MoJ Sworn Translation — Court · MFA · Embassy · Apostille

Ministry of Justice sworn translation in Thailand — the complete operating manual

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) sworn translator is the only category of translator whose certification is automatically recognised by every Thai civil, criminal, and administrative court, by the Department of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by all 168 foreign embassies and consulates accredited to Bangkok, and by Thai Apostille issuing authorities. The legal basis is found in the Civil Procedure Code §46 (Thai-language requirement for court evidence) read together with the MoJ Translator Registration Regulations B.E. 2553 (2010) and the MFA Notification on Document Authentication B.E. 2562 (2019). When a foreign-language document enters any of these forums, it must be accompanied by a Thai translation produced by a registered sworn translator, sealed, signed in wet ink, and supported by an Affidavit of Translation Accuracy that cross-references the source. NYC Legal & Notary Services has held continuous registration since 2010 across Thai/English/Chinese/Japanese/Korean and forty-six additional languages.

What separates a sworn translator from a "certified" translator

The distinction is often lost in casual usage but matters enormously in practice. A "certified" translation in most common-law countries is simply one accompanied by a translator's self-declaration; no government registry is involved. A Thai MoJ sworn translation is something stronger: the translator is on a public registry maintained by the Ministry of Justice, has been individually vetted, has provided ID, professional credentials, and sample work, and has accepted personal legal liability for misrepresentation. Courts treat the sworn translation as documentary evidence of the same evidential weight as the original. Embassies and MFA treat it as the only translation they will accept for downstream legalisation. This is why we never substitute a sworn translation with a freelance or AI-generated rendering, regardless of quality.

Document categories we routinely handle

Litigation: civil judgments (พิพากษา), criminal indictments (คำฟ้องอาญา), summonses (หมายเรียก), subpoenas (หมายเรียกพยาน), depositions, expert witness reports, and execution filings at the Legal Execution Department. Family law: divorce decrees, separation agreements, custody orders, child support calculations, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and inter-country adoption files including Hague Convention Article 23 certificates. Commercial: shareholder agreements, joint venture contracts, M&A documentation, board resolutions, articles of association, arbitration awards under the Thai Arbitration Act B.E. 2545, and ICC/SIAC awards seeking Thai enforcement. Estate planning: wills, probate filings, deed of inheritance, and bank releases under the Civil and Commercial Code Title VI. Regulatory: SEC filings, Bank of Thailand correspondence, AMLO declarations, and licence applications to the Office of Insurance Commission.

Pricing structure with worked examples

For predictability we publish four tiers. Tier 1 — short personal certificates (birth, marriage, ID extracts): THB 500–800 per page, 1–2 business days. Tier 2 — medium commercial (board minutes, contracts up to 10 pages, employment letters): THB 800–1,500 per page, 2–3 business days. Tier 3 — court documents and complex contracts: THB 1,200–2,500 per page, 3–5 business days. Tier 4 — multi-volume litigation bundles, arbitration awards exceeding 50 pages, IP/patent specifications: custom quote, typically 7–14 business days. A typical 30-page civil judgment runs THB 36,000–60,000 all-in including the Affidavit of Translation Accuracy and notarisation. Add MFA endorsement at THB 800/document and embassy stamping at the foreign mission's published rate.

The four-step internal workflow

Step 1: intake and quotation. You send scans via LINE @nycli, email, or our secure portal. Within 30 minutes you receive a written quote covering per-page rate, word count, turnaround, downstream costs, and a fixed all-in figure. Step 2: primary translation. The sworn translator with subject-matter expertise produces the first draft; a translator's note flags ambiguities for client decision. Step 3: independent legal editing. A second MoJ-registered translator performs four-eye review; for Tier 3 and 4 work we add a qualified lawyer's review on legal terminology. Step 4: seal, Affidavit, and downstream hand-off. Wet-ink signature, MoJ seal, Affidavit attached, source physically bound or sealed-bag delivered. If your packet is bound for MFA or an embassy, we queue it directly with our courier — no second trip required.

Same-day Rush — when minutes matter

For court filing deadlines, embassy interview appointments, and last-minute commercial closings we operate a Same-day Rush service: source received before 10:00 Bangkok time, signed and sealed translation in hand by 17:00 the same business day, surcharge +THB 1,500 per document. Reserved for Tier 1 and short Tier 2 work. For genuinely urgent litigation, we have on more than one occasion delivered a sealed translation to court within four hours of source receipt — call us on 083-249-4999 before sending.

Acceptance — Thai forums and foreign authorities

Thai forums: Civil Court, Criminal Court, Administrative Court, Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Labour Court, Tax Court, Intellectual Property and International Trade Court, MFA Department of Consular Affairs, all foreign embassies and consulates in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Department of Lands, Department of Business Development, Royal Thai Police, Department of Special Investigation, Anti-Money Laundering Office, Office of the Attorney General, and the Legal Execution Department. Foreign authorities (downstream of MFA endorsement or Apostille): courts and immigration authorities in all 125+ Hague Apostille member states; consular legalisation chains for China, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other non-Hague jurisdictions.

Confidentiality and litigation-grade controls

All staff sign perpetual NDAs. Source documents are processed on encrypted internal servers with strict role-based access. For sealed-bid M&A, divorce, and white-collar litigation we operate isolated air-gapped workstations with dedicated translators bound by deal-specific NDAs and physical document handling protocols. Retention defaults to 90 days for revision purposes, then permanent deletion; clients may request immediate post-delivery destruction with written confirmation. We are PDPA-compliant and GDPR-aligned for European parties.

How to engage us today

LINE @nycli, email nyclegal@ilc.ltd, or call +66 83 249 4999. Send your scans (PDF preferred, photos accepted); you will have a quote in 30 minutes and a draft within the agreed turnaround. Payment on completion via bank transfer, credit card, or PromptPay. Hardcopy release on cleared payment, with Bangkok-wide free delivery for three or more documents and DHL/EMS to anywhere in the world.