This question comes up on nearly every order heading somewhere that does not use English, and getting it wrong is expensive rather than fatal: you end up paying for the translation twice.
The general rule
Translate after the apostille. The apostille certificate is itself a document, usually in English, and many receiving authorities want it translated along with the underlying record. Translate first and the apostille arrives afterwards, untranslated, and the package is incomplete.
The exceptions
- Some authorities want a certified translation attached before legalization, particularly for non-Hague destinations where the embassy reviews the whole package.
- Some countries require the translation to be done in-country by a translator on their own register, in which case you should not translate here at all.
- Mexico frequently requires a perito traductor registered with a Mexican state court, rather than a U.S. certified translator.
- Italian consulates vary between themselves on who may translate, so the answer depends on which consulate handles your jurisdiction.
How to settle it
Ask the receiving authority two specific questions: does the translation need to cover the apostille as well, and must the translator be registered locally? Those two answers determine the sequence entirely.
If they are vague, translating after the apostille with a certified translator is the safer default, because it covers more scenarios. We can handle both stages on one order, and we will tell you when we think the sequence should be reversed.