Certified translation › Degree & diploma recognition
Degree and transcript translation is C$95 per document, certified by a sworn, court-authorised German translator for recognition in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. The ZAB/anabin (Germany), ENIC-NARIC Austria and swissuniversities/SERI (Switzerland) each assess foreign qualifications and want your diploma and transcript as a certified translation. This guide shows how the three routes differ and what to submit. Fixed price includes certification and shipping.
Certified translations for ZAB & uni-assist · court-authorised translators · binding fixed price, from C$1.45 per standard line
Whichever recognition route applies to you, your foreign school certificates, diplomas and degrees generally have to be submitted as a certified (Germany, Austria) or notarised (Switzerland) translation. That means your degree certificate and diploma, your transcript of records, and often your school-leaving certificate. The assessing body decides the equivalence; termbase produces the certified translation it relies on.
The translation must come from a court-authorised (sworn) translator — an ermächtigter Übersetzer, under Section 142 (3) ZPO — who certifies it with a stamp, signature and certification note. termbase produces these certified translations; the recognition decision itself is made by the ZAB, uni-assist or the competent authority, not by the translator.
Step by step
Recognition looks tangled from outside. In practice it is a short sequence of decisions.
The route depends on the goal: a job or work visa (Statement of Comparability or professional recognition), university admission (uni-assist), or simply proving your level to an employer. Fix the goal first; it decides which body you deal with.
Check the anabin database: it rates your institution (H+, H+/-, H-) and how your degree is assessed. For a work visa, the recognised combination is an H+ institution with the degree rated "equivalent" (entspricht/gleichwertig). If anabin is clear, you may need no further evaluation.
If your qualification is not clearly in anabin, or an employer or authority wants formal proof, apply to the ZAB for a Statement of Comparability (Zeugnisbewertung). It describes your degree and the German level it compares to. As of 2026 it costs €208 and takes up to three months.
For admission to many German universities you apply through uni-assist, which checks your school-leaving and degree certificates. Where documents are not in German (or, for some, not in English), uni-assist asks for translations by a court-certified translator.
Doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, pharmacists and others need a professional recognition procedure — an anabin entry or Statement of Comparability does not replace it. The competent body still needs certified translations of your professional documents.
Three routes people confuse
They overlap but answer different questions. Knowing which one you need saves months.
Database
Official certificate
University admission
| Germany | Austria | Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment / recognition body | ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen) via anabin, or uni-assist for university admission | ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA; Nostrifizierung of a degree via a university/Fachhochschule; school certificates via the Bildungsdirektion | swissuniversities (Swiss ENIC), or SERI for a regulated profession |
| Certified by | Court-authorised translator (ermächtigter Übersetzer) | Court-sworn translator (allgemein beeideter und gerichtlich zertifizierter Dolmetscher) | A translator signs to certify accuracy; a Swiss notary then certifies that signature |
| Legal basis | § 142 (3) ZPO | § 14 SDG (translation) · Austrian degree-recognition law (Nostrifizierung/ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA; school certificates via the Bildungsdirektion) | Cantonal notarial practice |
| Assessment fee (2026, not the translation) | ZAB Statement of Comparability: €208, up to three months | Confirm the current fee and processing time directly with ENIC NARIC AUSTRIA, or with the responsible university/Fachhochschule for a Nostrifizierung | Confirm the current fee directly with swissuniversities/SERI |
The translation renders the record faithfully; the equivalence decision itself always belongs to the assessing body, never to termbase.
We produce the certified translations every one of these routes requires: degree, transcript, school-leaving certificate. We do not issue anabin ratings, ZAB statements or admission decisions — those stay with the competent bodies. Our job is that your documents arrive in German, accurate and certified, so the decision can be made without a query.
The exact set depends on the route and body. These are the documents we translate most for recognition.
| Document | Why it is needed | Certified translation |
|---|---|---|
| Degree certificate & diploma | The core proof of your qualification and its award. | Certified translation if not in German — nearly always required. |
| Transcript of records (subject & grade list) | Shows subjects, credits and grades behind the degree. | Certified academic translation — terminology and grading matter. |
| School-leaving certificate (secondary) | Establishes higher-education entrance qualification for admission. | Certified translation for uni-assist / admission. |
| Professional licence / registration | Required for regulated professions (medicine, nursing, teaching). | Certified professional translation of the licence. |
| Module / course descriptions | Sometimes requested to compare content for equivalence. | Certified translation on request. |
| Passport / name-change document | Ties the certificates to your identity and current name. | Certified translation if the body asks. |
A "Bachelor of Technology" or a "Licenciatura" is not silently converted into a German "Bachelor" or "Diplom". The original title stays, with an explanatory rendering — the equivalence judgement belongs to the ZAB or uni-assist, not the translator. That restraint is exactly what a recognition body needs to see.
The ZAB and some authorities may ask for your certificates to be apostilled (Hague Convention states) or legalised to confirm they are genuine. That is separate from translating them, and it is done in the country that issued the certificate.
The apostille is placed by the competent authority in the issuing country — termbase does not issue apostilles. Where one is required, obtain it on the original first; we then translate the certificate and its apostille together, so the recognition body receives one consistent, certified set. Whether your country's documents need an apostille or full legalisation, and for which body, we clarify before the work starts.
We translate degrees and transcripts from German and English into German. The most frequent recognition cases come from:
Grading scales, module names and degree titles differ sharply by country — the point where an academic specialist matters. We keep the original terms and add explanatory renderings, leaving equivalence to the ZAB. See certified German ⇄ English translation →.
Common pitfalls
Recognition is slow enough without avoidable mistakes. These are the ones we see most.
| Pitfall | Why it goes wrong | How termbase solves it |
|---|---|---|
| Translating the degree title into a German one | Rendering a foreign title as "Diplom" or "Master" pre-empts the ZAB's judgement and gets queried. | We keep the original title and add an explanatory rendering, leaving equivalence to the body. |
| Grades and credits mis-rendered | A grading scale copied without context distorts your record; ECTS/credit confusion muddies the transcript. | Grades and credits are rendered accurately with the original scale preserved. |
| Wrong route chosen | Applying to uni-assist when you needed a ZAB statement (or vice versa) costs weeks and fees. | We flag which documents each route wants so your certified set matches the body you are dealing with. |
| Uncertified translation | The ZAB and uni-assist require certified translations; a DIY version is refused. | A court-authorised translator certifies under Section 142 (3) ZPO with a certification note. |
| Apostille missing or done after translating | If required and added afterwards, the apostille itself is untranslated — and rejected. | We advise apostille first, then translate certificate and apostille as one set. |
A recognition body trusts a translation that reproduces the record faithfully and leaves the equivalence call to them. Over-helpful "conversions" are the fastest way to a request for corrections — and another wait.
We translate the record faithfully — the equivalence is the ZAB's call.
Original titles kept, grades preserved, certified — so the decision can be made without a query.
Process with termbase
1 · Upload
2 · Fixed price
3 · Certified + shipping
We review the documents, language and volume and name a binding fixed price. A degree certificate is often a flat fee per document; transcripts and longer records are priced per standard line, certification included.
| Certified translation by a court-authorised translator | ✓included |
| Original titles, grades & credits preserved | ✓included |
| Certification note for ZAB / uni-assist | ✓included |
| Advance PDF & postal delivery of the original | ✓included |
| Academic-specialist revision & final check | ✓included |
Standard certificates are billed at a flat fee per document; transcripts and longer texts from C$1.45 per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces). We name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →
Sources & legal basis
The recognition facts above come from the official German bodies that run these procedures.
FAQ
Two procedures with opposite requirements: the certificate evaluation takes plain scans, while the equivalence procedure for my profession requires a translation by a sworn translator because the statute says so. I was about to pay for the wrong one. termbase separated the two and translated only what actually had to be translated.
Ayesha Siddiqui · medical doctor, Lahore (Pakistan) · degree and transcript → equivalence procedure
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