Bulgarian Documents for an NZ Visitor Visa Case Study

Client details are withheld. The client and her sister are not named, and nothing from the documents is reproduced here.

The client lives in New Zealand. Her sister, in Bulgaria, had applied for a visitor visa to come and see her, and Immigration New Zealand had come back asking for additional information. Two Bulgarian documents now needed English translations, and INZ’s deadline was the coming Friday. “The sooner the better,” she wrote, and she meant it.

Bulgarian documents for an NZ visitor visa, two short PDFs, a few days’ notice: on paper, the easiest kind of urgent job. What made it worth recording was a rule many families do not know, one that ruled out the most obvious shortcut before we had even opened the files.

The shortcut that INZ does not allow

The client reads Bulgarian. So, naturally, does her sister. With a deadline days away, the tempting answer is to translate the two pages within the family and send them in.

INZ’s guidance on English translations says no. For visitor visa applications, translations can be completed by anyone other than the applicant, a member of the applicant’s family or the immigration adviser on the application. A sister translating for a sister is exactly what that rule excludes, however good her Bulgarian and English are.

We told her this first, gently, because a family translation sent under pressure is the kind of thing that turns a request for more information into a second request. The quickest correct route was an independent translator, and that was what she had come to us for.

What INZ asks of a visitor visa translation

Visitor visa translation rules are not identical to those for residence. INZ’s guidance currently says that all documents in a visitor visa application must come with full English translations, but that those translations do not have to be certified, except for medical and police certificates. In exchange, the translator must give their full name, address and phone number and information about their qualifications and experience. INZ also notes that proof of funds must be fully translated, and that partial translations may not be accepted.

That shaped the job in three ways:

• Full translations, nothing summarised. Every line of both documents, including headings, stamps and footnotes.
• Translator details on the page. We provide our standard certification anyway, and it carries everything INZ lists: name, contact details and qualifications. Certifying costs the client nothing extra and removes any doubt about the translator’s identity.
• Medical or police content checked. If either document turned out to be a medical or police certificate, a certified translation would be required rather than merely sensible. Our certified translation meets both standards, so the client did not need to know in advance which category applied.

Why a “visa document” label was not enough

The form described both files only as “Visa Document”, and the file names gave the sister’s name and nothing else. INZ requests for further information can ask for many things: evidence of funds, employment or leave from work, accommodation, family ties or the purpose of the visit. Each is read for a different point.

So the first step is to open both PDFs before quoting, identify what each actually is and confirm the scope in one message: what the documents are, how many pages each has, and that both will be translated in full. Doing that at the start, rather than discovering a third page halfway through, is what protects a tight deadline.

Cyrillic names under time pressure

Bulgarian is written in Cyrillic, and names can be written in Latin letters in more than one way. Bulgaria has an official transliteration system, set out in a 2009 law, under which, for example, the letter щ becomes “sht” and a word ending in “-ия” is written “-ia”. But older documents, earlier passports and personal preference all produce variations.

INZ’s own guidance tells applicants to ask the translator to use the passport spelling of their name, and to list any other spellings as other names on the application form. So we asked for the sister’s passport data page, so that her name could be written exactly as the passport writes it. Any other person named in the documents, such as an employer’s representative or a relative, is transliterated consistently by the official system.

This step takes minutes and saves the most common kind of confusion in a visitor visa file: the officer seeing two spellings and wondering whether they describe one person.

How we planned the job against the deadline

1. Scoping first. Both files opened, document types identified and scope confirmed in a single reply, before any price is fixed.
2. Passport spelling fixed first. The sister’s name taken from her passport before translation started.
3. Full translation. Every word, figure, stamp and signature line, with non-text elements described in brackets.
4. Figures untouched. Any amounts left in Bulgarian lev or euro as printed, with number formatting made unambiguous. No conversion into New Zealand dollars.
5. Certified PDF. Supplied as a signed PDF suitable for uploading to the online application, carrying the translator’s name, contact details and qualifications.
6. Deadline in view. The timetable is set backwards from INZ’s date, leaving the client time to upload before the cut-off rather than on it.

How it stood

The client’s real problem was not language; it was time, plus a rule she had not heard of. Once the family-translation route was ruled out and the scope was fixed, the job became straightforward: two documents, translated in full, with the translator’s details INZ asks for, in a format she could upload herself. We record it here as an approach rather than a verdict; what INZ decides about the visa is a matter for INZ alone.

For a broader look at the documents we translate for visa files, see our page on visa document translation for Immigration New Zealand.

If INZ has asked you for more information

• Read the request closely and translate exactly what it asks for. Extra documents are not a substitute for the one requested.
• Note the deadline and work backwards. Leave time to upload.
• Do not have the applicant, a relative or your adviser translate. INZ excludes all three.
• Translate in full. Partial translations of financial evidence may not be accepted.
• Use passport spellings for names, and list any variants as other names on the form.

Our earlier work for INZ files includes a Tagalog document set sent as loose phone images for a work visa, where the same habit of fixing scope before starting saved time.

Questions families ask about visitor visa translations

Can I translate my sister’s documents myself for her NZ visitor visa?

No. INZ does not accept translations by the applicant, a family member or the adviser on the application.

Do visitor visa translations have to be certified?

INZ’s guidance says they do not, except for medical and police certificates. The translator must still give their full name, contact details and qualifications.

INZ gave a deadline. How quickly can two pages be done?

Short documents can usually be turned around quickly once scope is confirmed. Tell us the deadline when you enquire so the work is planned around it.

Which spelling of the name will the translation use?

The spelling in the applicant’s passport, as INZ recommends. Other spellings can be listed as other names on the application form.

Will amounts in lev be converted into New Zealand dollars?

No. Figures are reproduced exactly as printed so the translation matches the original.

Can I upload the translation myself?

Yes. You receive a signed PDF you can upload with the original documents.

If INZ has asked for more information and the clock is running, send us the documents and the deadline and we will confirm the scope before quoting.

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