked a second time against the source image. Separators are not swapped, nothing is rounded, trailing zeros are kept.
Amounts stay in the source currency, exactly as written. The translator never converts a currency.

4

Stamps, seals, signatures, handwriting and illegible text

Every seal, stamp, signature and handwritten entry is described in brackets, in reading order, with any readable text translated inside the bracket, using one consistent notation throughout.
A signature is described, never transcribed. A name is added only if the document prints or writes one beside it, never from the translator's own knowledge.
Text that cannot be read is marked [illegible], and only the part that cannot be read. The translator never guesses, never fills a gap from memory, another document or the client, and never offers a likely reading. What the client says it reads goes only in a clearly labelled note.
Where a copy is too poor to read, the member asks for a better one and tells the client in writing which fields could not be read.

5

Layout, formatting and translator's notes

The translation follows the structure of the source: tables stay tables, cell by cell in reading order; numbered entries keep their numbers; an empty field is marked [blank] and never filled with a dash, a zero or "N/A" the source does not show.
A translation is clearly a translation. It never imitates the original: no reproduced logos, seals, signatures, letterhead or security paper. It states on its face that it is a translation and between which languages.
Translator's notes are short, factual, neutral and labelled as the translator's. A note describes the source; it never adds the client's facts, offers an opinion on the person or document, argues for acceptance, or claims equivalence of a qualification.

6

The certification statement

The statement names the translator, states competence in the named language pair, identifies the exact document and pages, attests that the translation is complete and accurate to the best of the translator's knowledge and ability, and is signed and dated by the translator.
A member signs only translations they produced or reviewed in full against the source, keeps a copy of every signed statement with the translation and the source, and is personally accountable for every word, whatever tools helped produce the draft.
The statement never promises acceptance, gives legal advice, speaks to the authenticity of the source, or claims a status the translator does not hold. A member who has not earned the CODT credential adds no certification claim and describes themselves only as an IBCOT Professional Member.

7

Corrections, versions and client requests

Every delivered translation carries a version identifier and date. An error found after delivery is corrected in a new version with a new signed statement, the client is told what changed, and both versions are kept. A file is never quietly swapped.
The translation says what the source says. A member does not change, omit or "fix" an entry at a client's request, even an apparent clerical error. If the client insists, the member declines the job.
A correct translation is never changed to settle a complaint. A member asked about a job by IBCOT responds promptly and openly.

8

Confidentiality and client documents

Client documents are kept private, held only as long as the job needs, shared only with people working on it, exchanged through channels the member controls, and deleted when the job is done, including copies and trash.
Client documents are never posted as samples, even anonymised.
A breach is reported to the client promptly: what happened, which documents were involved, and what was done.

9

Technology, machine translation and AI

Review means comparing the translation with the source image, field by field. Reading the draft on its own is not review.
The member follows any client or receiving-office rule about automation and, if asked, tells the client how the translation was produced.
IBCOT approves, requires and ranks no tool.

10

Document integrity

The member attests to the translation, not to the authenticity of the source. A translation never states that a document is fraudulent, altered or genuine.
Visible marks such as overwriting or patches are rendered and described. Impressions are raised privately with the client, factually and without accusation. The member declines any request to change, omit or hide a concern.

11

Role, conflicts and truthful claims

A member declines or refers work where a relationship to a person or the outcome could reasonably be seen to affect the translation, discloses in writing when unsure, and never ties a fee to an outcome.
A member declines work in a language variety, script or subject they cannot handle reliably, or that cannot be translated and reviewed by the deadline, and says why in one plain sentence.
Legal questions, such as what to file, whether a document suffices or whether it will be accepted, belong to the client's attorney. A member gives no legal advice and no promise of acceptance.
A member describes their status, languages and experience exactly as they are, never implies government approval, never uses "certified", "sworn" or "licensed" unless that exact status is theirs and current, and corrects any published error the same day.

How the standards are taught and examined

Taught
Every member completes the Member Standards Orientation before their public profile and the examination open. The IBCOT Official Document Translation Training Program is included in dues.
Held to
The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, the Truthful Credential Claims policy and the complaints and discipline process apply to every member.
Examined
The IBCOT Certified Official Document Translator credential is earned only by passing the IBCOT certification examination, which tests these standards. Membership and training completion are not certification.

Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Truthful Credential Claims policy How the credential is earned