Chinese Document Translation Singapore

Your Chinese birth certificate is the single most frequently requested document for ICA submissions. The format varies significantly by province and era — older certificates are one-page, while post-1995 certificates use the standardised 出生医学证明 (medical birth record) format. Some provinces issue booklet-style certificates. Every detail — including the hospital seal, province name, attending physician, and parents' registered addresses — must be accurately translated.

ICA requires the original Chinese birth certificate together with a certified English translation. We translate both the 出生证明 and 出生医学证明 formats, and our translations include every official stamp and seal on the original document — not just the text fields.

Common mistake: Submitting only a photocopy translation without certifying the stamps and seals. ICA will return the document. Our translations explicitly address all seals and stamps.

The Chinese marriage certificate (结婚证) is a compact red booklet issued by the Civil Affairs Bureau (民政局). It is one of the most important documents for PR applicants and those bringing spouses to Singapore on a Dependent's Pass. In most cases, ICA will require the translation to be notarised and SAL-authenticated before they accept it.

Important: The 结婚证 is issued as two separate booklets — one for the husband, one for the wife. ICA requires certified English translations of both booklets. Submitting only one is one of the most common reasons for ICA queries on Chinese marriage documents. Our translators know this and confirm it with every marriage certificate order.

Our translators are familiar with every field format used in 民政局 certificates across all Chinese provinces and municipalities, including older booklet formats that predate national standardisation.

The 户口本 (Hukou booklet) is China's household registration document — and it is unique to China with no direct equivalent in Singapore. The Hukou lists all family members registered under one household: name, gender, date of birth, national ID number, relationship to head of household, and residential address. Some Hukous span multiple generations and include annotations for births, deaths, marriages, and changes of address.

ICA and MOM frequently request the Hukou as the primary evidence of family relationships — especially for PR applications, Dependent Pass applications, and proof of single status. Translating a Hukou is more complex than translating a birth certificate because it is a multi-page document with inter-related information. Our translators present the Hukou in a structured English layout that mirrors the original, making it easy for ICA officers to trace family relationships at a glance.

Common mistake: Translating only the cover page or the applicant's own page. ICA typically requires the full Hukou — including all family members and all historical annotations. We translate the complete document.

If you are divorced and applying for Singapore PR, a Dependent's Pass as a single parent, or remarrying in Singapore, ICA and ROM will require your 离婚证书 (divorce certificate) or 离婚协议书 (divorce agreement). These are issued either by the Chinese People's Court (法院) for contested divorces, or by the Civil Affairs Bureau (民政局) for mutually-agreed divorces.

The translation must be complete — including all terms of the divorce agreement where they are relevant to your Singapore application. For PR applications as a single parent, ICA will want to see custody arrangements, child support terms, and the former spouse's details. We translate both the 法院 court format and the 民政局 administrative format.

Converting your Chinese driving licence to a Singapore driving licence requires a certified English translation of your 驾驶证. LTA (Land Transport Authority) will not process your conversion application without a certified English translation. The Chinese driving licence includes your licence category (A, B, C, D, E), issue date, expiry date, and the name of the issuing Vehicle Administration Office (车辆管理所) — all of which must be precisely translated.

LTA requires the translation to have been produced by a certified translator. We provide LTA-accepted certified translations of Chinese driving licences with a typical turnaround of 3 to 4 hours — same day.

Chinese professionals applying for a Singapore Employment Pass (EP) through MOM must submit their degree certificates and academic transcripts in English. Chinese universities issue these documents in Simplified Chinese. MOM requires a certified English translation as part of the EP application process. MOM also has educational verification requirements for certain Chinese university qualifications — we can advise on the full process.

We translate degree certificates and transcripts from all major Chinese universities — Peking University (北京大学), Fudan University (复旦大学), Tsinghua University (清华大学), Shanghai Jiao Tong (上海交通大学), Zhejiang University (浙江大学) — and all provincial and vocational institutions. Our translators are familiar with Chinese academic grading conventions and how to render them accurately in English.

Your 无犯罪记录证明 (Certificate of No Criminal Convictions), issued by the Chinese Public Security Bureau (公安局), is required by ICA for most Singapore PR applications and some long-term visa applications. The document must be translated in full — including the issuing authority's full name, the applicant's ID details, the certification statement, and the official seal of the issuing bureau.

We also handle the 良民证 format for applicants from Hong Kong and Macau, and the equivalent certificate formats from other Chinese administrative regions. If your police clearance is from a specific province or municipality with a non-standard format, we will confirm this before translating.

Translating a Chinese parent's or spouse's death certificate is required when updating ICA records, settling estates in Singapore, applying for probate at the Singapore courts, or processing CPF nomination claims. These circumstances are often time-sensitive and emotionally demanding. Our translators handle death certificates with full professionalism and can expedite the process if needed — same-day turnaround is available.

If you need an urgent translation of a death certificate for CPF, probate, or estate purposes, email us directly at [email protected] and we will prioritise your case.