Becoming a Court Interpreter

A court interpreter is someone who interprets in a civil or criminal court proceeding (e.g., arraignment, motion, hearing, deposition, trial) for a witness or defendant who speaks or understands little or no English. Court interpreters must accurately interpret for individuals with a high level of education and an extensive vocabulary, as well as persons with very limited language skills without changing the language register of the speaker. Interpreters are also sometimes responsible for translating written documents, often of a legal nature, from English into the target language and from the target language into English.

For language interpreters, certification and registration indicate that the interpreter has demonstrated competency to interpret in a court setting. Certification is the highest level of formal accreditation. Certified interpreters must pass both written and oral examinations related to the language with focus on interpreting in a court setting. Because oral court interpreting examinations are not available in many languages, the Washington Court Interpreter Program offers the credential of Registration to interpreters of other languages. Registered interpreters must pass a written examination and complete an Oral Proficiency Interview relating to the language with a rating of superior.

Certified Languages: Arabic (Egyptian), Cantonese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Registered Languages: Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Bengali, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Bulgarian, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, French, German, Haitian Creole, Farsi, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Malay, Modern Greek, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Samoan, Slovak, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Yoruba

• FAQs for the Certified Interpreter Program
• FAQs for the Registered Interpreter Program
• Qualifications and Self-Assessment
• Certified Process and Fees Flow Chart
• Registered Process and Fees Flow Chart
• Exam Dates
• Certification - More Information
• Registration - More information