Korean Birth Certificate Translation
Korean birth certificate translation for USCIS, a US school or a passport application. Korea does not issue a birth certificate in the US sense, so we translate the 기본증명서 and 가족관계증명서 pair that stands in for it, the 제적등본 for anyone born before 2008, and the hospital 출생증명서 when a recipient asks for the birth itself.
- 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 Korean birth certificate records
Which Korean document proves a birth
A US officer asks for a birth certificate and the applicant holds two or three Korean certificates instead. The translation has to say which is which.
기본증명서 and 가족관계증명서 together
Since 2008 the 기본증명서 (Basic Certificate) records the person's own birth: name in Hangul and Hanja, date and place of birth, sex, 등록기준지 and the date the birth was reported. The parents are not on it. They are on the 가족관계증명서 (Family Relation Certificate), which lists father, mother, spouse and children. USCIS and the State Department ask for both, in the 상세 (detailed) version rather than the 일반 (general) one, because the detailed version keeps every past entry. Each is one page at $25.
제적등본 for births before 2008
Anyone born before the family register reform holds the birth on a 제적등본, the closed copy of the old 호적. It is written around the 호주, the head of household, so the applicant appears as 자 or 녀 under the father, often with the 본 (clan seat) and birthplace in Hanja. We translate the whole register page rather than the applicant's line alone, and label the relationship columns so the officer can trace parent to child. Adoption registers are a separate case, covered on our Korean adoption documents page.
Names, the 13-digit number and the 등록기준지
The 주민등록번호 is copied exactly, with the hyphen after the sixth digit. The 등록기준지 is the family's registration base place, not the birthplace and not the home address, and the translation says so. Hanja beside a name is kept in brackets. A 출생증명서 from the hospital, signed by the attending doctor or midwife, is sometimes asked for by a US passport agency when the civil record was registered late; it is a separate one-page document and we translate it on its own.
Who is asking for your Korean birth certificate translation?
The translation is the same. What changes is whether the recipient wants anything added to it.
USCIS
USCIS asks for a complete English translation and a signed certification from the translator. No notarization is needed.
US passports and the Department of State
The Department of State wants the translation notarized. Add notarization at checkout and we handle the rest.
Consulates abroad
Consulates receive the translation of a US document, often with an apostille on the original. Tell us the consulate in your order notes.
Before you upload
Three things that save a day of back and forth on a Korean birth certificate.
Scan the whole page
Include the back, the margins and any marginal notes. A later correction or a recognition of paternity is often written in the margin, and the recipient needs to see it translated.
Give us the English spelling of each name
If your passport or green card spells a name without an accent, tell us at checkout. The translation keeps the names as the certificate writes them and notes the spelling you use.
Order the format the recipient asked for
If they want the long form, send the long form. We translate what you upload and cannot add parents' details that a short-form extract leaves out.
Details and pricing
What is included in a Korean birth certificate 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 birth certificate 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.
Korean Birth Certificate FAQ
Most questions about pricing and turnaround can be answered faster by requesting a quote.
- Does USCIS accept a Korean 기본증명서 as a birth certificate?
- Yes. The Department of State reciprocity schedule lists the 기본증명서 and 가족관계증명서 as the Korean birth record, and USCIS follows it. Submit both, in the 상세 version, with a certified English translation of each. If the certificate was printed at home from 전자가족관계등록시스템, it carries a 발급번호 and a verification line at the foot, and we translate that line too so the officer can check it.
- I am petitioning for my brother. Which Korean certificate shows we are siblings?
- None of them lists siblings. A 가족관계증명서 shows only parents, spouse and children, so you prove the link through the parents: your certificate and your brother's, each naming the same father and mother, or one parent's certificate listing you both as children. For a family registered before 2008, the parent's 제적등본 shows every child on one register.
- My child was born in the US to a Korean parent. What does the consulate need?
- The birth is reported to the Korean consulate on a 출생신고서, with the US birth certificate and a Korean translation of it. Korean offices want the translator's name and signature on the translation, and we put them there. A later 국적 retention or renunciation file uses the same certificate as proof of birth abroad.
- 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 Korean documents we translate
Birth certificate translation in other languages
Each of these pages is written for that language's birth certificate records.
Sending it with an application? Read the USCIS translation requirements, Apostille service before you order.