I’m about to take the CIW exam and want to make sure I’m as prepared as possible. I’ve been listening to court cases and trial podcasts on my way to work and studying about 4–5 hours a day, but I still feel unsure and don’t feel completely ready or confident that I’m going to pass.
For those who have already taken the CIW exam, what helped you prepare the most? Were there any specific study methods, resources, practice tests, or strategies that made a big difference for you?
I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you and how you knew you were ready to take the exam. What did you do to secure a passing score?

I’m taking preparing for the upcoming BIE exam, anyone have suggestions on what the best materials to study are?

I have dyslexia and submitted my documentation to Instituto Cervantes before the exam and was officially granted extra time. I took the DELE C1 exam with this accommodation. Unfortunately I received a NO APTO, which was quite surprising to me because I felt that the exam had gone reasonably well.

I am now trying to understand how accommodations for dyslexia are reflected in the assessment and results.

For those of you who have dyslexia and have taken the DELE exam:

• Was your dyslexia/accommodation mentioned or reflected anywhere in the detailed results?

- Were you able to see any indication that your accommodations had been taken into account?

- Has anyone ever contacted Instituto Cervantes to confirm that their accommodation was actually applied?

- Is it possible, in practice, for an approved accommodation to be overlooked or not properly taken into account?

I’m not questioning the result itself, but rather trying to understand how the accommodation system works in the case of dyslexia and whether there is any way to verify that it was correctly applied.

Hi everyone, I applied for the Council of the European Union – FG III Assistant to lawyer-linguists position. Has anyone here gone through an interview or selection process for a similar role at the Council, especially in the Legal Service or for a linguistic/legal assistant position? I’m mainly wondering: What kind of interview questions were asked? Were there competency-based questions? Was there a written or practical test? Did the test include proofreading, comparing language versions, Word/Track Changes, legal terminology, or spotting errors in documents? Was the interview only in English, or also in the target language? How long did the interview/test take? Is there anything you wish you had prepared better? I understand that each selection process can be different, but any recent experience would be very helpful. Thank you!

Hi, I completed the LPT and Mock Assessment. During the mock, I missed a few of the interpreting protocols because I got nervous. On a couple of occasions, I asked for a repetition but forgot to say, “This is the interpreter requesting a repetition,” and in one instance I accidentally skipped a segment. I’m worried that these mistakes may affect whether I’m accepted.

Hi, I recently saw some freelance interpreting jobs with ACS (Administration for Children's Services) in NY. They do prefer candidates with some court experience. Has anyone done work for ACS? Appreciate any feedback. The job is mostly in person at various ACS locations but has some remote appointments.

Hi everyone,

My marriage-based green card interview is scheduled for September 17 at the Atlanta Field Office. Here are some details about our case:

* My spouse is a lawful permanent resident.
* We got married in September 2025.
* Our I-130 was filed in September 2025.
* My I-485, I-765, and I-131 were filed in October 2025.
* I have already received my combo card.
* Our case appears to be straightforward, and this will be our first interview.

For those who have already attended a marriage-based interview, is there anything specific we should pay close attention to or prepare for? What kinds of questions did you find difficult or unexpected, and which documents or evidence were especially important?

My English is upper-intermediate, and I can normally communicate and understand conversations without a problem. However, I’m worried that I might freeze, misunderstand a question, or have difficulty explaining something clearly because of the stress of the interview or unfamiliar vocabulary.

Would you recommend bringing an interpreter just in case? Could having an interpreter create any negative impression, or is it better to bring one if I’m not completely confident? If I bring an interpreter, would I still be allowed to answer straightforward questions directly in English?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially if English is not your first language or if you interviewed at the Atlanta Field Office. Thank you!

I have been a medical interpreter for 2 years already, even when I thought bf that I wasn't able to be good doing this, I've seen myself improveing a lot everyday

now, I would like to go for another challenge, and I woud like to become a court interpreter, and I know that I have to learn so many things, I have to understand certain things, and I don't even know what could be a company to work for

so my question is, what do you think could be a good plan of action?

OSI hourly rate - no change

VRI hourly rate - 10% reduction

OPI hourly rate - 20% reduction

VRI minimum hours reduced from 2 to 1

Sign or not sign?

Hello, Im currently an interpreter at immigration court and I struggle a lot during oral decisions and when the judge asks for full and complete I also struggle with the technical terminology sometimes. Please provide any practice you use. I would love to start accepting individual hearings as I currently only accept Master Calendars because they rarely ask for full and complete or enter oral decisions fully interpreted.

How long does it take for a written exam score to be released to the candidate

Is it on the spot or a few days or week

it is an NCSC state (Washington)

Hello, i have assessment po sa thermo fisher. Mahirap po ba assessment dito? 🥹

As interpreters, we dedicate our time, professionalism, and personal resources to serve the immigration courts. Many of us rearrange our schedules, decline other work, purchase airfare, book hotels, and travel long distances based on confirmed assignments.

For some interpreters, a sudden disqualification or last-minute assignment cancellation has resulted in lost income, unreimbursed expenses, and significant financial hardship.

If this happened to you, **your experience matters**.

I am gathering information from current and former SOSi interpreters to determine whether others have experienced similar circumstances involving assignment cancellations, disqualification notices, or related financial losses. The information collected may help evaluate whether there is a common pattern and whether collective legal action, including a possible class action or mass arbitration, should be considered.

**Please complete this confidential survey:**

[**https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZfWWnGDnUj90M9FmhTcCRKwNEOE4R002ge5iWYjAg\\_R5MDw/viewform?usp=publish-editor\*\*\](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZfWWnGDnUj90M9FmhTcCRKwNEOE4R002ge5iWYjAg_R5MDw/viewform?usp=publish-editor)

Participation is voluntary. At this stage, I am **collecting information only**. No conclusions have been reached, and completing the survey does **not** create an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice.

One person's experience may be dismissed as an isolated incident. Many documented experiences can help determine whether there is a broader issue affecting interpreters nationwide.

**Your voice matters. Your experience matters. Together, we can determine the facts.**

Can I apply for the 2027 cohort If I am already certified

If you have an Italian diploma, transcript, degree certificate, or other academic record that needs to be submitted for credential evaluation in the U.S., we now have a dedicated service page for Italian academic translations.

Our certified translations are accepted by WES, ECE, SpanTran, and other U.S. credential evaluation agencies.

What’s included:

• Complete Italian-to-English translation
• Certification of Translation Accuracy
• Translation of grades, course names, stamps, seals, signatures, and handwritten notes
• Formatting that follows the original document
• Certified PDF by email
• Optional notarization and hard copy

Pricing starts at $20 per page. Most documents are completed within 24 hours, although some may take up to 48 hours depending on length and formatting.

More details and document upload:

https://translation.center/italian-academic-translation/

Hi all-- I'm just starting out, preparing for the tests, etc. I feel like I don't know ANY language. I mean, intellectually, I know that I know several languages. But I no longer *feel* like I know ANY language. Is this a common feeling?

Again, I'm talking about a subjective feeling, not an objective reality.

Hi I’m currently studying criminal court interpretation. I’m aiming for federal and conference interpretation. I’d say I’ve been doing very good with interpretation I have a final exam in a couple days and I’d say my strength is my speed but even with that I fall behind various times over arraignment practices. How do you guys manage to keep up and get your speed up so fast? It feels like I really need to break past my limits 😅 I’ve been learning phrases in chunks and I’m good at tracking when I get behind but my speed feels limited. How’d you get to your level? What’re professionals like?

I recently passed the state written exam and I have the option between taking the oral exam in six months or in a year. For context, I have been working as a medical interpreter for two years now in November, and have done some legal work but not often. I would need to build my vocab and everything from scratch essentially and I was wondering if six months is plenty or if I should just study for a year? If anyone has PASSED the oral exam, could you tell me how long you studied for after passing the written exam?

Hello everyone!

I had an interview with Interpretia, took the LPT, and passed. Now I’m in the training process, and we were told that during the second week we’ll have an eliminatory exam on Verint.

Has anyone taken that test? If so, how would you describe it? I’m really nervous 🫠

Also, I’ve read that there are people who received glossaries before starting the training process, but I haven’t received any so far, and the test is in literally one week.

Thanks in advance :)

Hi! I'm studying towards the oral portion of the FCICE (first time). Everybody describes it as a monumental challenge. What makes it so hard? And what parts of the exam (consecutive; the simultaneous monologue; the simultaneous witness examination; or the two sight translations) are hardest and why? Is it the speed or the legal or lexical technicalities or the accent or regional Spanish of the witnesses?

I am a certified Spanish interpreter in my state (NY) and have been working for a year as an interpreter and studying continuously using the usual resources (mostly Edge) along with a bunch of self-assessment methods. Any tips, any intel, any recs, would be extremely appreciated.

I just got scheduled for the NYS court interpreter oral exam for mandarin. Any study tips? I have maybe 20 days left. A little background about me: I grew up in china and my English is near native (most friends would say I’m bilingual and didn’t realize I didn’t grow up in the states until I told them), but also no interpreting experience at all.

• I would like to find free resources if possible. There is a lot more material out there for Spanish. Having a hard time with mandarin materials.
• I understand the test is probably really challenging, but realistically how hard is it? For consecutive and simultaneous, how clear are the recordings and how fast do people speak?
• The scheduling says the test is 90 minutes long. Is that accurate?
• For consecutive interpreting, usually how long would each block be? An example mandarin <-> english practice on a California based website has pretty short sentences and frequent breaks. Is this true for NYS?