NAATI Basics

Both formats exist. Online lodgement portals generally accept a digitally stamped and digitally signed PDF, while some counters require the wet-ink original. Never print and re-scan a digitally signed PDF: doing so breaks signature verification and is a common cause of rejection.

A translator can only stamp work they have fully reviewed against the source and are willing to stand behind, so this is a revision-and-certification service rather than stamping alone. If the draft needs heavy correction, the time can match a fresh translation; we assess the file first.

The stamp embeds the translator's CPN, language direction and certification expiry, and the QR code links to verification of that practitioner. Upload the original uncompressed PDF so the code stays scannable — re-saving or photographing the page often breaks it.

Digitally stamped translations are routinely uploaded through ImmiAccount. Keep the file as delivered — do not print and rescan — so the stamp details and verification code remain machine-readable, and upload the translation together with a scan of the source document.

The translation itself has no expiry because the underlying facts do not change. In practice some agencies ask for a recently issued translation, and the translator's certification expiry appears on the stamp, so a very old translation may be queried. Re-issuing a short record is inexpensive.

Take the CPN from the stamp and search it in NAATI's Online Directory at naati.com.au, then check that the listed language direction (Thai into English) and certification status cover the date your document was issued. Verify before payment, not after lodgement.

Yes. NAATI publishes an online directory of practitioners where you can search by language and credential and confirm a translator's certification status and expiry date. The reliable way to use it is to take the practitioner number, the CPN, printed on the stamp of your translation and look it up. If the name, the direction of certification or the expiry does not match, do not submit the document. Any legitimate provider will give you the CPN before you pay.

Embossed seals are captured by scanning at high resolution, and where the impression is faint the translator will examine the original or use raking light photography to read it. The wording of the seal is then transcribed and described in the translation as an embossed seal, in the position it occupies on the page. Anything genuinely unreadable is marked as illegible rather than reconstructed. Supplying a colour scan at 300 dpi or higher noticeably improves the result.

Check the practitioner number in the NAATI Online Directory and confirm the name on the stamp matches the person who signed. A genuine credential shows the correct language direction and a current expiry date. Digitally signed PDFs also carry a verifiable certificate naming the signer.