Tetum translator

Ecrivus is a Tetum translation agency: we translate to and from Tetum, a national language of Timor-Leste (East Timor). We pair you with a translator who has Tetum experience and arrange certification where it is needed. Common requests are civil-status certificates, immigration files, diplomas and NGO material. For most assignments a standard professional translation is what your reader requires.

The UK has no sworn-translator institute, so there is no "sworn translator" as a legal office here. For official use we provide certified translation: a signed and dated statement of accuracy with our contact details. Where a body asks for more, this can be escalated to notarisation by a solicitor or notary public, or to consular legalisation. Because Timor-Leste is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille is not available for Timorese documents — consular legalisation applies instead. Certification for Tetum is uncommon and few registered translators exist, so we arrange it on request, often via a combined route.

The standardised variant is Tetun Prasa (Tetun-Dili), the lingua franca around the capital. There is also Tetun Terik (southern and eastern coast) and Tetun Belu (West Timor). Tell us the variant you need and the region of origin; we confirm that choice in the quote, because Tetun-Dili and Tetun Terik differ markedly in terminology and register.

Many formal and legal texts from Timor-Leste are drafted in Portuguese, since Portuguese is an official language alongside Tetum. We check per document whether the source language really is Tetum or Portuguese, and confirm that before translation starts so the right specialist handles the work.

On working days you receive a quote within 1 hour. The lead time for the translation itself depends on document type, volume, the variant you need and any required certification, and is confirmed in the quote. For tight deadlines we confirm a workable rush schedule up front rather than promising a fixed turnaround.

For a smaller language like Tetum, a suitable translator is hard to find on your own. A Tetum translation agency takes that search and the coordination off your hands: we identify the right translator, check whether your source language is Tetum or Portuguese, arrange certification and legalisation where a body requires it, and keep one point of contact for variant, scheduling and delivery, all under a single quote. A skilled freelance translator does excellent work too; the difference an agency adds is bringing those moving parts together so you are not managing them separately.