An employment contract fits in three pages. A freelance services contract, with its annexes, statements of work and two renewals, can run past forty. And the difference between translating what is needed and translating everything is several hundred euros.
This guide does not explain the self-employed route to the visa: for that, see employed or freelance. Here we only deal with how to prepare the contract.
Identify the version that proves the relationship
First, locate the document that genuinely proves an active professional relationship. Three checks:
That it is signed. A draft, a proposal or a "final" version without signatures proves nothing. If you signed electronically, the document carrying the signature evidence is the one that counts, not the clean PDF without it.
That it identifies the parties. Your name as it appears in your passport, and the client's or company's full legal name, with its address and its tax or registration identifier.
That it states its subject matter. Which services you provide. A contract whose subject is a generic reference to "the agreed services" forces you to supply the annex where they are described.
If any of those three fails, the problem is not fixed by translating: it is fixed by asking the other party for the complete document.
Annexes, renewals and statements of work
Services contracts tend to live across several documents, and that is where things get disorganised. What matters is that the chain is legible:
| Type of document | What it adds | Usually needed |
|---|---|---|
| Main contract | Parties, subject matter, duration, general terms | Always |
| Fee annex | Price, payment method, frequency | Almost always: it is what evidences income |
| Scope annex (statement of work) | Concrete description of what you do | If the main contract refers to it |
| Renewal or extension | That the relationship is still live today | If the original contract would already have expired |
| One-off work order | A specific assignment | Rarely, unless it is your only evidence |
The rule that settles most cases: if the main contract refers to a document, that document is part of the contract. Submitting the main contract saying "as per Annex B" without supplying Annex B leaves a hole the assessor will spot immediately.
Make an inventory before asking for a quote
This inventory sheet is the fifteen minutes of work that saves two weeks of back and forth. An example with fictional data:
| File | Date | Signed? | Belongs to | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| services-contract-2024.pdf | 12/02/2024 | Yes, both parties | Main contract | 11 |
| annex-a-fees.pdf | 12/02/2024 | Yes | Fee annex to the main contract | 2 |
| annex-b-scope.pdf | 12/02/2024 | Yes | Scope annex to the main contract | 4 |
| extension-2026.pdf | 05/01/2026 | Yes | Extension of the main contract | 1 |
With that table in front of you, you know three things at once: that you have 18 pages and not "a contract", that the documentary chain is complete, and what you are going to ask the authority. Without it, any quote you are given is an estimate and will change.
Consistency with the rest of the file
The contract is not read on its own. It is read against your invoices, your bank statements and whatever other work documentation exists. Check that these match:
- The client or company name, identical in contract and invoices.
- The dates: that the period of validity covers the moment you submit.
- Amounts and currency. If the contract sets a monthly fee and your invoices are per project, that needs an explanation, not silence.
- Your identification, matching your passport.
Discrepancies are not fatal, but unexplained ones cause trouble. Better to attach a clarifying note than to wait for someone to find it.
Scope of the translation: confirm it before cutting
Here is the financial decision. Some authorities accept translation of the essential documents; others want the complete file. The difference can be thirty pages.
What does not pay off is trimming on your own initiative to save money. A sworn translation reflects the document handed to it: submit six pages of an eleven-page contract and the resulting document will record that there were six. That is not a defect of the translation, it is its purpose, and whoever receives it will see it.
So the order is: ask the authority which scope it accepts, with your inventory in hand so you can name the documents; then order that translation. For contracts, the service reference is sworn translation of commercial contracts, and the file as a whole is covered in digital nomad visa documentation.
Send us the complete files with the list of annexes, the body it is going to and your deadline, and we will give you the exact price and turnaround.