A German birth certificate can be perfectly genuine and still leave out the parents. Under section 59 of the Civil Status Act (Personenstandsgesetz, PStG), the registry office omits the child's sex and the parents' names if asked, and the form simply loses those fields. For a child's first British passport, HM Passport Office wants "the child's full birth or adoption certificate (the one with parent's details on it)".
That is how German document translation for the UK usually goes wrong: not in the wording, but in the wrong certificate, a misplaced trust in multilingual forms, or a 1.3 turned into a "B". This guide covers documents from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Do German documents need a certified translation for UK visas and passports?
Yes, unless every word is in English. Paragraph 39B(f) of the Immigration Rules requires "the version in the original language and a full translation that can be independently verified", dated, confirming its accuracy, with the full name and signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company and their contact details. For leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain it adds "certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company's credentials". See what a certification statement must include.
Other UK bodies set their own rules:
| UK body | What it asks for |
|---|---|
| Home Office: visas and settlement | The original plus a translation meeting paragraph 39B(f) |
| Home Office: EU Settlement Scheme | May require "a certified English translation of (or a Multilingual Standard Form to accompany)" a document not in English |
| HM Passport Office | "certified translations as well as the originals"; on paper forms, a translator "who is a member of a recognised professional organisation"; no Multilingual Standard Forms |
| Nursing and Midwifery Council | A translation by "a legally licensed and authorised translator", with a stamp, or an issuing-authority multilingual standard form |
| Register offices, England and Wales | "a translation of any documents that are not in English" |
Where an office names a type of translator, as the NMC and HM Passport Office's paper guidance do, use one who meets that wording.
Some documents are partly in English: the Führungszeugnis prints its personal-data labels and a clean result in German, English and French, a clean Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung is bilingual, and the Diploma Supplement is "usually in English". The German parts still need translating.
Which German certificate should you order?
The one that proves what the office checks. The registry office (Standesamt) holding the entry issues it, as can another that receives the data electronically (PStG section 55).
| Document | German name | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | Geburtsurkunde | On request, sex and parents are left out (PStG section 59(2)), and a parent can be listed as Elternteil ("parent") instead of mother or father (PStV section 48(1a)) |
| Certified register printout | beglaubigter Registerausdruck | The whole entry with later changes; cross-references to other entries only on request (PStV section 48(3)) |
| International extract | mehrsprachiger Auszug | 1976 Vienna Convention form; fixed wording in German, French and English, with a key to its symbols (PStV section 50) |
| Marriage certificate | Eheurkunde | Names at the marriage and at issue; a field "Further details from the register" records a dissolution (PStG section 57) |
| Divorce decision | Scheidungsbeschluss | Effective only when final; the parties receive a certificate of finality (Rechtskraftzeugnis) on a copy (FamFG sections 116 and 46) |
To prove parentage, order the Geburtsurkunde with the parents' details or a certified register printout; see our birth certificate translation guide.
Austria. Local certificates are in German, international ones "will have a translation on the reverse", and divorce decrees come from a local court (HM Passport Office). The Central Civil Status Register (ZPR) also issues online extracts, including all marriages and single status (Ledigkeitsbescheinigung).
Switzerland. HM Passport Office accepts the full birth record (acte de naissance), not the extract.
Are international certificates and EU forms enough without a translation?
Rarely, and they are two different things.
The international extract is a genuine certificate: HM Passport Office lists the "A4 international certificate written in German, French and English" among German birth certificates. Only its fixed wording is multilingual. Place names, office names, remarks and annotations stay as the registry wrote them, and paragraph 39B(f) asks for a full translation of documents not in English.
The EU multilingual standard form is a translation aid under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, applied since 16 February 2019, which EU authorities attach to records of birth, marriage, death, residence and no criminal record "to avoid translation requirements". Germany's Federal Office of Justice describes it as a form for presenting a document to an authority of another EU member state. UK offices treat it differently:
- HM Passport Office "cannot accept Multilingual Standard Forms (MSFs) issued by EU member states", its German and Austrian profiles say.
- The EU Settlement Scheme may accept one in place of a translation of a relationship document; see EU Settlement Scheme documents.
- The NMC accepts one "signed and stamped or sealed by the authority which issued the original document".
How do you get a Führungszeugnis from the UK?
Apply to the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz): online with an activated German eID, an NFC-enabled smartphone and the AusweisApp, or in writing, with your signature and personal details officially confirmed by a German embassy or consulate, a foreign authority or a notary. The fee is €13, and applications from abroad currently take longer.
Two features matter:
- The digital certificate. Since 1 October 2026 you can choose a PDF Führungszeugnis, sent to your BundID mailbox, instead of green special paper. Its QR code and qualified electronic seal allow verification on a printout, but no apostille can be added to it.
- The European certificate. If you hold the nationality of another EU country or of the UK, alone or alongside German, you receive a European Führungszeugnis. It adds that country's register information "in der übermittelten Sprache", in the language the country sends, untranslated. Every part needs translating.
Skilled Worker entry clearance applicants in listed health, education and social care jobs, and their partners, need a certificate from each country where they spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 18 (Appendix Skilled Worker). UKVI expects the one from your latest country of residence to be no more than 6 months old, with a 39B(f) translation. See police certificate translation.
Austria issues the Strafregisterbescheinigung through the regional police directorate, the mayor in smaller towns, or an Austrian embassy abroad: €18 online with ID Austria or EU Login, €26 otherwise. Switzerland issues the Strafregisterauszug online at strafregister.admin.ch or at a Swiss post office counter, for CHF 17 since the VOSTRA register started on 23 January 2023.
How should German names and umlauts appear in the translation?
As in the passport's printed name. ICAO Doc 9303 transliterates Ä, Ö and Ü as AE, OE and UE (or A, O, U) and ß as SS in the machine-readable zone, so MÜLLER may read MUELLER on the coded line; the translation keeps Müller throughout.
- Birth name. German passports issued since 1 March 2017 show the name at birth in field b, and identity cards show both married and birth names. Translate Geburtsname as "birth name", never as a middle name.
- Married name. Under section 1355 of the Civil Code, spouses may take one spouse's surname, keep their own, or form a double name from both, with or without a hyphen. Copy the register exactly.
- Austrian given names. A passport need not show every name; the certificate translation keeps them all.
- Swiss place of origin. Swiss passports show the place of origin (Heimatort), not the place of birth. Translate it as "place of origin".
How are German, Austrian and Swiss grades translated?
As printed, with the scale explained once in a translator's note, never converted.
| System | Scale | Top mark | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany, schools | 1 to 6 | 1 (very good) | The KMK's national scale |
| Germany, Abitur | 15 to 0 points, mapped to marks 1 to 6 | 15 | Pass needs an overall "adequate" (average mark 4) or 300 of 900 points |
| Germany, universities | 1 to 5 | 1 | The final grade also shows a relative grade |
| Austria, schools | 1 to 5 | 1 (Sehr gut) | 5 is Nicht genügend |
| Switzerland, Matura | 1 to 6 | 6 | Grades below 4 mean insufficient performance |
A German 1.3 and a Swiss 5.5 are both strong results, and a translation that writes "Grade A" has invented something.
UK ENIC puts German in its paid Translation Waiver group: £49.20 on top of the £69.60 Statement of Comparability, or included if you order Fast Track. Universities set their own rules; see the academic transcript translation guide.
Employment references (Arbeitszeugnis) must be clear and must not use wording meant to say something other than what it says (Trade Regulation Act, section 109(2)). Translate them literally; never rewrite the employer's assessment.
Why German documents get queried or returned
- A Geburtsurkunde without parents where the application must prove parentage.
- An EU multilingual standard form sent to HM Passport Office instead of a translation.
- A divorce decision without its certificate of finality.
- A European Führungszeugnis with the other country's section untranslated.
- A current-country police certificate older than 6 months.
- Umlauts handled inconsistently: Müller in one translation, Mueller in another.
- Grades converted, or Heimatort translated as place of birth.
Checklist: German, Austrian and Swiss documents for a UK application
Questions people ask
Is a German international birth certificate accepted without translation?
It is a valid certificate, and its fixed wording is printed in German, French and English. Its entries, office names and remarks stay in German, and paragraph 39B(f) requires a full translation of documents not in English, so have it translated for a Home Office or passport application.
Can I use an EU multilingual standard form instead of a translation?
Not for a British passport, because HM Passport Office cannot accept them. The Home Office may accept one for relationship documents in an EU Settlement Scheme application, and the NMC accepts one signed and stamped by the issuing authority. Elsewhere, use a certified translation.
Will UKVI accept the new digital Führungszeugnis?
UKVI's guidance does not mention the digital version, but it accepts "either an original or scanned copy" of a certificate from the relevant authority, and the digital one comes from the Federal Office of Justice with a QR code for verification. Translate every line, including the verification notes.
Do German documents need an apostille for UK use?
Paragraph 39B(f) asks for the original and a translation, not an apostille. Apostilles matter when a document goes abroad, and for a Führungszeugnis Germany's Federal Office for Foreign Affairs issues them on paper certificates only.
How should German grades appear in the translation?
Exactly as printed, with a short note on the scale: 1 is the top mark in Germany and Austria, 6 in a Swiss Matura. UK ENIC and admissions offices assess comparability themselves.
Can a relative translate my German documents?
Paragraph 39B(f) requires a translation that can be independently verified and, for applications made in the UK, certification by a qualified translator with credentials, which a relative rarely provides. See who can certify a translation in the UK.
How much does a German document translation cost, and how long does it take?
Official Translations, a member of the Association of Translation Companies (ATC), charges £29.95 per page, a page being up to 300 words, with a signed certificate of accuracy that meets paragraph 39B(f) in full, including the credentials element for applications made in the UK. Most one-page certificates arrive as a signed PDF by email within 24 hours, longer documents take 1 to 3 business days, and a printed hard copy by post costs £14.95 more.
