Certified translation of an Austrian police clearance certificate, with passport-matched name and round court seal

Certified translation › Police clearance certificate

Police Clearance Certificate (Strafregisterbescheinigung) Translation Austria.

Police clearance certificate translation covers the Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung, or a foreign certificate for use in Austria, as a certified translation by a sworn, court-certified Austrian translator — for a job abroad, a visa, a residence title or professional registration. The apostille, where required, is added by the BMEIA and not by us, and names are matched to your passport. From €59 incl. certification and shipping.

Court-sworn§ 14 SDG
Valid Austria-wideauthorities & courts
European certificateEU/UK nationals
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Recognised nationwide · § 14 SDG court-sworn translators · round court seal · BMEIA apostille aware · DIN EN ISO 17100

DIN EN ISO 17100registered · Reg. 7U517

Court-sworn translators§ 14 SDG

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Short & clear

Which certified translation do you need for a police clearance certificate?

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

A police clearance certificate — in German, Strafregisterbescheinigung, colloquially still called Führungszeugnis — needs a certified translation whenever it crosses into another language for an authority, employer or professional body to rely on. Going outward, a foreign employer, immigration authority or professional chamber will generally accept your Austrian certificate only together with a certified translation. Coming inward, an Austrian authority — for citizenship, a residence title or professional registration — requires a certified German translation of a foreign police clearance certificate.

In both directions the translation must be produced by a court-sworn translator (in German, gerichtlich beeideter und zertifizierter Übersetzer), authorised under § 14 SDG and entered in the official register at a Regional Court (Landesgericht). Their round court seal — the Rundsiegel — is what a receiving authority recognises, wherever in Austria the translator was admitted. FÜD does not decide whether an authority accepts the certificate itself; we make sure the translation meets the standard it expects.

Step by step

Getting your certificate accepted — in order.

A police clearance certificate looks like a simple form, but the sequence of authentication and translation decides whether it is accepted the first time. These four steps are what turn it into a document a foreign employer or an Austrian authority can actually file.

1 · Which certificate?

Ask the receiving authority or employer whether it wants your Austrian certificate, a certificate from another country you have lived in, or both — the requirement is individual.

2 · Request it correctly

Austrian certificate: apply at your Gemeinde (Bürgerservice), the Landespolizeidirektion, or online via oesterreich.gv.at with ID Austria. Foreign certificate: request it from the issuing country's police or justice authority.

3 · Authenticate if required

For non-EU use, the apostille has to be obtained first. For the Austrian certificate that is the BMEIA — because the Landespolizeidirektion is a federal authority, not a Landesgericht.

4 · Certified translation

A court-sworn translator renders the certificate, matches your name to your passport, and adds the certification note, signature and round court seal.

Ask two questions before you order

First: which certificate does the receiving authority or employer actually want — the Austrian one, a foreign one, or both? Second: does it need an apostille first, and from which office? For the Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung that is the BMEIA, not a Regional Court. Settling both in advance avoids translating the wrong document or the wrong order.

Austrian certificate or foreign — which needs translating?

Strafregisterbescheinigung vs. a foreign police clearance certificate.

People often ask which document to translate. The honest answer depends on where you are applying and which authority is asking.

Austrian certificate

Strafregisterbescheinigung

What it is: The Austrian police clearance certificate, drawn from the centrally kept Austrian criminal register at the Strafregisteramt of the Landespolizeidirektion Wien.
Issued by: Your Gemeinde, the Landespolizeidirektion, or online via oesterreich.gv.at with ID Austria, under the Strafregistergesetz 1968.
Translation: Needed whenever a foreign employer, authority or professional body relies on it in another language; for non-EU use, a BMEIA apostille often has to be added first.

Foreign certificate

Police clearance certificate from abroad

What it is: A certificate of good conduct or criminal record from your country of nationality or previous residence.
Issued by: The competent police or justice authority of that country, in its own language.
Translation: Certified German translation required for an Austrian authority — citizenship, residence title, professional registration. This is FÜD's job.

EU nationals

European certificate (ECRIS)

What it is: A certificate that also draws on criminal-record entries from your EU country of origin, requested via the European Criminal Records Information System.
Issued by: Requested alongside the national Austrian procedure; issuance takes longer because it queries another member state.
Translation: Translated in full and certified wherever the destination language differs from German.

The practical takeaway

Do not assume an Austrian certificate needs no further step abroad — check the apostille requirement first. A foreign certificate destined for an Austrian authority always needs a certified German translation if it is not already in German. If you are unsure which your case needs, tell us the purpose and we translate only what is required.

Documents you must translate

What a police-clearance file usually contains.

The exact set is defined by the receiving authority or employer. These are the documents we most often translate alongside a police clearance certificate.

Documents for a police-clearance file for Austria and where each is handled
Document	Needed for	Handled by
Strafregisterbescheinigung (standard)	Employment abroad, visa, foreign professional registration	Certified translation
Besondere Bescheinigung Kinder- und Jugendfürsorge	Work involving children or minors abroad (childcare, education, coaching)	Certified translation
Foreign police clearance certificate / criminal record	Austrian citizenship, residence title, professional registration	Certified translation
European certificate (ECRIS extract)	EU nationals with previous residence abroad	Certified translation
Apostille on the certificate	Authentication for non-EU use, issued by the BMEIA	Certified translation of the apostille
Passport / national ID	Reference spelling of names	Certified translation
Court judgment or extract (if any entry exists)	Context for an entry on the record	Legal translation

Order matters: authenticate first, translate last

Where an apostille is needed, it belongs before the translation — first the BMEIA apostille on the Strafregisterbescheinigung, then the certified translation of the certificate and the apostille together, in one document. That way the receiving office has nothing to request afterwards, and the two pieces stay clearly linked.

Apostille & BMEIA

Why the apostille for a police clearance certificate comes from the BMEIA, not a court.

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

Most Austrian personal-status documents are authenticated by the Amt der Landesregierung, and court or notarial documents by the president of the Landesgericht. A police clearance certificate is different. Because the Strafregisterbescheinigung is issued by the Landespolizeidirektion — a federal (Bundes-) authority — its apostille is issued exclusively by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA). Never by a court, never by the translation agency.

The apostille has to be obtained on the original certificate first; the certified translation then covers the certificate and the apostille together, so the receiving foreign office gets one consistent, certified set. FÜD does not issue apostilles — we tell you which office to approach and translate the result once you have it. Where an EU authority is relying on the Austrian certificate, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 can remove the apostille requirement between member states for some public documents — ask the receiving office which route it accepts.

Languages & origin countries

Which languages we translate police clearance certificates into and from.

Police clearance certificates travel in both directions — Austrian certificates translated for a foreign employer or authority, and foreign certificates translated into German for an Austrian one. FÜD assigns a native-speaker, court-sworn translator for each, with correct name transliteration — and 70+ languages besides.

Middle East

Eastern Europe

South-Eastern Europe & Balkans

Asia & Africa

Common pitfalls

Why a police clearance certificate gets queried — and how we prevent it.

A police clearance certificate looks simple, which is exactly why the mistakes are avoidable. These are the reasons a receiving authority or employer sends one back, and how a certified translation by a court-sworn translator avoids them.

Common pitfalls with Austrian police-clearance translations and how FÜD resolves them
Pitfall	Why it goes wrong	How the FÜD solves it
"No entries" translated loosely	The core clean-record line has to read unambiguously; a vague or softened rendering can look evasive to a receiving authority.	We translate the official "no entries" formula exactly, without softening or embellishing it.
Criminal offences "translated" instead of contextualised	Austrian StGB offence names have no exact match abroad; a guessed foreign equivalent can change the apparent charge.	We render the offence sense-for-sense, keep the original paragraph reference, and add an explanatory note — without inventing a foreign legal category.
Issuing authority mistranslated	Guessing an equivalent name for "Landespolizeidirektion" or "Strafregisteramt" makes the source unfindable for the receiving office.	Official names of the issuing authority stay in the original German, with an explanatory equivalent in brackets.
Name transliteration doesn't match passport	A name transliterated by sound instead of by rule diverges from your passport, and the file gets assigned to someone else.	Names are transliterated by the applicable ISO rule and cross-checked against your passport; both forms are noted in the certification statement.
Apostille missing or added after translating	The apostille proves authenticity; without it, or added afterwards and left untranslated, the receiving office rejects the file.	We advise the BMEIA apostille route first, then translate certificate and apostille as one set.
Certificate too old	Many offices want a certificate issued within the last three to six months; translating a stale one wastes it.	We flag recency requirements and turn the translation around quickly, express if needed.

Why exactness matters here most

A police clearance certificate can end up on a permanent file — a citizenship record, a professional register, an employment contract abroad. A clean certificate has to read as unambiguously clean, and your name has to match your ID exactly. That precision is the whole value of a certified professional translation.

A clean record has to read as unambiguously clean.

Exact "no entries" wording, passport-matched name, the BMEIA apostille in the right order — accepted the first time.

Process with FÜD

From upload to certified translation — three steps.

1 · Upload

Send the certificate

What you do: Upload a scan of your police clearance certificate (with apostille if you already have it) and tell us the purpose — employment abroad, visa, residence, professional registration.
What we do: We check which document is needed and confirm whether a BMEIA apostille has to be obtained first.

2 · Fixed price

Binding quote up front

What you do: Approve the quote — one binding fixed price in EUR, delivery date included.
What we do: A court-sworn translator renders the certificate, name matched to your passport, "no entries" wording exact.

3 · Certified + shipping

PDF now, original by post

What you do: Receive a certified PDF in advance and the sealed original by post for the receiving authority or employer.
What we do: Deliver on the agreed date; 24-hour express available before a deadline.

Upload document

Quote & price

What does a police-clearance translation cost?

We review the certificate, the language and whether an apostille is needed first, then name a binding fixed price in EUR. A standard Austrian or foreign certificate is usually a flat fee per document; longer or more complex records are priced per standard line — certification, an advance PDF and postal delivery included.

Binding fixed price

flat fee per documentstandard certificates · longer records from € 0.89 / standard line

Price up front · no unannounced extra costs

Certified translation by a court-sworn translator (§ 14 SDG)	✓included
Certification note, round court seal and signature (recognised across Austria)	✓included
Passport-matched spelling of names	✓included
Advance PDF & postal delivery of the hard copy	✓included
Specialist revision & final quality check	✓included

Standard police clearance certificates are usually a flat fee per document; longer or foreign records are priced per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces), from € 0.89. We name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →

Request a quote

Sources & legal basis

Where these statements come from.

Every legal and procedural claim on this page is tied to a primary, verifiable source — Austrian law as published by RIS, the responsible federal authorities, and the relevant EU instrument. Acceptance of any individual document is always decided by the receiving authority or employer.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Do I need a certified translation of my Austrian police clearance certificate?

Almost always, as soon as it crosses a border. A foreign employer, professional body or diplomatic mission will generally only accept your Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung together with a certified translation by a court-sworn translator. The same applies in reverse: an Austrian authority requires a certified translation of a foreign police clearance certificate.

Is the translation recognised across Austria and abroad?

Within Austria, a translation certified by a court-sworn and certified translator under § 14 SDG is recognised nationwide, regardless of which Regional Court (Landesgericht) admitted the translator. For use abroad, the receiving authority often additionally requires an apostille, and sometimes a translation admitted in the destination country — we clarify this in advance.

Does my police clearance certificate need an apostille — and who issues it?

For many countries, yes. Because the Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung is issued by a federal authority — the Landespolizeidirektion — its apostille is issued by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA), not by a Regional Court president and not by the translation agency. It is obtained first; the translation follows.

What is a European certificate of good conduct?

EU nationals can obtain a criminal-record certificate through the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), which also draws on entries from the country of origin. Issuance takes longer; we translate it in full, certified.

How recent does the certificate need to be?

Many authorities require a certificate that is no older than three or six months at the time it is submitted. Apply for it close to when you need it and have it translated promptly; a 24-hour express service is available where feasible.

How much does a certified translation of a police clearance certificate cost?

A standard Austrian or foreign police clearance certificate is usually billed at a flat fee per document; longer or more complex foreign records are priced per standard line, from € 0.89. We name a binding fixed price after a brief review; the certified PDF and postal hard copy are included. How the price is made up →

My Austrian Strafregisterbescheinigung was accepted by the Canadian employer without a single query — the BMEIA apostille and the translation matched exactly, and my name was spelled just like my passport.

★★★★★

L. Hofer · employment abroad, Graz