Frequently asked questions

No. Translova provides AI-assisted translations for informational purposes only. Our translations are not certified, stamped, or validated by a qualified human translator. They should not be submitted to official bodies (visa applications, courts, government agencies) as certified translations. If you need a certified translation, you need a professional human translator with accreditation.

Google Translate is a generic machine translation tool. Translova is specifically designed for official, legal, and administrative documents. We do three things Google does not: (1) We provide a plain-language explanation of what the document means and what you need to do. (2) We detect the document type and adapt the translation terminology accordingly — e.g., a Home Office letter is translated with appropriate UK immigration language. (3) We run a second AI validation pass and show you a confidence score so you know how reliable the translation is.

We support 9 languages across 17 translation pairs: French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Amharic, German, Dutch, Yoruba, Hausa and Swahili — all paired with English, and French and Arabic available both directions. Amharic support is notable — we are one of the few affordable services worldwide handling Ethiopian and Eritrean official documents.

We support: general documents, official and Home Office letters, visa and immigration documents, employment contracts, tenancy agreements, medical documents, academic certificates, police and legal documents, business documents, and CVs or cover letters. For each type, we adapt the translation terminology to match official administrative language in your target country.

No permanently. Your document content is processed in real time by our AI system. Any temporary data is automatically deleted within 72 hours. We do not build a permanent database of your document content. If you are a logged-in subscriber, your translation results (not the original document) are stored for 30 days so you can access your history.

Yes. All data is transmitted over HTTPS. Documents are processed in memory and not written to permanent storage. Our infrastructure is SOC 2 compliant. We never sell, share, or use your document content for any purpose other than processing your translation request.

No human at Translova reads your documents. They are processed automatically by AI systems. Our admin dashboard shows translation metadata (document type, language pair, word count, date) but not the actual document content.

Yes. Translova is registered with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and processes all personal data in accordance with UK GDPR. You have the right to request deletion of any personal data we hold about you. Contact us at privacy@translova.com for any data requests.

Any document under 300 words translates completely free — every time, with no account needed. This includes the full translation AND the plain-language explanation. The free tier has no daily limit — you can translate multiple short documents.

Paid translations are priced by document type: General £35, Official letter £40, Academic certificate £45, Tenancy agreement £50, Police/legal £50, Visa/immigration £55, CV £60, Medical £65, Employment contract £70, Business document £100. Every paid translation includes structured formatting, full explanation, confidence score, and email delivery.

We accept all major debit and credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express. We do not accept cash, bank transfers, or PayPal for individual document payments. Subscription invoicing is available on the Business plan.

If your translation failed to complete due to a technical error on our side, you will receive a full refund automatically within 5 business days. If the translation was delivered but you are unhappy with quality, contact us within 48 hours and we will review your case. We do not offer refunds if the translation was delivered successfully and you changed your mind.

For well-supported language pairs (French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese ↔ English), our translations typically score 88-96% on our confidence scale. For Amharic, scores are typically 80-88% due to the relative complexity of the language pair. The confidence score on every output tells you exactly how reliable that specific translation is. If the score is below 80%, we recommend professional review.

After translating your document, a second AI system reviews the translation for accuracy, tone, completeness, and terminology. It assigns a score from 70 to 98. A score of 90+ means the translation is highly accurate and appropriate. A score of 80-89 means it is generally good with minor potential issues. Below 80 means there are concerns and professional review is recommended before acting on the document.

After translating, a second AI pass reads the translated document and generates four sections: (1) What this document is — a 2-3 sentence summary. (2) What you must do — specific action steps. (3) Deadline — any dates by which you must act. (4) Risk if ignored — what happens if you do nothing. This is automatically generated for every translation.

Yes. You can upload a photo of your letter taken on your phone. We use OCR (optical character recognition) to extract the text from your image before translating. For best results, ensure the image is well-lit, not blurry, and the text is clearly visible. Dark or low-contrast images may result in lower accuracy.

No. Free translations (under 300 words) do not require any account. Paid one-off translations also do not require an account — you pay by card and receive the result by email. Accounts are only needed if you want a subscription plan with monthly translation allowances and translation history.

Starter (£49/month): 20 translations, French ↔ English only. Pro (£99/month): 60 translations, 5 language pairs, all features. Business (£179/month): unlimited translations, all 9 language pairs, priority support, monthly invoice.

Yes, at any time with no penalty. When you cancel, you keep access until the end of your current billing period. We do not charge cancellation fees or require notice periods.