Certified Translation Services for Columbia, South Carolina
Apostille Authentications provides certified translation for people in Columbia, South Carolina, from $65 per page. Most translations are ready in 1 to 2 business days and come with a signed certificate of accuracy. The work is done remotely from our office in the Portland, Oregon area, so you upload your document online and receive the translation electronically or by mail. Columbia is also where South Carolina issues apostilles, which shortens the paperwork route for documents going abroad.
Upload your document below as a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file, or call (971) 514-3743 for a quote.
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Columbia is home to the state apostille office
The South Carolina Secretary of State’s authentications desk is in downtown Columbia at 1205 Pendleton Street, Suite 525, Columbia, SC 29201. Because the office is in the city, someone in Columbia can hand in documents in person between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm instead of mailing them. The fee is $5.00 per document, not per page, and the office takes cash, checks, cashier’s checks and money orders made out to South Carolina Secretary of State. Each request goes in with the Authentication Cover Letter, which asks for the destination country.
The office states that foreign-language documents must be accompanied by an English translation signed by the translator, with the translator’s signature notarized. If your translation is headed for that desk, tell us when you order: we hire a notary commissioned in South Carolina to notarize the translator’s statement, since the Secretary of State authenticates South Carolina notarizations. For countries outside the Hague Convention, the office says a further U.S. Department of State authentication is needed.
Richland County offices that issue the records people translate
Columbia is the seat of Richland County, and several county offices share the Richland County Judicial Center at 1701 Main Street.
County offices list hours of Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Secretary of State will not authenticate a photocopy of a vital record, so request a certified copy before you order the translation for use abroad.
| Probate Court, marriage licenses | 1701 Main St., 2nd Floor, Suite 207, Columbia, SC 29201. Certified copies of a marriage license are $8 per copy, with about two business days to process. Phone 803-576-1963. |
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| Clerk of Court | 1701 Main St., Columbia, SC 29201. Handles Common Pleas, General Sessions and Family Court records, which includes divorce decrees. Phone 803-576-1950. |
| Register of Deeds | 1701 Main St., Room 101. Records real estate documents and powers of attorney. Phone 803-576-1910. |
| State vital records | Birth and death certificates come from the S.C. Department of Public Health. The search fee is $12 per record and includes one certified copy. |
Courts in Columbia
State trial courts for the city sit at the Richland County Judicial Center, 1701 Main Street. The federal court is the Matthew J. Perry, Jr. U.S. Courthouse at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201, part of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
South Carolina Code Section 15-27-155 lets a court appoint a qualified interpreter in civil proceedings when a party or witness does not speak English well enough, and says the Division of Court Administration keeps a central list of interpreters. That statute is about spoken testimony. For a written exhibit in another language, ask the clerk or your attorney what form of translation the court expects before filing.
University of South Carolina rules on foreign transcripts
The University of South Carolina publishes different rules depending on the program, and they do not all call for an outside translator.
- Undergraduate admissions. If a secondary transcript is not in English, the university asks for a certified transcript translated into English by a school official, sent directly from the source.
- Joseph F. Rice School of Law. Foreign-educated applicants send transcripts through LSAC’s Credentials Assembly Service, which arranges evaluation and translations as needed.
- What that means for you. Read the program’s instructions first. A translation from us may suit other uses such as employers, licensing boards or immigration filings, but the school decides what it accepts.
Languages spoken in Columbia
Census Bureau QuickFacts estimates Columbia’s population at 147,035 as of July 1, 2025. For 2020 to 2024, 8.7 percent of residents age 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home and 5.8 percent of residents were foreign born.
Richland County’s marriage license site offers its pages in Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Hindi, Korean, German, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Portuguese and Gujarati. We translate from and into 100 languages. Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Czech are the ones we are asked for most, and you can ask about any other.
Immigration paperwork
USCIS applies one federal rule everywhere, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3). Any document containing a foreign language must be submitted with a full English translation, and the translator must certify that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate. The rule does not ask for notarization. Every translation we deliver includes that signed certification. Acceptance is always up to the agency.
Ordering a translation from Columbia
You do not need to visit anyone. Upload a scan or photo as a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file through the quote form and tell us where the translation will be used. We confirm the price, which starts at $65 per page, and the delivery date. Finished translations are sent electronically or mailed to your Columbia address. To talk to us, call (971) 514-3743 during office hours, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at our Oregon office.
Related services for Columbia
- South Carolina document translation services: the statewide rules for courts, notaries, vital records and driver licensing
- South Carolina apostille service
- All document translation services
Columbia translation questions
Apostille Authentications provides certified translation to Columbia, South Carolina customers online, from $65 per page. The work is done remotely from the Portland, Oregon area and returned electronically or by mail.
The South Carolina Secretary of State issues apostilles at 1205 Pendleton Street, Suite 525, Columbia, SC 29201. Walk-in hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and the fee is $5.00 per document.
The Richland County Probate Court at 1701 Main Street, Suite 207, issues certified copies of marriage licenses for $8 per copy. The state Department of Public Health also issues marriage records.
For undergraduate admission, the University of South Carolina asks for a certified transcript translated into English by a school official. The School of Law routes foreign transcripts through LSAC’s Credentials Assembly Service.
The U.S. District Court sits at the Matthew J. Perry, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201.
Most translations ordered from Columbia are ready in 1 to 2 business days. Delivery is electronic, with mailed copies available.
Sources
The local details on this page come from these official sources.
- SC Secretary of State: Apostilles
- SC Secretary of State: Authentication Cover Letter
- SC Secretary of State: Certification of Vital Records
- Richland County Probate Court: Marriage Licenses
- Richland County Clerk of Court
- Richland County Register of Deeds
- U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina: Court Locations
- South Carolina Code Title 15, Chapter 27
- University of South Carolina: International Applicants
- USC Rice School of Law: Foreign-Educated Students
- Census Bureau QuickFacts: Columbia city, South Carolina
- S.C. Department of Public Health: Vital Records Fees
- 8 CFR 103.2 (eCFR)
Get your Columbia 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.