Submitting a hospital discharge summary to Japan — how must it be translated and certified?

The scope of this answer is “Submitting a hospital discharge summary to Japan”, so the answer below starts with what this case actually needs before setting out the general rules. If multiple certified sets are needed, order them all in the first round to avoid re-queuing. Plan the schedule with room for at least one review cycle at the receiving office. If the receiving body confirmed its requirements by email, keep that message with the file. High-resolution photos of seals and signatures help when the destination asks for re-verification. After certification, scan the full set before it leaves your hands. The specifics here are document type: Discharge; destination: Jp, and those decide which translation and certification level applies. The terms that frame this page are Submitting · hospital · discharge · summary. The deciding factor is the receiving body's requirement, not only the format of the Thai-side document. The point to fix before starting is the real deadline, so the steps can be scheduled backwards from it. Before starting, make sure document numbers, issue dates and issuing-office names match across the set, then keep a digital copy of every page, including seals and signatures, then plan the timeline so certification finishes before the real filing deadline. A Thai-issued medical document intended for a foreign authority normally follows this order: obtain the original from the facility, have it translated by a translator the destination accepts, certify the translation at the Legalisation Division, Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then obtain the destination embassy's attestation where required. Each step verifies only what falls within its own authority. A medical translation must preserve the diagnosis, disease codes, drug names, dosages, units and result values exactly as written — no rounding, no unit conversion, no summarising. Where the original is illegible handwriting, the facility should be asked for a typed version or a written confirmation rather than the meaning being guessed. Thailand deposited its instrument of accession to the Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026, but the Convention is not yet in force for Thailand. In practice the traditional route through the Department of Consular Affairs and the destination embassy still applies until entry into force is formally announced. Cost and lead time depend on page count, the density of clinical terminology, the target language and the certification steps required, so every file is quoted before work starts. Send scans of the medical paperwork together with the written requirements from the hospital, insurer or receiving authority via LINE @NAATI, call +66 80-557-8887 or email ilc@thainotary.co.th.

ปรึกษาฟรี — LINE @NAATI · โทร 080-5578887 · อีเมล ilc@thainotary.co.th