How to Translate a Chinese ID Card by Yourself
The eight fields of a Chinese ID card in English as a fill-in template, and when a UK recipient needs a certified translation instead.
Yes, you can translate a Chinese ID card yourself, and the table below gives all eight fields in English as a fill-in template. For a letting agent or a bank that is usually all anyone asks for. For UK Visas and Immigration or HM Passport Office it is a different matter: their guidance asks for a translation from a named, contactable translator, so a self-translation will not do there. In those cases what you need is a certified translation of the 居民身份证, which I produce as an ITI-certified translator — £30 for the card, normally within 24 hours.
The eight fields of a Chinese ID card in English
A 居民身份证 carries eight printed fields across its two faces. Use this as a layout template — replace everything in [square brackets] with what is printed on your own card. Translate both faces: the issuing authority and the validity dates are on the reverse.
| Chinese label | English label | How to write it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 姓名 | Name | [SURNAME Given-name, exactly as in your passport] | Using textbook pinyin when the passport spells or orders the name differently |
| 性别 | Sex | [Male / Female] | Writing “Gender” when the card’s field is sex |
| 民族 | Ethnicity | [the established English name of the group, e.g. Han] | Inventing a literal translation instead of the recognised name |
| 出生 | Date of Birth | [DD Month YYYY — month written as a word] | Keeping 1987.12.17, which a UK reader can read back to front |
| 住址 | Address | [number, road, district, city, province — in the card’s order] | Reordering it so it no longer matches the household register line by line |
| 公民身份号码 | Citizen ID Number | [all 18 characters, copied digit by digit — keep a final X] | Dropping or “correcting” the trailing X, which is part of the number |
| 签发机关 | Issuing Authority | [the public security bureau or sub-station, named in full] | Shortening it to “Police” |
| 有效期限 | Period of Validity | [YYYY.MM.DD – YYYY.MM.DD], or [start date] – Long-term (no fixed expiry) | Leaving 长期 blank, so the card looks as if it has no expiry field |
Check the translation against the card field by field before you use it. The ID number is the one that most often goes wrong, and a single transposed digit is enough for a document to be queried.
Is a self-translation accepted? What the UK rules say
What “certified” means. gov.uk sets it out in one sentence: you “ask the translator to confirm in writing on the translation” that it is “a true and accurate translation of the original document”, “the date of the translation” and “their full name and contact details”.
The Home Office’s own wording. Its guide to supporting documents says: “If you submit a document that is not in English or Welsh, it must be accompanied by a full translation that can be independently verified by the Home Office.” Each translation must contain “confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document”, “the date of translation”, “the translator’s full name and signature” and “the translator’s contact details”. A translation of your own card, confirmed by you, leaves nobody independent to verify.
Inside the UK, one item more. Appendix FM-SE, behind family applications, adds for leave to remain and settlement: “certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials”.
In practice that splits into two groups:
- A careful self-translation is usually enough (my experience, not a published rule): a letting agent, a bank opening an account, an employer’s informal right-to-rent or onboarding check.
- A certified translation is what the guidance describes: UK Visas and Immigration, HM Passport Office, and civil courts. For a university or a professional regulator, read their own instructions — they set their own format.
When you need it certified: what my version adds
Britain keeps no state register of sworn translators — the Institute of Translation and Interpreting’s wording is that “there is no such thing as a sworn translator” — so the credential the rules point at is accreditation by a professional body. Qualified ITI members “can affix ITI Certification Seals to certify a translation”, which the Institute says “renders the translation ‘official'”, and my membership sits on a public register a caseworker can check without contacting you.
A certified version follows the same eight fields as the table above, and adds what a self-translation cannot:
- Your name fixed against your passport, so the card, the household register and the application all agree.
- Translator’s notes where a UK reader would stall — 长期 explained, the issuing sub-station identified, the red seal described in place.
- A certification page in the gov.uk wording, dated and signed, with my full name, ITI membership and contact details, delivered as a signed PDF.
One honest limit: certification vouches for the English, not for the card. It does not prove the document is genuine, and some offices will still want to see the original alongside it.
What to do next
- Work out who is receiving it. UKVI, HM Passport Office or a civil court → certified. A letting agent or a bank → the template above is usually enough. A university or regulator → check their instructions.
- If you need it certified, photograph both faces in colour, flat and in daylight, with the whole card in frame — the 18-digit number is the field that most often arrives too blurred to read safely.
- Send your passport name page too, so the romanisation is fixed against it.
- Expect £30 for the card (it is a single page), normally back within 24 hours as a signed PDF. Here is who I am and how I certify.
- If someone asks for notarisation or an apostille, check with them first: those speak to the authenticity of the Chinese card, not to the accuracy of the English.
The card rarely travels alone. For a spouse visa it usually sits next to the household register (户口本), whose address should agree with it, and the marriage certificate (结婚证).
Frequently asked questions
Can I translate my own ID card for a UK visa?
The Home Office wording asks for a translation it can verify independently, with the translator’s name, signature and contact details. A translation you confirm yourself leaves no independent party to check — that is why it stalls, not the quality of your English.
Do I need both sides translated?
Yes. The issuing authority and the validity dates are printed on the reverse, so a front-only translation is missing two of the eight fields and reads as incomplete.
Do I need to submit my Chinese ID card with a UK visa application at all?
Not always. In my experience many applicants rely on the passport as identity evidence and use the household register for family details. Check the document checklist for your own visa route: if the ID card is not on it, you may not need it translated at all.