Document translation
Contracts, records, transcripts, and correspondence in any format, layout preserved. See document translation services.
Professional translation in 326 languages, from a single certificate to a full corporate project.
Prism Linguistics provides professional translation services in 326 languages for clients in all 50 states. Native human translators handle certified, legal, medical, business, and website projects, a second linguist checks every job before delivery, and you get a fixed quote within 60 minutes during business hours. Certified documents start at around $24.95 per page.
Last reviewed August 24, 2026 by the Prism Linguistics editorial team
Translation is a broad discipline, and most people searching for it need one specific corner of it: a birth certificate for a USCIS filing, a contract for a deal closing in Chicago, a patient record a hospital needs by Monday. This page maps the whole service, so you can find the right corner quickly and see how the work is actually done before you commit to anyone.
If you already know what you need, call +1 (833) 282 8883 or send the file through our quote form; a fixed price comes back within 60 minutes during business hours. Still comparing providers? The section below on what a translation company should show you is the one to read first.
"Translator" is not a protected title in the United States. Anyone with two languages and a laptop can use it, which is how visa petitions end up delayed by a mistranslated date on a birth certificate. Professional translators are trained, specialized, and accountable for what they sign.
Ours are native speakers of the language they translate into, matched to the subject of your document rather than just the language pair. A commercial lease and a discharge summary fail in different ways, so they never go to the same person by default. All of our linguists are professionally qualified and background-checked, and they hold formal certification where the setting requires it, such as court-certified translators for litigation exhibits.
It helps to know the wider ecosystem too. The American Translators Association (ATA) certifies translators in specific language pairs, and NAJIT sets standards for judiciary work. Ask any provider who will actually translate your document and what qualifies them; the good ones answer without hesitation.
When a US institution asks for a certified or official translation, it wants two things: a complete, word-for-word English translation, and a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy from the translator or translation company. Unlike many European countries, the US has no government register of sworn translators, so that certificate is what carries the weight.
We prepare certified work to meet USCIS requirements, and it is commonly accepted by USCIS, federal and state courts, universities, the DMV, and credential evaluators such as WES and ECE. Acceptance ultimately depends on the receiving institution, so tell us where the document is going and we prepare it in the format that office expects. The full picture, including when a notarized version is worth paying for and when it is not, lives on our certified translation page. Against a hard deadline, same day translation is often possible for short standard documents, subject to capacity.
Because the market is unlicensed, vetting falls on the buyer. Whoever you choose, us included, a translation company should be able to put five things in front of you before it takes a dollar. In our experience the providers who cannot are the ones behind most of the rework we get asked to fix.
| Ask for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A fixed written quote | Per-page or per-word pricing agreed before work starts. Vague hourly estimates invite invoice surprises. |
| The translator's profile | Native language, subject specialty, and relevant certification. You are buying a person's judgment, not software. |
| A second-linguist review, included | Independent editing is the single biggest quality lever. If review costs extra, quality is the upsell. |
| A sample certification statement | For official documents, the wording of the Certificate of Translation Accuracy is what USCIS and courts actually read. |
| Data-handling terms | Who sees your file, whether an NDA is available, and how medical records are safeguarded under HIPAA-aware practice. |
We answer all five in the quote itself, in writing, before you commit. That habit is most of the reason our public-sector and law-firm clients stay.
Nine specialisms, one process. Each links to its own page with turnarounds, examples, and pricing guidance for that type of work.
Contracts, records, transcripts, and correspondence in any format, layout preserved. See document translation services.
Word-for-word translations with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy for USCIS, courts, and universities. See certified translation.
Contracts, pleadings, discovery, and evidence for attorneys and courts. See legal translation services.
Patient records, consent forms, and clinical material handled with HIPAA-aware safeguards. See medical translation services.
Multilingual sites that read as if written in the target language, keywords intact. See website translation.
Brochures, flyers, and campaigns adapted rather than transposed. See brochure translation.
Software, apps, and content tuned to the conventions of a specific market, not just its language. See localization services.
An independent second review of a translation you already have, before it goes anywhere official. See proofreading services.
Rush delivery for short standard documents when the deadline is today, subject to capacity. See same day translation.
The industry calls it TEP: translate, edit, proofread. Three linguistic stages, one fixed quote, and about five minutes of your time.
Upload your document through the quote form or email it to info@prismlinguistics.com. We reply within 60 minutes during business hours with a fixed price and a delivery date, and nothing starts until you approve it.
A native speaker of the target language, matched to your subject area, translates the full text. Names, numbers, stamps, and handwritten notes are all carried over; nothing is summarized or skipped.
A second linguist compares the translation against the source line by line, checking accuracy, terminology, and consistency. No project is delivered on one pair of eyes.
A final proofread catches formatting, spelling, and layout issues, then we deliver in your original file format. Certified translations arrive as a signed PDF, with hard copies by USPS or FedEx on request.
English to Spanish translation is the most requested pairing on our books, followed by Mandarin, Arabic, French, and Portuguese. Direction matters: an English to Korean job goes to a native Korean speaker, and a Korean document coming into English goes to a native English speaker who reads Korean fluently.
The 326 figure also covers the languages most agencies turn away, such as Tigrinya, Dinka, and Karen, where the pool of qualified US translators is genuinely small. Browse the full list of 326 languages, or go straight to the ten we translate most.
Searching for translation services near you usually ends at the same discovery: the work is digital. You upload a scan or a file, the finished translation comes back by email, and hard copies travel by USPS or FedEx when an office insists on paper. A client in Phoenix gets the same 24 to 48 hour turnaround on a certificate as one two blocks from our Manhattan office at 100 Church Street.
In practice we deliver every week to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Philadelphia. See the locations page for the metros we serve. And if what you actually need is a live linguist in the room or on the line, our interpreting services cover on-site, telephone, and video work in the same 326 languages.
Two pricing models cover most work. Standard certificates are priced per page — as a guide, certified translation in the US market starts at around $24.95 per page. Longer files are priced per source word, and broad market rates run from roughly 10 to 30 cents a word depending on the language pair and the subject.
Three things move the number: the language pair, the density of the text, and the deadline. A common pairing like Spanish costs less than a rare one; a school letter costs less than a merger agreement; genuinely urgent work carries a premium we confirm before you commit. Treat every figure here as market guidance rather than a price list. Our pricing page sets out honest ranges in more detail, and for your specific document the free quote is the real answer, usually back within 60 minutes during business hours.
The questions US clients ask most often before placing a first order.
Send the file, tell us the deadline and where it is going. A fixed price and turnaround come back within 60 minutes during business hours.
Get a Free Quote Call +1 (833) 282 8883