Estonian institutions — the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), the population register, courts, notaries and universities — accept a foreign-language document together with a certified translation. In Estonia only a sworn translator can provide that certification: notaries stopped certifying the accuracy of translations on 1 January 2020.
This page brings together the six documents people ask us about most often, with a note on what the receiving institution usually requires. If your document isn’t listed, the same logic applies: ask the institution that will receive it what it needs, and order the translation after that.
A standard translation is produced by a translator, and the agency stands behind it under its own name and contract. That is enough when the document is read for information: an employer looking at a diploma, a relative reading a discharge summary, a client checking a certificate.
A sworn translation works differently. A sworn translator has passed a state examination and is appointed by the Minister of Justice. They translate the document themselves and certify its accuracy with their own signature and seal, taking personal liability for it. That certification is what an institution recognises.
There is a practical difference too. A sworn translation conveys the entire content of the document, including the text of stamps and handwritten notes. This is why a short certificate takes longer to translate than its length suggests.
Every sworn translator appears in the official list kept by the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, with language directions, contacts and professional certificate. Our sworn translation service covers the most common pairs between Estonian, English, Russian, Finnish and German.
An apostille confirms that the official who signed the document was competent to do so. It is always issued in the country where the document was issued: an Estonian birth certificate is apostilled by an Estonian notary, an Indian degree certificate by the competent Indian authority.
In Estonia, apostilles are issued by notaries. The fee is €27.71 including VAT, and the document is released within five working days of the application being accepted (notar.ee). For single-use documents, such as a criminal record certificate, the apostille goes on the original only.
The order matters: apostille first, translation second. The apostille text is translated too, so a translation made beforehand has to be ordered again. Our apostille and legalisation service handles the submission to the notary.
No apostille is needed for documents issued in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine, as Estonia has legal assistance treaties with these countries. That exception no longer covers Russian documents: the treaty with Russia ended on 18 March 2025, and the apostille has to be obtained in Russia.
A document on civil status, a family event or citizenship, a certificate of being alive or a criminal record extract issued in another EU member state may be submitted to an Estonian authority in Estonian, English or Russian, and a translation may not be demanded. If a multilingual standard form under EU Regulation 2016/1191 has been issued with the document, no translation is needed either.
So two questions are worth asking before you order: can the issuing country attach a standard form, and does the receiving institution accept the original language. Sometimes the form is the cheaper route.
Send a scan of the document, tell us where it will be submitted, and give the spelling of your name as it appears in your passport. We will confirm whether certification is required and give you a deadline and a price. Certified translations are issued on paper or with a digital signature.
Order a translation · See our document translation service
Send us a scan of the document and tell us where you are filing it. We will reply whether certification is needed, with the deadline and the price.
Or write to info@tradux.ee
