Persian Translation

6 min read·Last updated 1 September 2026

Not an apostille but a consular chain

Iran is one of the countries outside the Hague Apostille Convention. The practical consequence is that an apostille obtained in Türkiye means nothing to an institution in Iran. In its place the classic pre-apostille legalisation chain applies, and it takes noticeably longer.

1. 01

   Sworn translation

   The document is translated and signed by a translator holding an oath record for Persian.

2. 02

   Notarisation

   The notary certifies the translator's signature. This step cannot be skipped in the Iranian chain.

3. 03

   Ministry of Foreign Affairs

   The notary's signature and seal are certified by the Ministry. This is the step that stands in place of an apostille.

4. 04

   Certification by the Iranian mission

   The final link is the Iranian embassy or consulate general in Türkiye. Its appointment calendar sets the duration of this step, and the longest wait is usually here.

The Solar Hijri calendar is not the Hijri calendar used in Arabic

This is the most common mistake with Persian documents. Iranian official documents use the Solar Hijri calendar, which is based on the solar year and differs from the lunar Hijri calendar used in Arab countries. The two are roughly sixty years apart in their year numbering.

In translation we do not convert and delete the original: the Solar Hijri date is preserved and the Gregorian equivalent given in brackets. Converting the year also depends on the day and month, because the Solar Hijri year begins around 21 March. In critical fields such as a date of birth, that detail can shift the year.

Persian numerals differ from Arabic ones

Persian and Arabic use the same family of numerals, but three of them are written differently: four, five and six. Persian writes ۴ ۵ ۶ where Arabic writes ٤ ٥ ٦. A reader who does not know Persian can misread them, and in identity and document numbers that is a matching error outright.

Persian, Dari and Tajik

These are three branches of one language, but for documents they are handled separately. Dari, an official language of Afghanistan, is very close to Persian and uses the same alphabet, with differences in terminology and administrative structure. Tajik, spoken in Tajikistan, is written in Cyrillic, giving the same language an entirely different appearance.

This is why telling us which country your document comes from or is going to matters: three countries speaking one language means three certification routes and two alphabets.

Name transliteration

More than one Latin spelling is possible for a Persian name, and the established Turkish renderings differ from passport spellings. محمدرضا may appear as MOHAMMADREZA in a passport while being read as Muhammedrıza in Turkish. On official documents the passport governs.

Frequently asked questions