Become a Certified Interpreter, Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI). Get Certified as an Interpreter
You want to become a Certified Interpreter? What do you need to do?
First, if you need to be certified as an interpreter in a foreign language for an employer, or for a specific job, you need to check their exact certification requirements.
Court Interpreters: You get certified directly from your state’s legal system. Accordingly, search for your state court system and for court interpreters, usually courses, exams and so forth are detailed. Other interpretation certifications are optional.
Medical Interpreters (CMI) usually need certification to work in public or private hospitals, medical facilities. Thus, certification requirements vary from place to place. Ask your employer what interpretation certifying organizations they accept, and go after those.
Join an Accredited Association
For Medical Interpreters needing certification from an accredited national organization, or for all other interpreters needing credentials to get in the door, I can personally recommend getting certified by the U.S.A. Translators Association (the U.S. A.T.A.). They are a growing Association of Translators by Translators. Initially they were known in the last century as the American Translators Society (ATS). Unlike many other translation organizations, they are not full of bureaucracy and exorbitant fees. The U.S. A.T.A. focus is on actual translation and interpretation. They even have a U.S. A.T.A. Division: the U.S A.T.A. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (USATA-NBCMI) devoted entirely to this area. This means membership affordability for real interpreters who actually interpret for a living.
You can join up for a year (365 /366 days, a full year, not just till the end of year!). You get listed in their nationwide directory as a linguist after joining.
Get Certified in a Language Pair
Display your fluency in your language pair(s) publicly. There are individual interpreter fluency certification packages and a specialized Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI) package that can then be purchased. Just $95 a pair for interpretation certification, $195 for specialized CMI certification, at time of writing (much less than other certifiers!). When you purchase a new certification, an oral exam (online) is scheduled. Alternatively, submit an example of your interpretation skills, with a medical context. A previous translation or interpretation is acceptable, can be an audio file. After reviewed and approved is a Pass. If you already hold certification from some other association, the U.S. A.T.A. allows for certification transfer to their database and directory. This is also less than new certification, $45 for interpreters or $95 for CMI transfers. What I really like is that it is just a 1-time process/fee. After you know a language, you don’t usually forget it! You just need to renew membership to keep the listing publicly available. There are no new testing or other fees required once your language pair proficiency is certified.
In summary, to get Certified as an Interpreter
First step: Join the U.S.A. Translators Association (the U.S. A.T.A.). Individual Linguist if you are a personal translator, and the association meets your employer’s requirements.
Second: Choose a language pair for interpretation or CMI specialized certification: new or transfer if already certified, from the Member Store you get access to after a member.
Third: Once your language proficiency is accepted/approved or transferred, you get your name in lights: the Membership Directory, with a Membership ID you can use to show employers or medical facilities your skills, that your clients can independently verify and be confident in. Certified Medical Interpreters also receive a virtual badge, that can also be printed out and used for identifying their hospital or medical facility role.
If any questions, their support team is available during all working hours.
Have a Great Day!
About the Author
I am CTO and Director at U.S.A. Translators Association, Inc, for over 25 years. I also lead a team of professional translators and proofreaders at Ultra Translate. We have translated many birth certificates, marriage certificates, driver licenses, diplomas over the years and we are very current with all government regulations for official certification and notarization. We handle all Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Japanese translations.