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Interpreters for Green Card and Citizenship Interviews

At a green card interview you may bring an interpreter; at a citizenship interview, usually only if you are exempt from the English requirement. Either way USCIS does not supply one, and the officer decides whether yours may continue. Here is what the rules say, who should and should not interpret, and how to book one with us.

USCIS does not provide the interpreter: you bring one, if you may

For a green card interview, the USCIS Policy Manual recognizes that an applicant who is not fluent in English may need an interpreter, and sets out what that interpreter must do: show a valid government-issued ID, take an interpreter's oath and sign a privacy release, and interpret word for word without adding opinions or answers. For a citizenship interview, the manual says the applicant may bring an interpreter at their own expense, if eligible to use one. Either way the interpreter is yours to arrange; the officer may also conduct the interview in your language if the officer happens to speak it.

The interpreter's role is recorded on Form G-1256, Declaration for Interpreted USCIS Interview. Do not sign it in advance: you and the interpreter sign it in front of the officer. The form records that you are satisfied with the interpreter, that the interpreter may hear confidential information, and that the officer may refuse to let the interpreter take part.

Who books us: applicants and their families, and immigration attorneys who would rather not have a client depend on a relative. The exception is sign language: for naturalization, the Policy Manual lists sign language interpreters among the accommodations an applicant with a disability can ask USCIS to provide.

Citizenship: the interview is the English test

At a naturalization interview the officer tests your spoken English through the interview itself: the Policy Manual says the speaking test is your ability to understand and answer the questions normally asked about your application. Bringing an interpreter to that conversation would defeat the test, which is why most applicants may not use one.

The exemptions are where an interpreter comes in. USCIS lists them: if, when you filed, you were 50 or older with 20 years as a permanent resident (the "50/20" exception) or 55 or older with 15 years ("55/15"), you are exempt from the English requirement but still take the civics test, and may take it in your language with an interpreter you bring. If you were 65 or older with 20 years, you also receive special consideration on the civics test. A medical disability exception on Form N-648 can also allow the interview in your language with an interpreter (Policy Manual).

For an interpreter, that means the civics questions and answers, which are short and precise, plus the eligibility questions on the N-400: travel outside the country, arrests, taxes, membership in organizations, the good moral character questions. Every one of those is a yes-or-no question with legal weight, and the interpreter has to render "have you ever" exactly, not as "did you".

Who should interpret, and who should not

According to the G-1256 instructions, the interpreter must be fluent in English and your language, competent and impartial, at least 18, and not a witness in your case; the officer may allow someone aged 14 to 17, or a witness, only for good cause. An attorney cannot interpret for their own client in the same interview. For green card interviews the Policy Manual says that in general a disinterested party should interpret, though the officer has discretion to allow a friend or relative, and may disqualify an interpreter who compromises the interview or is not competent.

In a marriage-based interview that matters. The officer is asking both spouses about the same marriage, and the petitioning spouse is the obvious person to help, but is also the person whose answers are being compared. A disinterested interpreter keeps that question off the table. If the officer does turn your interpreter away, the instructions say you will be offered another acceptable interpreter, a rescheduled interview, or the choice to go ahead without one.

Preparing for the interview

• The interpreter needs a government-issued photo ID on the day, and arrives early enough to clear security with you.
• Bring Form G-1256 unsigned. Before the interview starts, the interpreter interprets its contents to you, and you both sign in front of the officer.
• Go through your own application in your language first. The officer will ask you to confirm what is on the I-485 or N-400; if you have not reviewed it in a language you understand, an interview is the wrong place to find an error.
• Word for word, in the first person. The interpreter does not answer for you, explain the question or tidy up your answer. If you do not understand, say so and the officer rephrases.
• Name the language and variety when you book, and any dialect you would struggle with.

Booking a field office interview

Because Form G-1256 is signed in front of the officer, the interpreter comes to the field office with you: in person, $110 an hour per interpreter with a two-hour minimum, billed from the scheduled start time. Waiting time at a field office is hard to predict, so three hours is the safer booking: $330, plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book. If both spouses need an interpreter in the same language, one interpreter covers the interview.

A one-hour video session beforehand to go through the application in your language is $80. Documents in another language are a separate service: certified written translation at $24.95 per page.

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 21, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 5, Interview Guidelines, Section C, Interpreters (current as of October 2, 2026)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 12, Part B, Chapter 3, Naturalization Examination: Interpreters (current as of October 2, 2026)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 12, Part E, Chapter 2, English and Civics Testing (current as of October 2, 2026)
• USCIS — Form G-1256, Declaration for Interpreted USCIS Interview (page updated February 14, 2020)
• USCIS — Instructions for Form G-1256 (edition 08/10/15)
• USCIS Policy Manual — Volume 12, Part E, Chapter 3, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions (current as of October 2, 2026)
• USCIS — Exceptions and Accommodations, naturalization (updated January 9, 2026)

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