A Moroccan citizen can queue at the court of first instance for a Bulletin No 3, pay to have it translated, upload both and still be asked for a police certificate. IRCC does not accept that bulletin for immigration, because it lists only offences committed in the city of residence. What IRCC wants from Moroccan citizens is the fiche anthropométrique from the police, and it needs no translation: it is printed in French and Arabic.
Arabic paperwork works like that. More than twenty countries share the language, not the documents or the procedures, and a flawless translation of the wrong document is still the wrong document. Below: IRCC's rule, records and police certificates by country, Hijri dates, names, Quebec, the IRB and the mistakes behind returned files.
Does IRCC require certified translations of Arabic documents?
Yes, every document or part of a document that is not in English or French. IRCC's instructions say such documents "must be accompanied by an official translation", and that "all stamps and seals that are not in English or French must also be translated."
IRCC asks for a translation stamped by a certified translator, meaning a member of a professional translation association whose seal shows their membership number (in Canada, a provincial body such as ATIO, OTTIAQ or STIBC). When the translation is not done by a certified translator, it must come with an affidavit the translator swears before a notary public or commissioner of oaths "in the country where they live." See IRCC translation requirements and certified translation vs sworn affidavit.
Upload the translation, the affidavit and a scan of the original, or of the certified copy the translator worked from, in the slot for that document. Applications missing required translations can be "returned as incomplete", and IRCC can ask for a retranslation "by a different translator."
Do French documents from Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia need translating?
No. IRCC says documents already in English or French "do not have to be translated", even when the rest of the application is in the other official language. A Moroccan full-copy birth record issued in French goes in as it is.
Bilingual documents need a closer look. Moroccan civil records are issued in French, Arabic or both, Algeria issues many civil records in French on request, and Tunisian offices work in both languages. Any field, stamp or handwritten note that appears only in Arabic must be translated.
IRCC's police certificate pages show both sides of the rule. For Morocco: "No translation is needed as the document is written in both French and Arabic." For Algeria's Bulletin No. 3: "Translation is requested at the expense of the client."
Which civil records matter for each Arabic-speaking country?
The registered civil record. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations recognize a marriage abroad that is "valid both under the laws of the jurisdiction where it took place and under Canadian law," and in Syria a religious marriage or divorce is not recognized until it is registered with the Civil Registry. File the civil record, with the religious contract alongside if you have it.
| Country | Birth record | Marriage record | Detail to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Civil Status Organization (CSO) certificate, Arabic-only or bilingual | CSO certificate, once the maazoun or church has registered the marriage | Revocable divorces can be reversed within three months |
| Syria | Civil Affairs record, Ministry of Interior | Contract registered with the Civil Registry | Marriage and divorce count only once registered |
| Lebanon | Wathikat welada, Directorate General of Civil Status | Religious marriage, registered with the civil status office | There is no civil marriage in Lebanon |
| Iraq | Surat qayd 1957, General Directorate of Nationality, two-sided with English and Arabic columns | Civil Status Court, Ministry of Justice | The jinsiya and national card are ID cards, not birth records |
| Jordan | Shihadat wiladah, Civil Status and Passport Department (CSPD) | Sharia court or church contract, then a CSPD certificate | Sanad app PDFs carry a QR code only that app can verify |
| Saudi Arabia | Ministerial Agency for Civil Affairs; none for people born before 1968 | Sharia court record, green booklet or A4 contract | Talaq deeds show a registration date and a later authentication date |
| Morocco | Bureau d'état civil full copy or extract | Acte de mariage drafted by adoul, certified by the family court's notary judge | The extract is a summary; the full copy reproduces every entry |
Family registers, such as Lebanon's family civil registration sheet listing every family member, are useful supporting proof of a household in dependant and sponsorship files.
Which police certificate does IRCC want from each Arabic-speaking country?
The one named on IRCC's page for that country. For Express Entry, IRCC wants a certificate from "every country you (or a family member) stayed in during the last 10 years for 6 months in a row or longer", counting only time after age 18. A certificate from your current country "must be issued no more than 6 months before" you apply, scanned in colour from the original.
| Country | Certificate | What IRCC's instructions say |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Criminal Record | Local police station, or an Egyptian embassy or consulate abroad. Fingerprints on the front, results on the back. |
| Syria | Police certificate | Not required "unless we ask for one." Abroad, apply through a Syrian embassy. |
| Iraq | Police certificate | Only if IRCC asks. A Criminal Investigation Department, or an Iraqi embassy's consular section. |
| Lebanon | Criminal Record NR (2) | Gendarmerie territorial brigade. From abroad, a close relative with your power of attorney applies. |
| Jordan | Good Conduct certificate and Non-conviction certificate | "Both certificates are required." |
| Saudi Arabia | Criminal Record Certificate | Wait for IRCC's request letter and IRCC Riyadh's facilitation letter. Only current residents can apply; citizens abroad use an embassy. |
| United Arab Emirates | Police clearance or good conduct certificate | One certificate from any emirate is enough. |
| Kuwait | Good Conduct Certificate | Bring the Embassy of Canada's request letter. |
| Qatar | Police Clearance Certificate | Requested through Metrash, it is emailed directly to IRCC. |
| Morocco | Fiche anthropométrique (citizens) or Bulletin no 3 (foreign nationals) | A local court's Bulletin No 3 is not accepted. |
| Algeria, Tunisia | Bulletin No. 3 | Local police station or the ministry's website. |
Arabic-only certificates are translated in full, including the back. See our police certificate translation guide.
How should Hijri dates appear in the translation?
As written, with the Gregorian date beside it and the calendar named. The lunar Hijri year falls about 11 days short of the Gregorian year, so no fixed offset works. Saudi Arabia's government uses the Umm al-Qura calendar for civil purposes, while many online converters apply arithmetic rules that can land a day away.
One day matters: your date of birth appears on the passport and every IRCC form, and an officer sees the mismatch before the calendar question. Where a document mixes calendars, the translation labels each date.
How should Arabic names match the passport?
Spelled as in the passport, with every name part the document shows. Civil records often chain a given name, the father's and grandfather's names and a family name, while the passport prints three parts or two. The translation keeps every part in its original order; the passport decides the spelling.
محمد can be Mohammed, Mohamed, Muhammad or Mohamad, and عبد الله can be Abdullah or Abdallah. Give the translator every passport, and for relatives without one, ask for one romanization repeated identically on every document.
Egyptian passports do not split the full name into surname and given names, so decide once how you split it on IRCC forms and keep it. And in most Arab countries a wife keeps her own family name, so its absence from a marriage record is normal.
Quebec and the IRB: two stricter translation rules
Quebec's immigration ministry (MIFI) has its own rule for the provincial selection stage. A translation made in Canada must come from a member of OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB, or the issuing country's embassy or consulate translation department; one made abroad, from a member of a professional order or an official translation department. It "must bear the name and seal of the translator."
A translation with a sworn affidavit does not meet that rule, and Official Translations is not a member of those associations, so use a qualifying translator for the MIFI stage. French documents need no translation there either, and the federal IRCC stage that follows accepts the affidavit route. See Quebec immigration documents.
The Refugee Protection Division wants every translation filed with "a declaration signed by the translator" giving their name, "the language and dialect, if any, translated" and a statement of accuracy, received at least 10 days before the hearing. See refugee claims and the IRB.
Why Arabic files get returned
- A religious contract filed alone, or a revocable Egyptian divorce treated as final.
- A Moroccan city court's Bulletin No 3 instead of the fiche anthropométrique, or one Jordanian certificate instead of two.
- Arabic stamps on a French document left untranslated.
- A Hijri date converted with a generic tool, one day off the passport.
- No affidavit from a translator who is not certified, or a translation made by a relative.
- Name parts dropped or spelled differently from the passport.
- Only the front of a two-sided document translated.
Checklist for Arabic documents
Questions people ask
Do bilingual Arabic and French documents need a translation for IRCC?
Only the parts that are not in English or French. Text already in French needs no translation, but every Arabic-only field, stamp, seal or handwritten note does, and translating the whole Arabic side keeps the file consistent.
Does IRCC accept a Sharia court marriage contract?
IRCC recognizes a foreign marriage that is valid where it took place and under Canadian law. In Saudi Arabia the Sharia court record is the marriage record. Where civil registration follows the religious contract, as in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon or Jordan, translate the civil certificate too.
How are Hijri dates converted in a certified translation?
Each date gets its own conversion, since a lunar Hijri year runs about 11 days short of a Gregorian one. The translation keeps the original and adds the Gregorian date with the calendar named, because Umm al-Qura and arithmetic converters can disagree by a day.
Do I need a certified translator, or is an affidavit enough for IRCC?
IRCC's instructions ask for a certified translator, a member of a professional translation association whose stamp shows a membership number, and require the translator's sworn affidavit when the translation is not done by one. Official Translations is not a member of a Canadian association, so its IRCC translations come with the translator's affidavit sworn before a notary, CA$24.95 per document.
Can my brother or my immigration consultant translate my Arabic documents?
No. IRCC bars applicants, their family members, including siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and their representatives or consultants from translating documents for the application, even when the relative is a professional translator.
Do I need a police certificate from Saudi Arabia if I no longer live there?
IRCC says only people with current legal residence can obtain a Saudi police certificate, so former residents are not required to provide one; explain that you cannot provide it for your time there. Saudi citizens abroad apply through a Saudi embassy.
Will my IRCC translations work for a Quebec selection application?
Not necessarily. Quebec's immigration ministry accepts translations only from members of OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB, an official translation department or, abroad, a member of a professional order. A translation with an affidavit does not meet that rule.
How much does an Arabic translation cost, and how long does it take?
Official Translations charges CA$39.95 per page of up to 300 words, plus CA$24.95 per document for the sworn affidavit IRCC accepts. Most one-page certificates arrive as a signed PDF within 24 hours; longer court records take one to three business days.
