Nubian Interpreter

Prism Language Solutions supplies Nubian interpreters, in Nobiin or in Kenzi-Dongolawi, for USCIS asylum interviews, immigration court, attorney meetings and hospital and clinic appointments anywhere in the United States, mostly by video or phone and in person where a Nubian linguist is within reach. Nubian is a small family of languages from the Nile valley, so we establish which one the speaker uses, and whether Arabic would actually serve better, before booking anyone.

The Nubian languages are spoken along the Nile in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The two that reach us are Nobiin, used in southern Egypt and by the Mahas and Halfawi communities of northern Sudan, and a second language known as Kenzi on the Egyptian side and Dongolawi on the Sudanese side. A speaker of one does not follow the other, which means a request that says only Nubian cannot be filled until someone asks where the family is from.

• Certified translations prepared to meet USCIS requirements
• Human linguists only, matched to the subject
• Fixed written quote within 60 minutes in business hours
• One office in New York, linguists in every state

Nobiin or Kenzi-Dongolawi: Choosing a Nubian Interpreter

Ask where in the Nile valley the speaker’s family comes from. In Egypt, the area around Aswan and the villages resettled near Kom Ombo include speakers of both languages, so the village matters. In Sudan, the Wadi Halfa and Mahas areas point to Nobiin and the Dongola reach points to Dongolawi. Families moved to New Halfa in eastern Sudan in the 1960s carried Nobiin with them.

If the family is not sure, the name of the language they use at home, or the home village of a grandparent, is usually enough. We assign by the language, not by the country, and a short call between interpreter and client before a hearing confirms the match.

Nubian or Arabic Interpreter: Which One the Speaker Needs

Arabic is the official language in both Egypt and Sudan, and some Nubian speakers are fully at home in it. For those clients an Arabic interpreter can be seated in person more quickly and at lower cost, and we will recommend it rather than sell the scarcer booking.

For others, Arabic is a language for the office and the market, and the account of home, the village, the family and what happened, comes out fully only in Nubian. Ask the person which they would choose for a long, difficult conversation with an official. For an asylum interview or a hearing, go with that answer; routine calls can stay in Arabic.

Nubian Interpreter for Asylum Interviews

Nubian asylum narratives often carry geography that a non-Nubian interpreter can mangle. In the 1960s Lake Nasser rose behind the new dam at Aswan and covered the Nubian homeland: roughly 70,000 Egyptian Nubians were moved to new villages near Kom Ombo and some 50,000 Sudanese Nubians from Wadi Halfa to the New Halfa scheme at Khashm el Girba. An applicant may name a drowned village and a resettlement village in the same answer, and both are correct.

The interpreter’s job is to keep those names as spoken and render the answer in full, in the first person, without tidying the chronology. Asylum applicants have had to bring their own interpreter to affirmative interviews since 13 September 2023, and a relative who helped with the declaration should not be the one interpreting. See USCIS interview interpreting.

Nubian Court Interpreter

Neither Nobiin nor Dongolawi has a court interpreter certification exam in any state or in the federal courts, so the judge qualifies the interpreter on the record. Immigration court is where most of this work sits, and the interpreter usually joins by video. Counsel gets the interpreter’s background from us ahead of the hearing, so the qualification step does not cost the respondent a continuance.

Attorneys also book Nubian interpreters for the preparation that happens before court: reading back a declaration before the client signs it, and working through the questions the government is likely to ask. See court interpreting.

Nubian Medical Interpreter

Hospitals and clinics on federal funding are bound by 45 CFR 92.201 to offer an interpreter at no cost and avoid relying on an accompanying adult except in an emergency. For an older Nubian-speaking patient, the usual shortcut is an Arabic-speaking relative, who may soften or shorten what the doctor says without meaning to.

Video works well for most consultations and consent conversations. For a mental health assessment, end-of-life planning or a long discharge meeting, tell us early and we look for someone who can attend. See medical interpreting.

Nubian Interpreter by Video: Lead Time and Cost

In-person Nubian interpreters are scarce anywhere in the US, so video remote interpreting and phone interpreting carry most bookings, and they can often be confirmed within a day or two. Kenzi-Dongolawi, the smaller of the two languages, can take longer to staff than Nobiin.

An interpreter in the room is priced within the typical US market range of $45 to $95 an hour with a two-hour minimum, and remote time in shorter blocks; the pricing page has the guide figures. Quotes are built from the setting, the date, the length and the family’s home area, sent through the quote form or on +1 (833) 282 8883, and a fixed written quote follows within 60 minutes in business hours. Egyptian and Sudanese civil records in Arabic are handled on the Nubian translation services page.

Questions we get asked