Washington State Certified and Registered Court Interpreters

In Washington State, court interpreters of many languages may become certified or registered by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Certification is offered only in Arabic, Cambodian, Cantonese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese. Candidates to certification must undergo a written exam with sections on English, vocabulary, ethics, and translation from English to the foreign language. Those who pass the written exam then take an oral exam to demonstrate proficiency in consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation, and sight translation.

Registration is offered in many other languages, from Afrikaans to Visayan. Candidates to this credential must take a written exam with the same sections as above, except that there is no translation portion. Their oral exam consists of a telephone conversation in which their degree of fluency in the foreign language is assessed.

Registered status is not available for languages in which certification is available, nor vice versa. The key difference between the two credentials is that the certification test is more rigorous and more focused on interpretation. All interpreters, whether certified, registered, or otherwise, are held to the standards expressed in the Code of Conduct for Court Interpreters.

For a complete list of languages and more detailed information about these credentials, click here.