English to Urdu
English to Urdu Translation
Most people asking for English to Urdu translation need it for a Pakistani institution rather than a foreign one — a court that requires filings in Urdu, a government department that will only accept an Urdu version, or a family member who needs to read and sign something in the language they actually use.
What is English to Urdu translation?
English to Urdu translation converts English documents into Urdu, written right to left in Nastaliq script. In Pakistan it is most often needed for court filings, government submissions, and contracts a signatory must read in Urdu. Translation starts from Rs. 2,000, and the layout is rebuilt rather than mirrored so tables and clause numbering still read correctly.
Starting price
Rs. 2,000
Direction
English → Urdu
Right-to-left output
Handled
In house
Our fastest and cheapest pairs
Documents we handle in this pair
- Contracts and agreements
- Court filings and legal notices
- Affidavits and declarations
- Government and NADRA forms
- Employment and HR documents
- Policy and consent documents
When you actually need English to Urdu
This pair runs in the opposite direction from most of our work. Nobody needs an Urdu version for a visa file. What they need it for is domestic and legal:
- Court filings. Many Pakistani courts require submissions in Urdu, which means an English contract, notice, or affidavit has to be rendered properly rather than summarised.
- Government and NADRA forms. Where a department will only process an Urdu version.
- Contracts a signatory has to understand. If one party reads Urdu and not English, an Urdu version is what makes consent meaningful. Signing a document you cannot read is a problem long before it is a legal one.
- Employment and HR documents. Contracts, safety notices, and policies for staff who work in Urdu.
- Consent and medical documents, where comprehension genuinely matters.
What changes when the direction reverses
Translating into Urdu is a different job from translating out of it, and this is where cheap output gives itself away.
Direction. Urdu is written right to left. The layout is rebuilt, not mirrored. Numbers, dates, Latin-script reference codes, and English proper names stay left to right inside right-to-left text, and that mixed-direction handling is exactly where automated output breaks — producing reversed reference numbers or tables that read backwards.
Script. Urdu in Pakistan is set in Nastaliq, which is calligraphic and cursive, not the Naskh style common for Arabic. A document set in the wrong script reads as foreign to a Pakistani reader even when the words are right. Naskh is used only where the receiving system cannot render Nastaliq.
Register. Legal and official Urdu is markedly more formal than spoken Urdu, and draws heavily on Persian and Arabic vocabulary. A contract written in conversational Urdu reads as unserious to the person assessing it.
Names, and the transliteration trap
The single most common avoidable problem in this pair is a name that does not match the record.
An English name can be written several defensible ways in Urdu, and defensible is not the standard — matching is. If your CNIC, an earlier court filing, or a previous deed already carries an Urdu spelling of your name, that spelling is the correct one, whatever a translator might prefer.
So send a CNIC copy with the job. The same applies to father’s name, which appears as waldiyat on Pakistani records and is checked more often than people expect.
Price and turnaround
English to Urdu translation starts from Rs. 2,000, with legal documents from Rs. 3,000. Formatting-heavy documents such as multi-column tables take longer than plain prose of the same length, and that drives the figure more than word count does.
Standard delivery is at the normal rate, 24-hour delivery at 1.5x to 2x, and same-day at 2x subject to availability. Full rates are on the pricing page.
Related
Documents going the other way are covered by Urdu to English translation. If your document is heading to a foreign authority rather than a Pakistani one, you probably want certified translation instead. For business material that has to persuade rather than record, see translation versus localisation.
Send the document on WhatsApp with the language pair, your deadline, and who will be reading it. We will confirm the price before any work starts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does English to Urdu cost more than Urdu to English?
English to Urdu starts from Rs. 2,000 against Rs. 1,500 the other way. Producing correct formal Urdu takes longer than producing correct English, and the right-to-left layout has to be rebuilt rather than copied. Mixed-direction content, such as English names, Latin-script reference numbers, and tables inside Urdu text, needs manual handling to stop it scrambling.
Which script and register do you use?
Nastaliq, which is the standard script for Urdu in Pakistan, in the formal register used for legal and official documents. Naskh is used where a receiving system cannot render Nastaliq. Conversational Urdu is not appropriate for a document that a court or department will hold on file.
How are English names written in Urdu?
Transliterated to match any Urdu-language document you already hold, such as a CNIC or an earlier court record. Consistency with your existing record matters far more than a theoretically better spelling, so send a CNIC copy with the job. Where there is no precedent, we use standard transliteration and flag the choice for you to confirm.
Will the Urdu version match my original layout?
As closely as the direction change allows. Tables, numbered clauses, headers, and signature blocks are rebuilt in right-to-left order so the document reads naturally in Urdu while staying recognisable against the English source. Seals and stamps are described in position.
Do Pakistani courts accept translated documents?
Requirements are set by the court, not by us. Many courts require Urdu filings and some require a specific certification or an affidavit alongside. Ask the registrar or your counsel for the exact wording before ordering, and forward it to us so we can meet it rather than guess.
Can you translate an English contract so both parties can sign?
Yes, and it is one of the more common requests. Where a signatory reads Urdu rather than English, an Urdu version protects the agreement. Tell us whether you need a bilingual side-by-side layout or a standalone Urdu document, since they are laid out differently.
Need English to Urdu translation?
Send the document, the deadline, and the name of the office it is going to. We confirm the price and turnaround before any work starts.