Pursuant to California Government Code 27293

Process to obtain a translation certification document

To obtain the translation certification document, the customer must present the following to the County Clerk:

  1. Original document in the foreign language
  2. Document translated into English by a certified/registered court interpreter that is registered at one of the following websites:
    - California Courts-Court Interpreter Program (CIP)
    - American Translators Association
  3. Original Declaration and Certification (Declaration of Translator) of the certified/registered court interpreter that must include the following:
  • Their name and declaration that they are a certified/registered court interpreter
  • The language that they are certified/registered to interpret and translate from and to
  • Their certification/registration number(s)
  • Specific description of the document translated
  • Declaration and Certification that they have translated the attached document from whatever language it was in to the English language, and that the translation is true and accurate
  • Be executed under Penalty of Perjury and include date and location where the Declaration and Certification was executed and signed by the certified/registered court interpreter
  • Original signature of certified/registered court interpreter
  • The Declaration and Certification must be notarized by a notary public.
What is a court interpreter?

A court interpreter is anyone who interprets in a civil or criminal court proceeding (e.g., arraignment, motion, pretrial conference, preliminary hearing, deposition, trial) for a witness or defendant who speaks or understands little to no English.

Court interpreters must accurately interpret for individuals with a high level or education or an expansive vocabulary, as well as persons with very limited language skills without changing the language register of the speaker.

Interpreters are also sometimes responsible for translating written documents, often of a legal nature, from English into the target language and from the target language into English.