Palauan (a tekoi er a Belau) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by approximately 17,000 people in the Republic of Palau and among diaspora communities in the United States, particularly in Hawaii and Guam. It is one of two official languages of Palau alongside English, and appears on official civil registry documents, government communications, and customary title records. Palauan is notable for its complex system of verb agreement marking subject and object, and its use of noun classification that distinguishes between animate and inanimate referents.
Official documents from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Koror typically record personal data in both Palauan and English. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates are issued in both languages, reflecting the bilingual legal environment. Older documents issued during the US Trust Territory period (before Palau's independence in 1994) may follow different administrative formats, and our translators are trained to identify these historical document types accurately.
The Palauan language includes culturally significant vocabulary relating to the bai (traditional meeting house), clan lineages, and the matrilineal clan (kebliil) system that appears in many land and family documents. Accurate translation of these concepts requires cultural as well as linguistic expertise. DoVisa's certified translators combine professional linguistic qualifications with the contextual knowledge needed for legally precise and culturally sensitive Palauan document translation.






