Certified Translation for San Jose, CA
People in San Jose, California can order certified translation from Apostille Authentications starting at $65 per page, with most documents ready in 1 to 2 business days. Every order includes a signed certificate of accuracy. The service is remote. Our office is in Lake Oswego, near Portland, Oregon, so nothing is dropped off or picked up in San Jose. Documents are uploaded through the quote form and come back electronically or by mail. Below are the Santa Clara County offices, courts and schools your documents may pass through.
Upload your document below as a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file, or call (971) 514-3743 for a quote.
Upload Your Documents For Translation
Ordering from San Jose, step by step
Everything is handled online or by phone, so it works the same from Willow Glen as from North San Jose.
- Send the file. Upload a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file through the quote form.
- Get a quote. Pricing starts at $65 per page. You see the cost and timing before work begins.
- Delivery. You receive the translation and signed certificate of accuracy electronically, or on paper by mail.
- Reach us. (971) 514-3743, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder on West Tasman Drive
San Jose is the seat of Santa Clara County, and the county’s Office of the Clerk-Recorder is inside the city. It holds birth certificates for people born in Santa Clara County, with records going back to 1873, and offers orders in person, by mail and online. Certified copies come in two kinds: authorized copies, which establish identity, and informational copies, which do not.
| Address | 110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor, San Jose, CA 95134 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Phone | (408) 299-5688 |
| Birth certificate | $34.00 |
| Death certificate | $26.00 |
| Marriage certificate | $19.00 |
| Notary public signature authentication | $38.00 for the first signature, $2.25 for each additional signature by the same notary |
| County Medical Officer signature authentication | $13.00 for the first signature, $2.25 for each additional one |
Apostilles for San Jose documents: the route through Sacramento
The Clerk-Recorder does not issue apostilles. In California that is done by the Secretary of State, which has no counter in San Jose. Requests are made by mail to Sacramento or in person at the Sacramento or Los Angeles counters.
According to the Secretary of State, it authenticates the signatures of county clerks, county recorders and the State Registrar on birth and death certificates. A certificate signed by a local health officer or county registrar may need to be certified by the county clerk first, or replaced with a certified copy from the county recorder. The county’s fee schedule lists a County Medical Officer signature authentication, shown in the table above.
| State fee | $20.00 per apostille |
|---|---|
| In-person extra | $6.00 special handling fee for each different public official’s signature |
| Sacramento counter | 1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 |
| Los Angeles counter | 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 |
| Notary Public Section, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, CA 94277-0001 | |
| What to enclose | The original document, the apostille cover sheet stating the destination country, payment and a self-addressed return envelope |
Translations and apostilles together
The Secretary of State does not translate documents and does not notarize them. It will apostille a document written in another language provided the notarization is in English. If the country receiving your document wants a translation attached, we can prepare the certified translation, have the translator’s statement notarized and help you through the apostille request. Mail requests to the state are processed in the order received, with no expedited mail service, and the current processing date is posted on the Secretary of State’s website.
Courts in downtown San Jose
The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara has several courthouses in San Jose.
- Downtown Superior Court. 191 N. First St. Civil, probate and small claims.
- Family Justice Center Courthouse. 201 N. First Street. Family, juvenile dependency and traffic matters, plus self-help services.
- Hall of Justice. 190 W. Hedding. Criminal cases.
- Federal court. U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 280 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113.
What the Santa Clara court says about interpreters and documents
The Superior Court provides free interpreters to court participants who do not speak English well, in more than 50 languages, when you file its Interpreter Request form ahead of time. Document translation is a separate matter. For that, the court’s interpreter page refers the public to the American Translators Association instead of offering translation itself. If you are filing foreign-language evidence, ask the clerk or your attorney what form of translation the judge expects.
Languages and schools in San Jose
Census Bureau ACS 2024 one-year estimates published by Census Reporter show 59.4 percent of San Jose residents speaking a language other than English at home and 42.9 percent born abroad, in a city of about 997,000. Santa Clara County’s Language Access Unit reports that over 20 percent of county residents are limited English proficient. The county serves the public in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The City of San Jose offers live translation of City Council meetings in Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish and Tagalog.
San Jose State University’s graduate admissions office requires applicants with international coursework to provide an evaluation from WES, ACEI, ECE or TEC, sent directly by the evaluation service. In neighboring Santa Clara, Santa Clara University asks undergraduate applicants whose transcripts are not in English to submit the original and an English translation, and accepts evaluations of foreign university coursework only from WES.
Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Urdu, Russian, Arabic and Czech are the languages customers request from us most often, out of 100 available. For Tagalog or any language not listed here, ask us first.
Related services for San Jose
- California document translation services: the statewide rules for courts, notaries, vital records and driver licensing
- California apostille service
- All document translation services
San Jose translation questions
Apostille Authentications provides certified translation to San Jose customers remotely from its office near Portland, Oregon. Documents are uploaded online and returned electronically or by mail with a signed certificate of accuracy.
Most of our translations are ready in 1 to 2 business days. Pricing starts at $65 per page.
Under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), a foreign-language document sent to USCIS needs a full English translation certified by the translator as complete and accurate, with a statement that the translator is competent to translate into English.
It is at 110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor, San Jose, CA 95134, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It issues birth, death and marriage certificates for Santa Clara County.
The California Secretary of State issues apostilles for $20 each, by mail to Sacramento or in person in Sacramento or Los Angeles. Some birth or death certificates signed by a local health officer may need county clerk certification first.
The court provides free interpreters for hearings but refers people who need documents translated to the American Translators Association.
Sources
The local details on this page come from these official sources.
- Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder: order a birth certificate
- Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder: fee schedule
- Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder: contacts
- Superior Court of Santa Clara County: interpreter information
- Superior Court of Santa Clara County: courthouse locations
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California: court locations
- County of Santa Clara Language Access Unit: background
- City of San Jose: language access for Council meetings
- San Jose State University: international graduate steps to admission
- Santa Clara University: international application requirements
- Census Reporter: San Jose city profile (ACS 2024)
- California Secretary of State: Request an Apostille
- California Secretary of State: Apostille FAQs
- 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), translation rule (eCFR)
Get your San Jose translation started
Upload your document for a quote, or call (971) 514-3743 and tell us where the translation is going. We confirm the level of certification you need before any work begins.