Most Hague Convention countries describe their language and translation requirements on the Hague Conference website in their Country Profiles .
OCSE has summarized these requirements in the table below under these headings:
- Routine Communication: The language that the country is willing to use for email, telephone, and other communication related to processing Convention actions from the U.S. Most countries allow routine communication in English.
- Official Language: Most countries have one or more official language, which is a language with a special legal status in that jurisdiction, or in a part of that jurisdiction. Official languages are the languages that are generally used in countries' governments and courts.
- Forms and Documents: Many Hague Convention countries have specified the language(s) to be used for application forms and accompanying documents being submitted to that country. OCSE has some of the Hague Convention forms available in various foreign languages.
- Payments Information: If a country has notified OCSE of a payment method that it requires for outgoing child support payments — from the U.S. to the other country — that information is shown here.
Before a state child support agency prepares Hague Convention forms and translates documents, the agency should check the information in the table and also in the relevant Country Profile .
There is no federally mandated type of translation provider that state agencies should use. However, OCSE urges state agencies to have general policies concerning translation into other languages.
If more assistance is needed, contact OCSE.
Canada - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario