Certified Translation for WES Credential Evaluation
World Education Services (WES) is the most widely used credential evaluation agency in the United States and Canada. If you earned your degree, diploma, or professional qualification outside the United States, there is a good chance you will need a WES evaluation — for university admissions, professional licensing, immigration, or employment. And if your academic documents are in any language other than English, WES requires a certified translation before they will process your evaluation.
What WES Does
WES evaluates foreign academic credentials and provides a report that places your education in a U.S. or Canadian context. The evaluation tells universities, licensing boards, employers, and immigration agencies how your foreign degree compares to U.S. academic qualifications. For example, a WES evaluation might determine that a Mexican "Licenciatura en Ingeniería" is equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor of Engineering, or that an Indian "Master of Commerce" corresponds to a U.S. Master's degree in Accounting.
WES offers two types of evaluations:
Document-by-Document Evaluation — Lists each credential you earned, the institution, and the U.S. equivalent
Course-by-Course Evaluation — Provides a detailed breakdown of each course, credit hours (converted to U.S. semester credits), and grade equivalents on the 4.0 scale
Course-by-course evaluations are more detailed and are typically required for university admissions and professional licensing.
WES Translation Requirements
WES requires that all documents not originally in English be accompanied by "literal, word-for-word English translations." This means:
What the Certification Must Include
WES requires the following in the translator's certification:
WES also expects the translation to be performed by a qualified translator — not by the applicant, a family member, or an automated tool. Translations performed by the credential holder are not accepted.
Country-Specific Requirements
WES has specific document requirements for different countries. In some cases, the documents must be sent directly from the institution to WES — the applicant cannot submit them. In other cases, the applicant submits documents through WES's online system. Here are some common examples:
China
Chinese transcripts and degree certificates must be verified through the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC) or the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC). Once verified, any Chinese-language documents still require certified English translation.
India
Indian applicants must request their institution to send transcripts directly to WES using sealed envelopes. A certified English translation is required for any documents not originally in English — which includes documents from institutions that use Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, or other regional languages.
Latin America
Documents from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and other Latin American countries are typically submitted by the applicant through WES's online portal. All Spanish- or Portuguese-language documents require certified English translation.
Middle East
Academic documents from Arabic-speaking countries must be translated by a qualified translator. WES requires translations from the original Arabic — not translations of French-language versions of Arabic documents.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Documents from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other post-Soviet countries require certified translation from Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, or other relevant languages. Translators must be familiar with the specific educational terminology and qualification structures of these countries.
Common Mistakes That Delay WES Evaluations
Submitting Machine Translations
WES does not accept translations produced by Google Translate, DeepL, ChatGPT, or other machine translation tools. Even if the output is edited by a human, the translation must be performed by a human translator who certifies completeness and accuracy. Submitting a machine translation will result in your application being returned.
Incomplete Document Sets
WES requires specific documents from each country. Submitting only your diploma without your transcript — or vice versa — will delay your evaluation. Check the WES website for the exact document requirements for your country of education.
Inconsistent Names Across Documents
If your name appears differently on different documents — due to transliteration from a non-Latin script, a legal name change, or different naming conventions — WES may question whether the documents belong to the same person. A professional translator ensures consistent transliteration across all documents and notes any discrepancies.
Incorrect Grade Notation
Some applicants or amateur translators attempt to convert grades to the 4.0 scale during translation. This is incorrect — grade conversion is WES's job. The translation should reproduce the original grades exactly as they appear on the transcript, along with the grading scale if it is stated on the document.
Missing Seals and Stamps
If the original document has official seals, stamps, or signatures, the translation must note them — for example, "[Official Seal: University of São Paulo]" or "[Signature: Registrar]." Omitting these elements makes the translation incomplete.
Our WES Translation Process
Turnaround Time
Standard turnaround for WES translation is two to three business days. Rush service is available if you are facing a WES submission deadline or an admission cutoff.
Languages
We translate academic documents for WES from over 150 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, French, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, German, Japanese, Urdu, Turkish, Farsi, Polish, Bengali, Tamil, Ukrainian, and many more.
Start Your WES Translation
Do not let translation delays hold up your WES credential evaluation. Link Translations delivers accurate, WES-compliant certified translations that move your application forward. Request a quote today.