The Benefit of Certified Transcription and Translation

What is a Certified Transcript or translation?

A certified and notarized transcript (or translation) is one that has been declared and sworn to be accurate by the agency or transcriptionist/translator who did the work. This gives a degree of assurance that the final product is true and complete to the best of the companies' ability and is usually required for certain types of transcription/translation such as that required by courts.

Why is Transcript Certification Necessary?

Certification makes it more difficult to contest the accuracy of the account or what was stated. This could be especially important for legal proceedings. Any transcripts involving law enforcement especially when interagency relations are required can be of major benefit to an investigation, whether the information is used for the prosecution/plaintiff or the defense in a legal matter.

When legal matters occur that cross national borders, proper documentation can help alleviate problems that could occur where no certification or notarization exists. A notarized transcript significantly improves the chances for acceptance by government bodies in international legal issues.

If a problem arises due to a poor translation or transcript, certification offers some refuge. It shows that you were operating in good faith and with trust in your sources when you can produce the seal. Reporting on a story or providing testaments to back your position can do more harm than good if it is later found that the source material was contrived or corrupted in some form.

Benefits of Certified Transcripts

The biggest benefit of certification is peace of mind that you have accurate and complete information from which to work. It is also true that it gives a more defendable position but being careful in and of itself can do almost as much. Transcription/translation certification is all about insuring that someone else's mistake or dishonesty doesn't become your downfall. It can happen that mistakes or small omissions might be made by your transcription service. It stands to reason that a transcription company that will stand behind their work so far as to actually certify the transcripts will put more than the average amount of effort into ensuring they don't make fools of themselves or their clients. Finding a company that provides certified transcription shows they take their duty to their clients seriously.

Selecting a Certified Transcription/Translation Service

The more important a transcript is, the more damage can be done if mistakes are made or the material is mishandled. When selecting a transcription service you should look for and look into any consumer complaints that may exist. Likewise, consider the image of the organization and the professionalism of the employees you communicate with; and asking for some kind of testimonial or reference is not unheard of.

The location of the company or the notary public is generally not important. For all intents and purposes notarized documents are recognized both nationally and internationally. The court case for which your certified translation is required may be in the state of Florida but you can rest assured that it will be accepted even if notarized in Wyoming or New York. Depending on the circumstances there are sometimes issues with international notarizations so be sure to check with whoever will be accepting the documents.

You may not need a top of the line bonded and insured corporation to transcribe and certify the minutes of the girl scout meetings you attended when you were a child but if there will be consequences beyond irritation and whiteout then you should definitely care about and be careful who you trust with your transcriptions.

*Note - some transcription and translation companies distinguish between certified and notarized documents. For these companies, a certified document is one for which they include a certificate attesting to the validity or accuracy. A notarized document is simply one that is accompanied by a certificate that is also notarized. Other companies don't make this distinction. All certified documents are also notarized.

TransDual Forensics provides certified Spanish translation of general, legal, and forensic documents and recordings. We also offer English and Spanish certified transcription services.

Everyone Will Benefit With Immigration Reform - Part #4

A few days ago, when this series started, I listed several areas where we will all benefit when there is immigration reform which would legalize the millions of people living here illegally; the military, Social Security, our economy, our future economy, education and national security. The first column was about our economy, the second one was about the military and Social Security, the next one was about language and education. This last one will discuss national security and touch on some others.

If immigration reform is enacted, and undocumented people here now are offered legal status, they would have to register within a certain period of time. Each one would have to fill out an application, be finger printed and have a background check before being allowed to go on to the next step. This will probably include paying all back taxes and also paying a fine. Only then would they be given an identity card and documents saying they are allowed to live and work here. People who do not pass these tests would be deported.

We will all be safer when this happens. People who are afraid that terrorists are in our midst in the guise of illegal immigrants could rest easier knowing everyone had been identified and checked. And more drug smugglers would be caught when border guards don't have to chase poor men, women and children trying to come in to work and live.

If Americans want to live in a secure country, we have to be able to regulate people coming in and know who is living here or visiting and have a way to keep track of them.

Changing the laws to make immigration easier and faster would eventually stop most people from trying to get in illegally, but it would take a while for all the poor people in Mexico and other Latin American countries to realize how the new laws would affect them. They would have to be convinced that when the people here now are given legal status and the new ones coming in would not find work, that it would be futile for them to try to come in. If all these additional workers can work legally, no one will have any reason to hire people without the correct documents.

All these new legal residents would have to get a driver license and, of course, insurance. More people with legal driver licenses means more people had to read the manual and pass the written, eye and road tests. This would immediately make the roads safer for you and me. And when more people have mandatory car insurance we are all better protected. Besides making the roads safer, they would each have a picture ID which helps each state keep track of all of its people.

Many people complain about the cost of illegal immigrants. All the studies I have seen have shown that the costs of hospital care and schools are more than offset by the revenue gained by the workers and the companies they work for. The big problem is that since these additional people aren't included in the census, the tax money is not always distributed where it is needed.

If there were immigration reform and the undocumented people were given legal status, there would have to be an updated census. The new census figures would show which communities deserved a larger share of the revenue dollars for the schools, hospitals and other services they provide. The money should be sent where it is needed, but that won't happen if we can't document where it is needed.

One of the reasons people come or stay here illegally is that they all know that it takes many years to immigrate legally. Hundreds of thousands of people trying to immigrate legally are stuck in a back log in the Immigration Department. Many have been waiting for up to 10 years to be approved.

Part of a new reform package would be hiring more staff in the Immigration Department to process all these people caught in the backlog to get on their way to green cards and citizenship. When the new laws are enacted, these people will be processed first and the new people will get in line behind them.

If there were a way we could help the Mexican economy, it would help us and them. Poverty and lack of work in Mexico have driven their people to come here. Many of their villages have almost no working age men left in them and many of their young women have left too. But if we don't do anything to help Mexico, we must at least help our own country by enacting comprehensive immigration reform here.

Everyone agrees that people should not be in this country illegally. Everyone agrees that the people here illegally have broken our laws just by being here. Everyone agrees that we have to document the people coming into and leaving our country. Most people admit that we are all responsible in some way: whether we hire the workers; buy what they produce; vote for the people who passed the laws that allowed it to get this far or if we didn't vote at all. And since we are responsible for the problem, we should be responsible and try to fix it.

A big part of immigration reform would have to be protecting our borders better. Additional border guards are now at work and fences are being built in a few places, but this is not the complete answer. We have to have a way that makes it more fair for people to immigrate legally and give legal status to the law abiding people here now. They have worked hard and helped our economy and deserve to be treated with dignity.

When they become legal residents, they must be encouraged to learn English, learn and obey our laws and assimilate into life here, without giving up all of their own culture.

Our ancestors all came here to become Americans, each group adding some more flavor to the mixture. This mixture is what makes it so interesting and it is always changing and improving. New immigrants will assuredly keep up this tradition.

There were no immigration laws here until the 1890s when waves of Irish immigrants forced the government to write some. These laws have been constantly rewritten since then. It is time to do it again, this time making more sensible laws that people can live with.

There are so many reasons why we need immigration reform and why we all should be happy when we get it. Even the people who insist we don't need any more people here and should deport millions of people here now. Everyone will benefit when we get a comprehensive immigration reform package passed.

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Donna Poisl is the author of "How to Live & Thrive in the U.S. / Como Vivir y Prosperar en Estados Unidos" and president of Live & Thrive Press. She wrote this reference guide to help immigrants learn our system and succeed in this country. Contact Donna at http://www.howtoliveandthrive.com or Immigrants in USA Blog at http://immigrantsinusa.blogspot.com