Same-day and urgent translation

What same-day means here

If we receive a clear scan of a short document before 11:00 UK time on a working day, you receive the certified PDF by e-mail the same day, usually by early evening UK time. “Short” means up to about five pages of source text; longer files go on the express tier, which halves the standard turnaround rather than promising the same day. Hard copies cannot be same-day from Ankara, but our UK print partner can send a signed hard copy by Royal Mail Special Delivery for next-day arrival on most of the mainland.

Ankara is two hours ahead of the UK in summer and three in winter, so our working day is well under way when a UK office opens. A document uploaded at 09:00 in London reaches a translator who has already been at their desk for two hours, which is why the 11:00 cut-off leaves a full afternoon for translation, revision and certification.

Typical urgent cases

• A visa application centre appointment tomorrow and one missing translation, usually a nüfus kayıt örneği or a bank statement.
• A register office notice-of-marriage appointment that needs a translated Turkish ID card or divorce decree.
• A solicitor who has just received a Turkish court document and has a hearing or filing deadline.
• An NHS admission where a Turkish medical report or medication list needs to be read today.
• A tenancy or job offer that turns on a translated reference or payslip.

What it costs

Express is charged at 60% above the standard rate: from £16.00 per page for Turkish to English and from £10.40 per page for English to Turkish, with a one-page minimum. Certification is included as always, and there is no separate rush fee on top of the percentage. No UK VAT is charged. For comparison, standard turnaround is 1–2 working days from £10.00 and £6.50 respectively, and economy is 20% below standard at double the turnaround. Full tiers are on the prices and turnaround page.

How to make a same-day order go smoothly

1. Photograph or scan every page, including the reverse of ID cards and any page with a stamp, in good light. A re-scan request costs an hour.
2. Send by WhatsApp or the quote form with the words “same day” and the name of the receiving body.
3. Pay on receipt of the quote; work starts on payment. For solicitors and other account customers, a purchase order is enough.
4. Check your e-mail spam folder around delivery time. The PDF is sent from our domain and occasionally lands there.

What we cannot do the same day

Notarisation in Ankara and apostilles depend on notary and government office hours in Türkiye and are next-working-day at the earliest. Hard copies from Ankara take 2–4 working days by courier. Documents over about five pages, handwritten documents, and files needing specialist medical or technical terminology are quoted with a realistic time rather than squeezed into a same-day promise. Requests received after 11:00 UK time are delivered the next working day, and weekend or bank-holiday work is by arrangement and not always possible. We would rather tell you at 11:05 that tomorrow is the real date than miss a deadline you have planned around.

Quality is not reduced

Same-day work goes through the same two-person process: translation by a translator working into their stronger language, then a second linguist checking names, dates, numbers and stamps against the original. What changes is the queue, not the checks. If a receiving body refuses an urgent translation on format, we re-issue free of charge under our accuracy and acceptance policy.