Korean Death Certificate Translation
Korean death certificate translation for a life insurance claim, a Social Security survivor benefit, an inheritance case or an I-130 that must show a prior spouse died. We translate the doctor's 사망진단서, the 시체검안서, and the 기본증명서 that records the death once the 사망신고 has been filed.
- 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 death certificate records
Two Korean documents record one death
The hospital proves the medical fact and the registry proves the civil one. A US recipient may need either or both.
사망진단서 and 시체검안서
A doctor who treated the patient issues a 사망진단서. If the death was not attended, a doctor examines the body and issues a 시체검안서 instead, and the form notes a police referral when there was one. Both use one form set by the 보건복지부. The cause of death runs down lines (가) to (라), each line the cause of the one above it, with a separate line for other conditions, and a box gives the 사망의 종류: 병사, 외인사 or 기타 및 불상. We translate the chain of causes line by line in the same order, since an insurer reads it the way it reads a US cause-of-death section.
The 기본증명서 after the 사망신고
The family files the 사망신고 at the 구청 or 주민센터 within one month, and from then on the deceased's 기본증명서 carries a 사망 entry with the date, time and place of death and the date of the report. That certificate, with the 가족관계증명서 naming the survivors, is what USCIS, a probate court and a Korean inheritance file all rely on. For a death before 2008 the entry is on the 제적등본, which closed the deceased's register.
Korean inheritance and US estates
When a US resident inherits in Korea, the 상속 paperwork at the bank and the 등기소 needs the deceased's 기본증명서, 가족관계증명서 and 제적등본 to prove who the heirs are, and the US heir's own documents translated into Korean. When a Korean national dies in the US, the state death certificate is translated into Korean for the consulate's 사망신고 and for the Korean bank or insurer that holds the assets.
Who is asking for your Korean death 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.
Insurers and Social Security
Life insurance and survivor benefit claims accept a certified translation. Add the medical certificate if the claim turns on the cause of death.
Courts and consulates abroad
A probate court or a consulate handling a repatriation or an estate usually wants the original apostilled and the translation certified or notarized.
Before you upload
Three things that save a day of back and forth on a Korean death certificate.
Send the civil record, not only the medical form
The registry act is the document recipients ask for. Add the doctor's certificate as a second file if an insurer or a court wants the cause of death.
Include the reverse and the stamps
Issue stamps, the registrar's signature and folio numbers often sit on the back or at the edge. Photograph both sides flat with the whole page in frame.
Give us the names as they appear elsewhere
Tell us the English spelling of the deceased and of the spouse or parents named on the record, so the translation matches the petition, policy or probate file it joins.
Details and pricing
What is included in a Korean death 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 death 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 Death Certificate FAQ
Most questions about pricing and turnaround can be answered faster by requesting a quote.
- A US life insurer wants proof my father died in Korea. What do I send?
- Send the 사망진단서 from the hospital and the 기본증명서 showing the 사망 entry, each with a certified translation. The insurer wants the cause of death and the date and place; the diagnosis certificate has the cause, the civil certificate has the registered date. Each is usually a single page, so the pair comes to two pages at $25 each.
- The 사망진단서 says 외인사. What does that mean in English?
- 외인사 is a death from external causes: an accident, a fall, a drowning, an assault, as opposed to 병사, a death from disease. The form then asks for the 사고 종류 and whether it was 의도적. Insurers and the Social Security Administration read this box closely, so we translate it as the form intends, external cause of death, and keep the sub-fields in their printed order.
- A Korean citizen died in the US. What has to go to Korea?
- The death is reported to the consulate with the state death certificate and a Korean translation. The same translation goes to a Korean bank to release an account, to the 국민연금공단 for a 유족연금, or to a court handling 상속. We write the deceased's name in Hangul as it appears on the 가족관계증명서 so the consulate can match the record.
- 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
Death certificate translation in other languages
Each of these pages is written for that language's death certificate records.
Sending it with an application? Read the Insurance claim translations, Inheritance claim translations before you order.