Tobi Translation Services

Tobi, also called Tobian or Ramari Hatohobei, is the language of Hatohobei, the southernmost state of Palau, spoken on Tobi island and in Echang, a hamlet of Koror. It is among the smallest languages anyone asks us for. Prism Language Solutions translates the occasional Tobi letter or sworn statement into certified English and arranges Tobi interpreters by video, and this page is deliberately honest about how thin that supply is.

Last reviewed September 12, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Language Solutions

Most people who arrive on this page have been given the word Tobi by a court clerk, a caseworker or a hospital scheduler and have no idea what they are dealing with. Here is the short version. Palau is a Compact of Free Association country, so its citizens live and work in the United States without a visa. Palau registers births through the Clerk of Courts and issues certificates in English. And the overwhelming majority of Tobi speakers also use Palauan and English fluently.

Put those three together and the usual conclusion is that no Tobi translator and no Tobi interpreter is required. We would rather open with that than take a booking that was never necessary.

• 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

What 150 Speakers Means for a Tobi Interpreter Booking

The most cited count, from 2017, put Tobi at roughly 150 speakers, of whom about 22 grew up with it as a first language. Numbers at that scale change the nature of the conversation. There is no roster anywhere in the United States, no state has ever examined an interpreter in the language, and nobody can honestly promise you a Tobi speaker in a room on a given morning.

What can be arranged is a video or telephone session with whoever is genuinely available, confirmed before you commit to a date. For a short hearing, an attorney meeting or a clinic intake that works perfectly well. We also tell you, every time, whether the person assigned is a first-language Tobi speaker or a closely related Sonsorolese speaker, rather than letting that emerge in the middle of a hearing.

Palau Records in English and the Rare Tobi Document

A Hatohobei family's file is usually a Palau passport and an English birth certificate from the Clerk of Courts, and neither needs a word of translation. The requirement at 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) applies to documents in a foreign language, and English is not one. There is no advantage in producing a second English version of a paper an officer already holds.

What a Tobi translator actually receives is small in volume and occasionally decisive in a case: a handwritten letter from Hatohobei, a sworn statement from an elder about a birth, a marriage or an adoption that was never registered, a church or community note. Where a primary record does not exist, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(2) allows secondary evidence and affidavits from people with direct personal knowledge, which is exactly what an elder's statement is. We translate it in full, name Tobi as the language on the Certificate of Translation Accuracy, and describe the paper as what it is. See certified translation.

Sonsorolese and Palauan on a Tobi Interpreter Assignment

Tobi and Sonsorolese are very close, and in Echang the two are visibly blending, so the nearest available speaker for a Tobi matter may in fact be a Sonsorolese speaker. That is often a reasonable arrangement and we will say so openly, along with how far that person's speech sits from the speaker you are booking for. It is a decision for you and, in a contested matter, for the attorney and the court.

Palauan is the other honest option, and sometimes the better one. Most Tobi speakers use Palauan comfortably, so for a routine appointment a Palauan interpreter may serve the person better than waiting weeks for a Tobi one. The exceptions are the ones that matter: an elderly speaker whose first language is Tobi, or evidence about life on Hatohobei that only the first language captures with any precision.

Tobi Translation Cost and What We Will Not Promise

Prices follow the same structure as everything else on this site. A short certified page is quoted from around $24.95 as a US market guide, running text by the source word, and interpreting in the usual US band of roughly $45 to $95 an hour with a two-hour minimum, remote sessions at the lower end. Ranges are published on the pricing page and your written quote fixes the figure.

The one thing we refuse to do is confirm a Tobi assignment we are not confident of covering. A provider taking federal health funding still owes the patient an interpreter at no cost under 45 CFR 92.201, and a rare language does not dissolve that duty, but it does mean the realistic plan may involve Sonsorolese or Palauan instead. Telling you that at intake is more useful than a confirmation that collapses on the day. See video remote interpreting.

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