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Schengen area (26 states)

Regulation (EC) 810/2009 (Community Visa Code) sets the supporting-document list and allows one member state to represent another when taking applications.

Certification chain: Thai civil documents (marriage certificate, birth certificate, house registration) are translated into English or the destination language, certified by the Legalisation Division of the Department of Consular Affairs, and — for several missions such as Italy, Spain and Greece — stamped again by that embassy.

Translation format: The translation must match the passport spelling exactly, convert Buddhist-era to Gregorian dates and reproduce the text of every seal. Self-translated documents are generally refused.

Common pitfall: Filing copies that never passed the Consular Affairs stage, or reusing an old translation after a change of civil status, triggers a document request and the appointment slot is lost.

United Kingdom

UK Visas and Immigration guidance for the Visitor and Family routes requires a certified translation for every document not in English or Welsh.

Certification chain: UKVI does not normally require MFA or embassy legalisation, but it does prescribe the translation format: a statement that it is an accurate translation of the original, the date, the translator's name and signature, and the translator's contact details.

Translation format: Financial evidence and employment letters should be translated in full, including letterhead and seals — not only the figures.

Common pitfall: Translations missing the translator's contact details, or route-specific medical evidence such as a tuberculosis certificate from an approved clinic that expires before travel.

United States

Non-immigrant applications run through Form DS-160 and a consular interview; documents filed with USCIS must carry a translation certification under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3).

Certification chain: Consular non-immigrant cases usually need no MFA legalisation, but family and immigrant petitions require originals or issuing-authority certified copies together with a certified translation.

Translation format: The translation must be accompanied by the translator's certification that it is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent to translate from Thai into English.

Common pitfall: Submitting photocopies instead of registrar-certified copies, or translations that omit the wording inside official seals.

Australia and New Zealand

The Department of Home Affairs requires an English translation of every non-English document; translations produced inside Australia must be by a NAATI-certified translator.

Certification chain: Translations produced outside Australia must show the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications or experience on the translation itself; files are normally uploaded as colour scans through ImmiAccount.

Translation format: A NAATI stamp showing the practitioner number and expiry date is the format Australian agencies, universities and courts recognise most readily.

Common pitfall: Uploading a translation without the matching image of the original, or using a NAATI stamp that has expired on the filing date.

Canada

IRCC requires a translation of any document not in English or French; where the translator is not a certified translator, an affidavit from the translator must be attached.

Certification chain: File the image of the original, the translation and, where needed, the affidavit. IRCC will not accept a translation made by the applicant or by a family member, even if that person is a qualified translator.

Translation format: The affidavit must be sworn before an authority competent to administer oaths; in Thailand that role is performed by a Notarial Services Attorney licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand.

Common pitfall: Having a spouse or relative translate the file — always refused — and forgetting to attach the image of the original next to the translation.

Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan

Each mission publishes its own document list, and visa-exemption arrangements and pre-travel registration systems change periodically, so the mission's current notice must be checked before every filing.

Certification chain: Civil-status documents and employment letters usually need translation into English or the destination language; many missions ask for prior certification by the Department of Consular Affairs, especially for family-visit, marriage and work categories.

Translation format: When names are rendered in Chinese, Japanese or Korean script, the passport romanisation must be retained alongside so that immigration officers can match the record.

Common pitfall: Relying on out-of-date third-party websites instead of the embassy's or that country's foreign-ministry notice.

Middle East and the Gulf states

Many states in this group are not parties to the Apostille Convention and still operate double legalisation: the Thai Department of Consular Affairs first, then that country's embassy in Thailand.

Certification chain: The documents most often demanded are degree certificates and transcripts for work visas, marriage certificates for dependants, and police clearance certificates — each must complete the full chain before departure.

Translation format: Some embassies require Arabic translation by a translator they accept, bound only to the already-legalised original.

Common pitfall: Starting too late: the two-stage chain is strictly sequential and cannot be repaired retrospectively if the order is wrong.