Guides

Nikah Nama translation for a UK spouse visa

For a UK spouse or partner visa, any document not in English or Welsh needs a full English translation. The Nikah Nama is the document applicants from Pakistan most often need translated. Here is what the translation has to show, who can do it, and how to make the translator's job quicker and check it afterwards.

What the translation must include

The Home Office asks that a translation can be checked independently, and that it carries:

• the translator's confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document,
• the date of the translation,
• the translator's full name and signature, and
• the translator's contact details.

Check the current wording in the guidance for your route on gov.uk before you apply, because it is updated from time to time.

Who can translate it

Immigration advisers say you cannot translate your own documents, and most applicants use a professional translator or translation company. NikahDraft does not change that. What it does is give you a typed English version in the right column order before you go to the translator, which helps in two ways:

1. Faster, cheaper jobs. A translator working from a clean typed draft, with names spelled as in the passports, spends less time deciphering handwriting.
2. A check on the result. Put the translator's version next to yours and compare names, dates and the dower in columns 13 to 16 before you upload.

Points caseworkers notice

• Names matching the passports and the application form, including the fathers' names.
• Column 21, whether the husband has an existing wife.
• Columns marked as struck out, rather than silently left out.
• The date of the nikah (column 12) against the dates you give in the application.