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Interpreters for Special Immigrant Juvenile Cases

A Special Immigrant Juvenile case runs through two systems: a state court that makes findings about a young person's care and safety, and USCIS, which decides the petition and the green card. The interpreter rules are different in each, and most of the interpreting happens in neither — it happens in the attorney's office, with the youth, the caregiver and family far away. Here is who provides what, and what attorneys book us for.

Who provides the interpreter in an SIJ case

The state court. SIJ classification needs a state juvenile court order on dependency or custody, on whether reunification with a parent is viable, and on the young person's best interests (USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 6, Part J, ch. 2). The regulation defines a juvenile court by what it does, a court with jurisdiction under state law over the dependency or custody and care of juveniles (8 CFR 204.11(a)), and the manual lists examples: juvenile, family, dependency, orphans, guardianship, probate and youthful offender courts. In those courts the interpreter generally comes from the court. California's courts say court interpreters are provided free of charge; San Francisco lists juvenile dependency, custody, and conservatorship and guardianship cases among those where it provides a court interpreter at no cost. New York's trial court rule covers a party or witness, or an interested parent or guardian of a minor party in Family Court, at no expense (22 NYCRR 217.1(a)). Washington says a party, or a parent, guardian or custodian of a juvenile, is not responsible for the interpreter's cost in any legal proceeding (RCW 2.43.081(2)). If you are the youth or the caregiver, ask the court; you should not be paying us for the hearing.

USCIS. USCIS interviews SIJ petitioners and SIJ-based green card applicants only when it deems an interview necessary (Vol. 6, Part J, ch. 4; Vol. 7, Part F, ch. 7). For adjustment interviews generally, the applicant who needs an interpreter brings one, a disinterested party in general, who shows ID, takes an oath and interprets word for word (Vol. 7, Part A, ch. 5); see interpreters for green card interviews.

Who books us: attorneys and children's legal programs, for meetings with the youth and the caregiver, declarations for the state court petition, calls with family in the home country, and a USCIS interview when one is scheduled; and caregivers who want an interpreter for meetings with the attorney.

Why the caregiver should not interpret for the youth

In most SIJ cases the adult who brings the young person to the lawyer is also the person asking to be named guardian or custodian, and the one who speaks better English. Using them to interpret is the obvious shortcut and a poor one. The youth's account is about a parent — what that parent did or failed to do — and the caregiver is often that parent's sibling, partner or own parent. A teenager will soften or leave out details in front of family, and an adult with a stake in the outcome may smooth them over without meaning to. Neither the attorney nor the court can tell afterwards.

USCIS draws the same line at its interviews. The youth may bring a trusted adult besides the attorney, as a familiar source of comfort, but the adult should not interfere or coach, and the officer may interview the youth without them (Policy Manual; 8 CFR 204.11(f)). For adjustment interviews USCIS prefers a disinterested interpreter, though an officer may allow a relative (Vol. 7, Part A, ch. 5). Keep the roles apart from the start: the caregiver supports, the interpreter interprets.

Interviewing a young person through an interpreter

Most of the story is told once, to the attorney, for the state court. USCIS officers generally avoid asking about the details of the abuse, neglect or abandonment, because those issues are handled by the juvenile court (Policy Manual). So the declaration and the testimony in the state case are where the facts are fixed, and they have to be heard in the youth's own words.

• Find the language first. Many young people from Guatemala speak Mam, K'iche' or Q'anjob'al at home and Spanish at school; some have spent years in US schools and are more at ease in English for some things and in their first language for others. Ask, and let them switch.
• Short sessions, with breaks. Two hours is a long time for a fifteen-year-old to talk about a parent. Book two sessions rather than one long one.
• The same interpreter each time, when possible, so the youth does not have to retell the hardest parts to a new adult. Tell us if the youth would be more comfortable with a woman or a man.
• Words, not labels. The findings use legal terms — abuse, neglect, abandonment, not viable. The interpreter renders what the youth says ("my father left when I was six and never sent anything"), and the attorney decides how it fits the law.
• Read the declaration back in the youth's language, from the final draft, before anyone signs.

The caregiver, the parents and family abroad

An SIJ case usually needs more than the youth's account: the caregiver's own declaration about the child's care, and often statements or documents from relatives in the home country about what happened there. Each is a separate interpreted meeting, often in different languages, and calls abroad have to be set in the other country's time.

One limit matters here. USCIS will take no action that requires the young person to contact the parent who allegedly abused, neglected or abandoned them, or that parent's family (8 CFR 204.11(e)). When an attorney does need to reach a parent or relative for the state case, the call is the attorney's, through an interpreter, with the youth not on the line. Timing matters too: SIJ classification is for people under 21 (California Courts), and California has a separate guardianship path for immigrant youth aged 18 to 20 (California Courts), so these meetings tend to be booked against a deadline.

Booking an SIJ case

Most of the work is remote and per hour: $80 for the first hour by phone or video, no travel. A two-hour declaration session with the youth is $160; a ninety-minute session with the caregiver, $120; a one-hour call with a grandmother in the home country, $80. Mam, K'iche', Q'anjob'al and other limited-availability languages add 25–30%: the two-hour session becomes $200 to $208. In person at the attorney's office is $110 an hour with a two-hour minimum, plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book.

If USCIS schedules an interview and the youth needs an interpreter, plan for in person: a three-hour booking at the field office is $330 plus travel. Send the languages of the youth, the caregiver and each family member, the time zones, and whether the youth prefers a woman or a man. Birth certificates and documents from the home country are written translation; see certified translation for USCIS.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Sources

What this page says about the rules was checked against these official sources on October 28, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 6, Part J, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements (current as of October 27, 2026)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 6, Part J, Chapter 4, Adjudication: interview (current as of October 27, 2026)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 7, Part F, Chapter 7, Special Immigrant Juveniles (current as of October 27, 2026)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 5, Interview Guidelines, C. Interpreters (current as of October 27, 2026)
• 8 CFR 204.11 — Special immigrant juvenile classification (eCFR, current)
• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Guide to Special Immigrant Juvenile Classification
• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Probate guardianships in California
• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Ask for an interpreter
• Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco — Interpreter Division
• New York Unified Court System — 22 NYCRR 217.1, Obligation to appoint interpreter in court proceedings in the trial courts (LII)
• Washington State Legislature — RCW 2.43.081, Cost of providing interpreter (as amended 2025)

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