In this guide
  1. What goes to Pakistan, and what stays here
  2. Urdu script, and the shape of the page
  3. The certificate and the signature on it
  4. Cost per page and how fast it moves
  5. Fresh certified copies, and what gets checked

What goes to Pakistan, and what stays here

Offices in Pakistan work in Urdu, so an English record on its own does not get far. The file crosses in two parts: your English paper, or a fresh copy of it, and an Urdu text repeating every line. The English document itself is never handed over permanently; it stays with you or travels as a replaceable copy.

Urdu script, and the shape of the page

A certified translation into Urdu in Wolverhampton is written right to left, with tables and columns mirrored so that a reader follows them naturally. Dates are spelled out in words to stop a UK day-month order being read the other way. Numbers printed on a seal are copied exactly, since a clerk may type them straight into a register.

The certificate and the signature on it

The certification used is a certified translation with certificate of accuracy. A certified Urdu translator signs a page naming both languages, listing the pages covered and stating that nothing was added or dropped. That page travels with the Urdu text and the English source. Without it, the Urdu pages are simply an unofficial rendering that no office is obliged to read.

Cost per page and how fast it moves

A certified translation for Pakistan is priced at about £25 / page of source, delivered in 2–4 business days, or 24–48 hours where a hearing or a flight is close. Family files usually hold several thin records at once, so ordering them together keeps the count clean and avoids paying twice for pages already covered.

Fresh certified copies, and what gets checked

Wolverhampton Register Office at Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1RU issues new certified copies of UK birth, marriage and death records. That fresh copy is the one to send, so the record you already keep never leaves the house. The office issues records only and takes no part in translating or certifying an Urdu text.

In Pakistan the signed certificate is read first, then the sheets are counted, then names and dates are matched against a passport or an identity card. An official Urdu translation in Wolverhampton is turned back far more often for a missing reverse side than for a debatable word, so scan both faces of every page.