How costs are structured

This page explains how a quotation is built. The amounts themselves live on a single page of this site, so that they can never contradict each other.

The counting unit

Volume is counted in characters, not in sheets. A dense administrative page and a half-empty one are not the same work, and charging by the sheet would mean charging for paper rather than text. The unit we use, and how to convert to it, is on the fees page.

Two categories, never merged

• Our work: translation, review, file preparation, counter visits, follow-up.
• Third-party items: what goes to a notary office, a public authority or a courier. We neither set nor receive these.

A quotation that merges the two into a single total makes comparison impossible. We separate them even when it makes the figure look larger at first glance.

Why the notary amount is never quoted

Because it depends on the document itself and on the tariff in force, and any advance estimate would stop being accurate. Our formulation is always the same: the exact amount is calculated by the notary office when the document is presented to it. An office that quotes a firm figure for this item is quoting an average, and the difference surfaces at the counter. See the notarial certification note.

What makes a quotation vary

Volume, language pair, legibility of the copy you send, the number of certified copies, and which endorsements are required. A blurred copy lengthens the work and raises the risk of an error in a name or a date — a flat, sharp photograph takes seconds and removes that risk. See how to scan your documents.

Urgency

Rearranging our schedule is charged and appears on the quotation. It does not shorten any official queue, and we will say so rather than imply otherwise. See how long the Turkish side takes.

The largest saving is not a discount

It is not ordering what you do not need: a document the receiving authority never asked for, a certification that was optional, a translation of a record already issued in English. We point these out when we see them, even though each one reduces our own invoice. See where should you have it translated.

Written, itemised, non-binding

The quotation lists each item separately and holds for the file described. Nothing begins without your explicit agreement, and the evaluation itself is not charged.

Why we quote per document, not per file

Documents differ enormously in volume and difficulty: a one-page register extract and a full set of course descriptions are not comparable, and a flat per-file price would either overcharge the small files or undercharge the large ones. Itemising also lets you drop something once you discover the receiving authority never asked for it — which happens often enough that we build the quotation to make it easy.