Sworn pair · Court of Appeal of Dijon
Arabic translation: sworn & certified
Arabic is one of our sworn language pairs: our in-house expert translator, sworn before the Court of Appeal of Dijon, translates and certifies your Arabic ↔ French documents with legal validity recognised by French authorities (abroad, an apostille or legalisation may be required).
But Arabic is not a language you translate casually — diglossia, national variants, name transliteration, the Hijri calendar. Here’s what matters, and how we handle it.
At a glance
Arabic in brief
Family
Afro-Asiatic → Semitic. Arabic is built on triconsonantal roots: K-T-B "write" → kataba (he wrote), kitāb (book), maktaba (library).
Comrie, The World’s Major Languages
Speakers
About 380 million across all varieties — the world’s 5th language.
Ethnologue
Diglossia
Modern Standard Arabic (فصحى), the language of writing and official records, has ~335 M users but no native speakers; it is learned at school. The mother tongue is the dialect.
Ethnologue · Comrie
Where
Official in some twenty countries — the Maghreb, Egypt, Sudan, the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf, the Levant, Iraq — and the liturgical language of Islam.
Comrie
A 28-letter consonantal alphabet (abjad), written right-to-left, cursive (letters change shape by position); short vowels are normally unwritten.
Crystal
Where files get rejected
Why Arabic demands genuine expertise
This is where your file is accepted — or refused.
Name transliteration
One name is written محمد = Mohamed / Mohammed / Muhammad. A sworn translation’s spelling must match your passport or residence permit, or it’s rejected by the prefecture or OFII. We apply ISO 233 and align with your official ID.
Hijri calendar
Many documents (Gulf, sometimes Maghreb) carry Islamic lunar-calendar dates; we convert them to Gregorian and annotate them — essential on birth and marriage certificates.
Which variety?
Official records are in Standard Arabic, but terminology and layout vary by country (Moroccan, Algerian and Egyptian certificates differ; Maghreb documents are often bilingual Arabic/French). We know these national templates.
Eastern numerals
The digits ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩ are converted to Latin figures, with no misreading.
Name structure
ism, nasab (bin/bint), kunya (Abu/Umm), laqab, nisba: correctly mapped to French surname / given-name fields.
Right-to-left & layout
RTL text, seals and stamps, mixed Arabic/French passages: our DTP studio mirrors the source document faithfully.
Documents
Arabic documents we translate
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Death certificates
- Family record books
- Judgments (divorce, kafala)
- Criminal-record extracts
- Diplomas & transcripts
- Driving licences
- Notarial deeds
From Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, the Gulf and beyond. Tell us the country of origin and the intended use: we adapt terminology and layout to the national template.
Legalisation & apostille
By country
The procedure depends on the issuing country.
Morocco
Apostille
Apostille Convention member → apostille.
Tunisia
Apostille
Apostille Convention member → apostille.
Algeria
Apostille
Apostille since 9 July 2026 (accession of 5 November 2025). Germany, Austria and Greece have objected, so consular legalisation still applies for those three countries.
Egypt
Consular legalisation
Not a member → consular (embassy) legalisation.
Status as of 16 October 2026 (source: HCCH). We tell you the exact procedure for your country and intended use.
Certified pair · Court of Appeal of Dijon
Arabic ↔ French, sworn in-house
Your Arabic ↔ French translations are produced and certified by our in-house expert translator sworn before the Court of Appeal of Dijon: signature, stamp and the ne varietur wording give them legal validity before OFII, prefectures, town halls, courts and universities.
Arabic is one of our certified pairs, so the translation is sworn, not merely “agency-certified”.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Will my translated Moroccan or Algerian birth certificate be accepted by OFII and the prefecture?
Yes — produced by a translator sworn before a court of appeal, with stamp, signature and ne varietur wording, it is recognised by French authorities (prefectures, OFII, ANTS, town halls, courts); abroad, an apostille or legalisation may be required.
My name is spelled differently across my documents — what do you do?
We align the spelling with your passport or residence permit to avoid any rejection, and can add a translator’s note on the variants.
Do you translate Darija (Moroccan or Algerian dialect)?
Official documents are in Standard Arabic (we translate those as sworn work). For the spoken language (interpreting), we cover Maghrebi and other dialects.
Do you handle Hijri-calendar dates?
Yes — systematic conversion to Gregorian and annotation.
What are the turnaround and price?
From €35 per page incl. VAT (€45 urgent, 24–48 hours); delivery in 24–72 hours on average, up to 5 business days depending on volume. Marriage and divorce certificates: on request. Request a free quote — answer in about 2 hours.
Sworn translation, other languages
Sources
Sources: Comrie (ed.), The World’s Major Languages (Routledge) · Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (CUP) · Ethnologue (speaker data) · HCCH — Hague Apostille status. Original prose; data verified.
Ready to translate your Arabic documents?
Free quote in about 2 hours · Delivery in 24–72 hours on average · Recognised by French authorities.