Home / Interpreters
Interpreters for the Meeting You Actually Have
Parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, doctor visits, USCIS interviews, depositions, closings and job interviews ask different things of an interpreter, and in some of them the venue has to provide the interpreter itself. Pick the setting for what it demands, who is responsible for the interpreter, and how to book one if it is you.
Video, phone or in person
Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or a phone call, or an interpreter at the venue.
From $80 an hour
Virtual $80 an hour with a one-hour minimum; in person $110 with a two-hour minimum.
Price confirmed first
The interpreter, the exact price and any travel are confirmed before you book. Asking costs nothing.
Schools and education
- Parent-teacher conferences — for parents who do not speak English, and the schools that have to reach them.
- IEP and 504 meetings — special education meetings, where the district arranges the interpreter for the parent.
- School discipline hearings — suspension and expulsion hearings, and the meetings with parents that come before them.
- Enrollment and family events — registration days, orientations, open houses and family nights, for schools and districts.
Health care
- Medical appointments — doctor visits and clinic appointments, and who has to provide the interpreter.
- Therapy and mental health — therapy, counseling and psychiatric evaluations, where tone matters as much as words.
- Hospital family meetings — goals-of-care, discharge and end-of-life meetings, and who must supply the interpreter.
- Clinical trials and informed consent — consent and study visits with participants who do not read English.
- Independent medical exams (IMEs) — workers' comp, personal injury and disability exams, and who pays the interpreter.
Immigration and legal
- Asylum interviews — the applicant must bring the interpreter to an affirmative interview; who qualifies.
- Green card and citizenship interviews — when you may bring an interpreter, Form G-1256, and the English test exemptions.
- Immigration attorney meetings — consultations, declarations and hearing preparation: the work the court interpreter never sees.
- Court hearings — when the court provides the interpreter, and when a party or lawyer books one.
- Depositions — witnesses testifying under oath through an interpreter, on the record.
- Mediation and arbitration — long days, private caucuses and a settlement signed in English.
- Family law and divorce — mediation, custody and attorney meetings; for hearings, ask the court first.
- Estate planning and will signings — wills, trusts and powers of attorney explained and read back before signing.
- Workers' compensation hearings — hearings, depositions and mediations for injured workers; rules differ by state.
Business, work and family
- Business meetings and negotiations — negotiations, supplier and client visits, and calls with partners abroad.
- Conferences, trainings and events — simultaneous or consecutive, interpreter teams, and the equipment the venue must supply.
- Job interviews and HR meetings — interviews, onboarding, investigations and disciplinary meetings with employees who need language help.
- Workplace safety training — OSHA-required training, orientations and toolbox talks for workers with limited English.
- Focus groups and user research — focus groups, usability sessions and research interviews with participants in other languages.
- Real estate closings — buyers and sellers signing a mortgage, a deed and the Closing Disclosure.
- Insurance claim statements — recorded statements, adjuster interviews and examinations under oath for claims.
- Weddings and civil marriages — the marriage license appointment, the ceremony, and families who do not share a language.
By video, by phone or in person
Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.
In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.
Languages
The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.
Each language has its own page on what to watch for — dialects, names, dates, who the speakers usually are: see interpreters by language.
What it costs
Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.
- Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
- In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
- Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
- Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.
How booking an interpreter works
- You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
- We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
- You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.
Request an interpreter
Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.
Thank you — we have your request
We will reply the same business day with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one, before you commit to anything.
Frequently asked questions
Which setting should I pick if mine is not listed?
Any of them: the request form has an "Other" option, and the price does not depend on the setting. What changes with the setting is which interpreter we send and whether the venue should be providing one itself.
When should I not hire an interpreter?
When the venue has to provide one itself: public schools for parents, most hospitals and clinics, immigration court, and many courts for the parties. Each setting page says who is responsible and links the rule.
Is the price per person or per interpreter?
Per interpreter, per hour, billed from the scheduled start time. One interpreter covers a meeting; a full-day hearing may need two working in relay.
How is travel charged?
$0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location — a 20-mile round trip is $14. We confirm the exact figure before you book, and virtual assignments carry none.
Need an interpreter?
Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will confirm the interpreter and the exact price.