DIY guide · Academic documents
Can I translate my own diploma and transcripts?
Often yes — but academic documents come with two traps the other DIY cases don't have: the translation-versus-evaluation confusion, and the temptation to "convert" grades. Avoid both and this is very doable.
The short answer
For USCIS purposes, academic documents follow the same federal rule as everything else: complete English translation plus a competent person's signed certification. For universities and employers, the receiving institution sets the rule — most accept a certified word-for-word translation, many specify that the translator be someone other than the applicant, and some route international records through a credential-evaluation service instead of (or in addition to) a translation.
The two rules that keep a DIY academic translation defensible: translate literally and completely (every course line, every seal), and never convert grades or map degrees to U.S. equivalents — that's evaluation, a different product performed by evaluation services, and doing it inside a translation undermines the document.
Translation vs. credential evaluation — different products
A translation renders the document in English. An evaluation judges what the credential is worth in U.S. terms. Institutions may want one, the other, or both.
A certified translation says what the document says — "Nota: 9,2" becomes "Grade: 9.2", untouched. A credential evaluation (from services like the NACES member agencies) opines that your Licenciatura is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree, or converts your grades to a U.S. GPA. Evaluators typically require a certified translation as their input when the record isn't in English — which is exactly where the DIY translation fits.
So read the receiving institution's checklist first: "certified English translation" → this guide applies; "course-by-course evaluation" → you'll need an evaluator, and likely a translation for them to work from.
The word-for-word discipline
Academic records are where DIY translators most often editorialize — and shouldn't. The credible translation:
- Keeps grades in the original scale, exactly as printed. No GPA math, no "equivalent to A".
- Translates degree and institution names literally, with the original in brackets where the name itself matters — e.g. "Bachelor's degree in Business Administration [Licenciatura en Administración de Empresas]".
- Translates every course line on a transcript — all of them, including the ones that feel irrelevant.
- Carries over credit/hour columns, honors notations, seals, signatures, and registrar stamps, labeled in place.
- Marks illegible entries as illegible rather than reconstructing them.
Who signs, and the institution wrinkle
The signer logic matches the rest of the DIY world — a competent bilingual person attests completeness and accuracy, and it shouldn't be you when the record is your own (who can sign covers this). Universities are actually the institutions most likely to write "applicant may not be the translator" into their checklists explicitly, which settles the question for you.
Transcripts are also where the engine's economics show most: a 4-page transcript with 60 course lines is hours of careful transcription by hand, or $11.99 per page and a review pass through the engine — every line, seal, and column carried over, certification page included.
Academic document questions
Can I translate my own transcript for a university application?
Many universities explicitly require the translator to be someone other than the applicant, and some require translations from specific sources — the institution's checklist is the controlling document. Where a general certified translation is accepted, the standard DIY approach (you prepare, an independent bilingual person reviews and signs) fits.
Should I convert my grades to a U.S. GPA in the translation?
No. Grade conversion is credential evaluation, not translation. A translation reports the original grades in the original scale; if the institution wants U.S. equivalencies, it will ask for an evaluation from an evaluation service.
Do I translate the course names literally even when they sound odd in English?
Yes — literal, faithful course titles are what evaluators and admissions readers expect. Add the original in brackets when a title is ambiguous, and resist renaming courses to their closest U.S. counterparts.
My diploma is one page but my transcript is six. Do I need both translated?
Translate what the receiving institution asks for — commonly both the degree certificate and the full transcript. Whatever you submit in a foreign language needs its translation; page count, not document count, is what drives the cost with us.
Is this the same for USCIS (say, an H-1B or green card petition)?
For USCIS the federal translation rule applies: full English translation plus certification by a competent person. Degree equivalency questions in work-visa contexts are typically addressed by separate credential evaluations — again, a different product that consumes your translation.
Sixty course lines in about 2 hours, not an evening.
Upload the transcript; the engine translates every line, seal, and stamp and returns the fillable certification page. $11.99 per page.
Upload My Document →Sources
Compiled from the official resources below. Requirements change — the receiving authority's current instructions always control.
- 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3) — Translations
- NACES — National Association of Credential Evaluation Services — where credential evaluation (a separate product) lives
Last reviewed 2026-08-24 · DIY Certified Translations editorial team