Home / Interpreters / Albuquerque, NM
Interpreters in Albuquerque, NM
Yes: we book interpreters for Albuquerque by video at $80 an hour (one-hour minimum) or in person at $110 an hour (two-hour minimum), plus $0.70 per mile of travel, confirmed before you pay. The Second Judicial District Court and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court provide interpreters at no cost to parties and witnesses, but their language access plans leave witness interviews and attorney-client communication to the attorneys, and the Metropolitan Court's plan also names depositions and mediations. EOIR lists no immigration court in Albuquerque; its New Mexico court is in Chaparral.
In person in Albuquerque
$110 an hour per interpreter, two-hour minimum, plus $0.70 a mile from the interpreter's location.
By video or phone
$80 an hour, one-hour minimum, no travel. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or a phone call.
Quote within minutes
We reply within minutes, four business hours at most, with the interpreter, the exact price and any travel, before you book. Asking costs nothing.
Albuquerque's state courts interpret for parties and witnesses at no cost; depositions and witness interviews are the lawyers' job
The Second Judicial District Court's Language Access Plan (July 2025) says interpreters are provided at no cost to non-English-speaking principal parties and witnesses in criminal cases, in domestic violence, domestic relations and children's cases, and in civil cases, and to every non-English-speaking juror. In the same section it makes the private attorney, Public Defender or District Attorney responsible for qualified interpretation and translation for pre-trial witness interviews and for attorney-client communications during proceedings. The court schedules spoken and signed language interpreters for courtroom hearings under Supreme Court rules and Administrative Office of the Courts policies (court page).
The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court's plan goes further: interpreters at no cost to parties and witnesses in any case, criminal or civil, and an explicit list of what litigants and their attorneys provide themselves, namely interpreting for witness interviews, pre-trial transcriptions, depositions and mediations (except those in the Metropolitan Court's own Mediation Division), and attorney-client communications during proceedings. New Mexico's Language Access Services office coordinates and funds court interpreting for the state courts (NM Courts). A three-hour deposition in person is $330, or $351 with a 30-mile round trip at $0.70 a mile; by video it is $240. We confirm whether a language can be staffed in person in Albuquerque or only by video before you pay. See interpreters for depositions and for mediation and arbitration.
Albuquerque has no immigration court of its own; EOIR's New Mexico court is in Chaparral
EOIR's court list shows one immigration court in New Mexico, the Otero Immigration Court at 26 McGregor Range Road, Door #1, in Chaparral, open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its administrative control list assigns the Otero County Processing Center, the Cibola County Correctional Center and the Torrance County Detention Facility, all in New Mexico, to the court. Check the hearing notice for the court that has your case.
The court provides the interpreter for its hearings. Attorneys in Albuquerque book us for the work before them: settling which language the respondent and each witness actually speak before the interpreter request is filed, preparing witnesses to testify through the court's interpreter, and reading declarations back. A session with the respondent or a witness can run by video at $80 an hour with no travel. See interpreters for immigration court hearings.
One in five Albuquerque residents speaks Spanish at home; the state courts also hear Navajo, Vietnamese, Arabic and Swahili
The Census counts 533,720 Albuquerque residents aged five and over. Of them, 395,726 speak only English at home and 106,016 speak Spanish. The next rows are the catch-alls "Other and unspecified languages" (9,477) and "Other Indo-European languages" (4,679), then Vietnamese (3,523, margin of error 633), Tagalog (2,440) and Chinese (2,426) (ACS C16001). The table has no row for Navajo.
The courts' own plans fill in the rest. The Second Judicial District Court's plan reports that the languages most often encountered in New Mexico's courts in fiscal year 2023-24 were Spanish, American Sign Language, Navajo, Arabic and Vietnamese, with interpretation provided in 67 languages in fiscal year 2024. The Metropolitan Court's plan reports that interpreters were requested 2,657 times in fiscal year 2022 and used 2,385 times for Spanish, then 65 times for Vietnamese, 42 for Arabic and 38 for Swahili. Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic are at our standard rate; Swahili is a limited-availability language, 25–30% over the base.
UNM Hospital's own newsroom described a 2023 emergency case in which a father and son spoke Tzotzil, a Mayan language, and staff reached an interpreter by phone through the Mexican consulate in Albuquerque (UNM Health Sciences). Tzotzil is a rare language for us, 75% over the base, $140 an hour by video; give as much notice as you can.
Languages spoken at home in Albuquerque
The most common languages other than English, from the U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey 2024 5-year (2020–2024), table C16001, Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, Albuquerque city, New Mexico. A language that links has its own page on what to get right when booking an interpreter for it.
| Language | People who speak it at home |
|---|---|
| Spanish | 106,016 |
| Other and unspecified languages | 9,477 |
| Other Indo-European languages | 4,679 |
| Vietnamese | 3,523 |
| Tagalog (incl. Filipino) | 2,440 |
| Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese) | 2,426 |
| German or other West Germanic languages | 2,349 |
| Arabic | 2,131 |
| Other Asian and Pacific Island languages | 2,009 |
| French, Haitian, or Cajun | 1,140 |
Where interpreters are needed in Albuquerque, and who provides them
Some of these places must provide the interpreter themselves, and then you should not be paying for one. Where that is so, the official page is linked.
| Place | Who provides the interpreter |
|---|---|
| Otero Immigration Court (EOIR), 26 McGregor Range Road, Door #1, Chaparral. EOIR lists no immigration court in Albuquerque | The court provides the interpreter for the hearing, at government expense. EOIR's control list assigns the Otero County Processing Center, the Cibola County Correctional Center and the Torrance County Detention Facility, all in New Mexico, to it. Attorneys book us to prepare the respondent and witnesses. |
| USCIS interviews for Albuquerque-area applicants | USCIS uses Form G-1256 to record the presence of an interpreter that you have provided for an interview. Check the office address on the appointment notice. |
| Second Judicial District Court (Bernalillo County), 400 Lomas Blvd NW | Interpreters at no cost to parties and witnesses in criminal, domestic violence, domestic relations, children's and civil cases, and to non-English-speaking jurors. The private attorney, Public Defender or District Attorney provides interpreting for pre-trial witness interviews and attorney-client communications. |
| Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, 401 Lomas Blvd NW | Interpreters at no cost to parties and witnesses in any case, criminal or civil. Litigants or their attorneys provide interpreting for witness interviews, pre-trial transcriptions, depositions and mediations (except those in the court's own Mediation Division) and for attorney-client communications during proceedings. |
| University of New Mexico Hospital | Free interpreter services 24 hours a day, in person, by phone and by video, with outside vendors for more than 200 languages, according to the UNM Health Sciences newsroom (March 2023). Patients there should not be paying for one. |
Interpreters in cities near Albuquerque
What an interpreter costs, worked out
These are the published rates multiplied out: $80 an hour by video or phone, $110 an hour in person, $0.70 a mile of travel.
| Booking | How it is worked out | Total |
|---|---|---|
| One-hour video or phone call | 1 hour × $80 | $80 |
| Two-hour video interview | 2 hours × $80 | $160 |
| Two-hour meeting in person, 20-mile round trip | 2 hours × $110 + 20 miles × $0.70 | $234 |
| Three-hour deposition or closing in person, 40-mile round trip | 3 hours × $110 + 40 miles × $0.70 | $358 |
| Full day in person (six hours), two interpreters in relay | 2 interpreters × 6 hours × $110 | $1,320 plus travel |
The quote confirms the interpreter, the exact travel figure and the total before you book; nothing is charged until you confirm.
How the travel charge works out
Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.
We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.
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.
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 within minutes, four business hours at most, and no payment is taken at this stage.
- You confirm and pay, and the interpreter is booked for your date. The interpreter's name and credentials are sent to you once the booking is paid.
What to have ready
The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:
- The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
- Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
- The setting and the subject matter.
- How many people need interpreting for.
- Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter. We confirm before you book whether we can staff it; the interpreter's name and credentials follow once the booking is paid.
Interpreters by language in Albuquerque
- Spanish interpreters in Albuquerque
- Vietnamese interpreters in Albuquerque
- Tagalog interpreters in Albuquerque
- Mandarin interpreters in Albuquerque
- Cantonese interpreters in Albuquerque
- German interpreters in Albuquerque
- Arabic interpreters in Albuquerque
- French interpreters in Albuquerque
- Haitian Creole interpreters in Albuquerque
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 within minutes, four business hours at most, with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one, before you commit to anything.
Sources
What this page says about Albuquerque was checked against these sources on November 3, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.
- U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2024 5-year, table C16001, Albuquerque city, New Mexico
- Executive Office for Immigration Review — Immigration Court Listing (New Mexico)
- Executive Office for Immigration Review — Otero Immigration Court
- Executive Office for Immigration Review — Immigration Court Administrative Control List (updated October 1, 2026)
- USCIS — Form G-1256, Declaration for Interpreted USCIS Interview
- Second Judicial District Court, New Mexico — Language Access Plan and ADA Plan (July 2025)
- Second Judicial District Court, New Mexico — Language Access Services
- Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court — Language Access Plan and ADA Plan (fiscal year 2022 data)
- New Mexico Courts — Language Access Services, About
- UNM Health Sciences Newsroom — How UNM Hospital is Breaking Barriers to Reach Non-English-Speaking Patients (March 31, 2023)
Frequently asked questions
Is there an immigration court in Albuquerque?
EOIR's court list shows one immigration court in New Mexico, the Otero Immigration Court at 26 McGregor Range Road, Door #1, in Chaparral (EOIR). Check your hearing notice for the court that has your case.
Do the Albuquerque courts provide an interpreter?
Yes, in the courtroom. The Second Judicial District Court and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court say interpreters are provided at no cost to parties and witnesses, but both plans make the attorneys responsible for witness interviews and attorney-client communications, and the Metropolitan Court's plan also names depositions and mediations (Second Judicial District, Metropolitan Court).
Does UNM Hospital charge for an interpreter?
UNM Hospital says it provides free interpreter services 24 hours a day, in person, by phone and by video (UNM Health Sciences, March 2023).
What does an interpreter cost for Albuquerque?
$110 an hour in person with a two-hour minimum, plus $0.70 a mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book. A three-hour deposition with a 30-mile round trip is $351. Video is $80 an hour with a one-hour minimum and no travel.
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.
What if the venue provides its own interpreter?
Then you should not be paying us. Immigration court provides one, and hospitals and school districts frequently must. Ask them first.
Can I see the interpreter's credentials before I pay?
Tell us the credential the venue or the other side requires when you request, and we confirm before you book whether we can staff it. The interpreter's name and credentials are sent once the booking is paid.
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 in Albuquerque?
Tell us the date, the language, the venue and how long it runs, and we will confirm the interpreter and the exact price, travel included.