French Apostille Translation
French apostille translation covers the apostille certificate and the French-language document it is attached to. France has used the Hague apostille since 1965 and moved its issue from the cours d'appel to the notaires on 1 May 2025; Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and Senegal each have their own issuing office. We translate the whole bundle into certified English, and US apostilles into French.
- Up to 250 words per page
- $25 per page
- Standard turnaround
- From 24 hours
- Certificate of accuracy
- Signed & stamped
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Written for French apostille records
Who issued your apostille, and what it looks like
The apostille is the same ten-field Hague form everywhere, but each country prints it differently, and several French-speaking countries do not issue one at all.
France: from the cour d'appel to the notaire
Until 30 April 2025 a French apostille came from the service des apostilles at the parquet général of the cour d'appel for the place where the document was signed, as a stamp or a glued sheet with a register number. Since 1 May 2025 it is issued by the notaires through their conseils régionaux, largely as an electronic certificate with a verification code, under the décret of 17 September 2021. Both kinds are in circulation and both are translated field by field, with the issuing office, the date and the number, and the legend "Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" rendered in English.
Belgium, Switzerland, Québec and Senegal
Belgium issues its apostille electronically through the SPF Affaires étrangères, as a PDF with a QR code the recipient can check online, so what you send us is a file, not a paper. In Switzerland the chancellerie d'État of the canton apostilles cantonal documents, so an acte from Geneva and one from Vaud carry different seals. Canada joined the Convention on 11 January 2024; Québec documents are apostilled by the Ministère de la Justice du Québec and federal ones by Global Affairs Canada. Senegal joined in 2023, and its apostille comes from the Ministère de la Justice in Dakar.
Where there is no apostille: Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, the DRC
Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali and the DRC are not party to the Convention, so their documents are legalised instead: the ministère des Affaires étrangères in Port-au-Prince, Abidjan, Yaoundé or Kinshasa stamps the document, and the embassy of the destination country adds its own stamp. A US document going to one of these countries follows the same path in reverse, through the US Department of State authentications office and that country's embassy in Washington. These stamps are translated with the document. USCIS, for its part, asks for none of this on a foreign civil record; it wants the certified translation.
Who is asking for your French apostille translation?
The translation is the same. What changes is whether the recipient wants anything added to it.
Registries and courts abroad
A civil registry, a court or a notary in another country reads the apostille as proof the US document is genuine, and wants the whole set translated into its language. Tell us the country in the order notes.
Consulates
Consulates processing a citizenship, marriage or residency application accept a certified translation of the apostilled document. Add notarization at checkout if the checklist asks for it.
Italian comuni and consulates
Italian citizenship applications ask for US vital records with an apostille and an Italian translation of both the record and the apostille page.
Before you upload
Three things that save a day of back and forth on a French apostille.
Send the apostille with the document it certifies
An apostille is a page stapled or glued to another document. Upload both, since the recipient reads the apostille only as proof that the document under it is genuine.
Scan the apostille whole, including the seal
The ten numbered fields, the seal and the signature of the issuing officer are what a foreign registry checks. Keep the full page in frame, including any ribbon or embossed stamp.
Get the apostille before you order
The translation has to cover the apostille page too. Have it issued first and then upload the complete set, so nothing is missing from the translation.
Details and pricing
What is included in a French apostille translation
One price per page covers the translation and its certification. A page is up to 250 words, and the quote tells you the page count before you pay.
Everything on the apostille is translated, including stamps, seals and handwritten notes. Tell us the English spelling you use for each name when you order.
Certified Translation
Word-for-word translation with a certificate of accuracy for official use.
$25
USD / page
up to 250 words per page
Included
- Signed & stamped certification of translation accuracy
- Certified by a professional translator
- Digital delivery via PDF
- Review and approve final translation
- 100% Guaranteed Acceptance
- Standard turnaround starting at 24 hours
Optional services
- Expedited turnaround
- Priority handling when your deadline is shorter than the standard turnaround.
- By deadline
- Notarization
- A notary public signs and stamps the certification statement.
- $20 per order
- Physical copy
- A wet-ink original of your translation, mailed by express courier.
- $35 per order
- Apostille
- Authenticates the notary’s signature and seal for use in Hague Convention countries.
- $180 per document
What the certificate of accuracy states
Your translation arrives with a Certification of Translation Accuracy issued by ImmiTranslate. It is the page the receiving organization checks first.
- The translation is complete and accurate.
- The document title and the language pair.
- The translator is competent in both languages.
- A signature and the ImmiTranslate certification stamp.
- Our American Translators Association corporate membership.
Our translation process
Our goal is to make the translation process as simple as possible for you. Our service is streamlined specifically for documents of this nature.
French Apostille FAQ
Most questions about pricing and turnaround can be answered faster by requesting a quote.
- Do you translate the apostille page or only the document under it?
- Both, as one order. The apostille is a page of its own at $25, and the translation reproduces the ten numbered fields, the issuing office, the number, the date and any verification code or QR legend. An electronic French or Belgian apostille is translated from the PDF. Leaving it out leaves the recipient with a French page they cannot read, and some return a file over a single untranslated page.
- My acte de naissance is a plurilingual extract. Does USCIS still need a translation?
- Yes. France, Belgium and Switzerland issue the extrait plurilingue d'acte de naissance under the 1976 Vienna convention of the CIEC, with headings in several languages, and European offices accept it as is. The US is not a party, the margin notes and the issuing clause are in French only, and USCIS asks for a full English translation of the extract and of any apostille attached to it.
- I am sending a US document to France. Do I need an apostille and a traduction assermentée?
- Usually both. A US birth certificate, court order, power of attorney or FBI check for a French mairie, préfecture, tribunal or notaire needs an apostille from the Secretary of State of the issuing state, or from the US Department of State for a federal document, and then a French translation by a traducteur assermenté listed by a cour d'appel. Our English to French translation is for the lawyer, the family or the company preparing the file, so check what the office accepts before paying for a translation it will not take.
- How much does a certified translation cost?
- Certified translation is $25 per page, with a page counted as up to 250 words. Notarization, a mailed physical copy and an apostille are optional and priced separately.
- How long does a certified translation take?
- Standard turnaround starts at 24 hours and depends on the length and language of your documents. If you have a deadline, include it in your quote request.
Other French documents we translate
Apostille translation in other languages
Each of these pages is written for that language's apostille records.
Sending it with an application? Read the Apostille service, Notarized translations before you order.