Translation and Interpreting Services in Seattle

Prism Language Solutions books court, medical and USCIS interpreters across Seattle and King County from linguists who live in the area, and prepares certified translation for the Tukwila field office and the immigration court on Second Avenue. Our one office is in New York. Seattle’s language mix is unlike any other US metro: Chinese and Spanish lead, then Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic and Tigrinya, and the immigration court runs a steady Mam and Q’anjob’al docket.

Last reviewed September 11, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Language Solutions

Seattle is the rare large American city where the biggest home language after English is not Spanish. On the 2017-2021 American Community Survey five-year estimates, 31,758 Seattle residents aged five and over spoke Chinese at home and 28,788 spoke Spanish, out of 153,324 speaking a language other than English, 22.1 percent of the city. About 51,874 people, 7.5 percent, reported speaking English less than very well. After those two the list turns East African fast.

That shape matters when you are filling a booking. A vendor with deep Spanish coverage and a thin bench elsewhere covers perhaps two thirds of what Seattle asks for. The city’s own 2023 language list, built from seven data sources including immigration court filings and municipal court interpreter requests, ranks Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali, Tagalog, Korean, Amharic, Russian, Japanese, Tigrinya, Arabic, Oromo, Hindi, French and Ukrainian.

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Court Interpreters in King County

Washington puts felonies, larger civil suits and family matters in King County Superior Court, which sits at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue downtown, and at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent for the south county. Misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, traffic infractions and city ordinance cases go to Seattle Municipal Court; small claims go to King County District Court instead, which trips up out-of-state counsel.

Interpreter appointment in Washington courts runs on RCW 2.43, and the Administrative Office of the Courts credentials spoken-language interpreters through testing and continuing education; a 2025 change folded the old certified and registered labels into one credentialed status. Seattle Municipal Court’s interpreter requests show what the bench calls for: 2,874 requests over 2020 to 2022, of which Spanish was 1,100, Vietnamese 318, Amharic 256, Mandarin 242 and Somali 205. Depositions and client conferences sit outside all of that. See court interpreting.

Immigration Court Interpreters in Seattle

The Seattle Immigration Court sits at 915 Second Avenue, Suite 613, and its pending caseload is the clearest picture of language need in the region. Of 25,996 cases pending in 2023, Spanish accounted for 17,772, Russian 2,004, Punjabi 685, Portuguese 582, Ukrainian 400, Mam 365 and Q’anjob’al 171. Two Mayan languages of Guatemala outrank most European ones here, and neither has a credentialed interpreter list in Washington.

The court provides the hearing interpreter. Everything before it is counsel’s problem: the intake, the declaration, the country conditions exhibits, the preparation session. A Mam interpreter normally joins that session by video; a Punjabi interpreter or Russian interpreter can attend in person at a Seattle or Kent law office. Filed exhibits need full certified translations, not summaries. See translation for immigration attorneys.

Certified Translation for the Seattle USCIS Field Office

Interviews for a green card or citizenship are held at the USCIS field office at 12500 Tukwila International Boulevard, not in Seattle proper. Affirmative asylum is decided elsewhere again: Washington falls under the San Francisco Asylum Office at 75 Hawthorne Street, covering Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Both apply 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), which requires an English translation of every foreign-language document, certified as complete and accurate.

The documents behind Seattle filings follow the immigration pattern: Chinese household registers, Vietnamese civil status records, Ethiopian and Eritrean certificates issued long after the event, Ukrainian and Russian diplomas, Punjabi records. Ethiopian documents give the most trouble, because dates in the Ethiopian calendar have to be converted and shown in a translator’s note rather than silently changed. See USCIS translation and birth certificate translation.

Medical Interpreters for Harborview and Seattle Hospitals

Harborview Medical Center, 540 beds on First Hill, is owned by King County and run by UW Medicine, and it is the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center in the state, taking cases from Alaska, Idaho and Montana too. Its interpreter services department gives free medical interpreting in person, by phone and by video in more than 80 languages and dialects, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic, Mandarin, Tigrinya, Cantonese, Oromo and Russian among them.

Which is exactly why the overflow work is interesting. What reaches us from Seattle clinics and the county public health system is the appointment the in-house schedule cannot absorb: a long behavioral health intake, a school-based clinic visit, a home health assessment in Kent, a language the department covers by phone but not in the room. 45 CFR 92.201 sets the standard. See medical interpreting.

Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese Translation in Seattle

Chinese translation is the largest of the three, and Seattle’s own guidance is worth following: Traditional characters for written material, and both a Mandarin interpreter and a Cantonese interpreter on hand for spoken work, because the Chinatown International District and the newer Bellevue and Redmond communities do not speak the same variety. Spanish translation and a Spanish interpreter cover most court and clinic work in south King County. Vietnamese translation is the third pillar: Vietnam sends 8.8 percent of Washington’s international students, and Vietnamese was the second most requested language at Seattle Municipal Court. A Vietnamese interpreter for a Rainier Valley appointment is a weekly booking. Russian, Ukrainian, Korean, Tagalog and Punjabi fill out the list.

Somali, Amharic and Tigrinya Interpreters in Seattle

Seattle Public Schools recorded Somali as the second most common first language of its students in 2022-23, at 1,136, ahead of Vietnamese, with Amharic at 563, Oromo at 431 and Tigrinya at 415. The census groups these as Amharic, Somali or other Afro-Asiatic languages, about 12,360 speakers, which hides how distinct the assignments are. Somali translation, Amharic translation and Tigrinya translation are separate benches.

The mistake that costs a hearing is treating Amharic and Tigrinya as interchangeable. They share a script and almost nothing else, and an Eritrean witness given an Amharic interpreter may answer politely and inaccurately for an hour. We ask for country of origin and community before assigning, not just the language name. A Somali interpreter or Amharic interpreter is usually on site in Seattle or Tukwila at a day’s notice; rarer pairings go by video.

Dari and Pashto Translation for Seattle Resettlement Agencies

Public Health Seattle and King County’s refugee screening clinic shows who arrived most recently: in 2023 its patient visits needing language help were 55.9 percent Dari and 24.3 percent Pashto, with Ukrainian, Arabic and Farsi behind. Washington took more than 3,200 Afghan arrivals from October 2021, and 16,739 Ukrainians received state services between January 2022 and February 2023. The International Rescue Committee, Jewish Family Service and World Relief handle resettlement across the metro.

That work is interpreter-heavy and document-light at first, then reverses: benefits appointments and medical screenings in Dari and Pashto, then adjustment filings a year later needing every tazkira translated. A Dari interpreter books through the same desk as an on-site interpreting job for a deposition (guide rates).

Ready to start? Send the document or the booking details through the quote form, call +1 (833) 282 8883, or email info@prismlinguistics.com. You get a fixed written price within 60 minutes during business hours.

Questions we get asked

Where is the asylum interview for a Seattle case held?

Washington falls under the San Francisco Asylum Office at 75 Hawthorne Street. Green card and naturalization interviews are local, at the USCIS field office at 12500 Tukwila International Boulevard in Tukwila.

Can you supply a Mam or Q'anjob'al interpreter in Seattle?

Yes. Both come up constantly at the Seattle Immigration Court, and neither is on Washington's credentialed interpreter list, so we match on village and dialect and confirm it by a short call.

Do Seattle hospitals not already have interpreters?

Harborview has one of the largest hospital interpreter departments in the country, covering more than 80 languages. Outside bookings are for what the in-house schedule cannot absorb: long behavioral health intakes, home visits and clinics away from the main campus.

Is there a Prism branch in the Seattle area?

No. New York is the only office. Interpreters for in-person work here live in Seattle and King County, and certified translations are ordered through the quote form and returned by email.