Any experiences with using a phone interpreter for interview during COVID?

[rasaco 39]

Hi guys!

I am thrilled that my husband's ROC interview has been scheduled! (We were K-1, and they didn't interview us for AOS). His English is pretty good, but we want to take no chances, especially since we're figuring they will probably split us up for the interview to question us separately, so I won't be able to explain questions to him. So, we're planning to hire an interpreter.

I guess this is a new thing because of COVID, but the interview invitation letter now says that if you're not fluent in English, you should arrange a phone interpreter (I guess it used to say you should bring an interpreter in person). So, my question is, can anybody share their experience with using a phone interpreter for their interview? Did you use a bilingual friend or did you hire a professional? Did you have to have the interpreter sitting on hold with you while you were in the waiting room the whole time (which could rack up quite a bill for a professional--I saw one company that charges $4 per minute!), or did they give you a moment to call your interpreter once the interview was about to begin? If you did hire a professional, any recommendation on which company to go with? Any details of the experience that you could share would be great. I like to know exactly what to expect!

[wagner17 24]

We hired a professional interpreter for our ROC interview last month (we are also K1 with no AOS interview)

 

I'm not sure how things will work in your USCIS office but at my USCIS office I found out the interview letter was full of lies:

 

1) There were at least 3 other people that physically brought their professional interpreters with them to the interview despite the letter stating that due to COVID interpreters would not be allowed in the building.

 

2) Then to top it off, we were told that USCIS their own phone interpreters.  When I protested that I had already paid for an interpreter and pointed out the wording on the letter, I was told "I don't know your interpreter".  In the end we used my interpreter because when the interviewer called for a USCIS phone interpreter there wasn't one available in my wife's language.

 

$4/minute sounds expensive.  I pre-paid for 2 hours with the option to pay for extra time as needed in case the interview ran over.

 

We talked to our interpreter prior to our interview and let her know that:

•  The interpreter needed to be ready to answer the phone during that 2 hour period since USCIS would probably not start the interview on time.  We ended up waiting an hour.  We texted the interpreter updates while we were in the waiting room ("We are still waiting", "They just called us up.").
• The USCIS interviewer would be calling
• We would only call if we were interviewed separately
• To only translate the questions and my wife would try to answer in English unless she asked for help translating

We brought a printout with the interpreter's phone # to give to the interviewer.  In retrospect, I should have printed out the interpreter's resume because that might have helped with #2.  Or maybe just gambled and brought the interpreter with us and told her to wait in her car if she was not allowed in the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rasaco 39]

21 hours ago, wagner17 said:

We hired a professional interpreter for our ROC interview last month (we are also K1 with no AOS interview)

 

I'm not sure how things will work in your USCIS office but at my USCIS office I found out the interview letter was full of lies:

 

1) There were at least 3 other people that physically brought their professional interpreters with them to the interview despite the letter stating that due to COVID interpreters would not be allowed in the building.

 

2) Then to top it off, we were told that USCIS their own phone interpreters.  When I protested that I had already paid for an interpreter and pointed out the wording on the letter, I was told "I don't know your interpreter".  In the end we used my interpreter because when the interviewer called for a USCIS phone interpreter there wasn't one available in my wife's language.

 

$4/minute sounds expensive.  I pre-paid for 2 hours with the option to pay for extra time as needed in case the interview ran over.

 

We talked to our interpreter prior to our interview and let her know that:

•  The interpreter needed to be ready to answer the phone during that 2 hour period since USCIS would probably not start the interview on time.  We ended up waiting an hour.  We texted the interpreter updates while we were in the waiting room ("We are still waiting", "They just called us up.").
• The USCIS interviewer would be calling
• We would only call if we were interviewed separately
• To only translate the questions and my wife would try to answer in English unless she asked for help translating

We brought a printout with the interpreter's phone # to give to the interviewer.  In retrospect, I should have printed out the interpreter's resume because that might have helped with #2.  Or maybe just gambled and brought the interpreter with us and told her to wait in her car if she was not allowed in the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for all this helpful information. I really appreciate the details. And congrats on your interview! So, you hired an individual professional, not from a company? Any tips on how to find a good interpreter? I was thinking of going with a company like Language Line Solutions or something like that (but that's the one that looked like it was $4 per minute, haha).

 

And that's a good tip to bring the interpreter's resume so they know they're legit. Thanks!

[wagner17 24]

My interpreter worked for a company but I found the interpreter's resume through a Google search for interpreters with immigration experience.  I don't think it's necessary for the interpreter to have immigration experience it was more of a way for me to narrow down the choices.

 

I don't think it was necessary to have a professional interpreter either.  But if you have a friend interpret then they are going to hear some of your personal information that you might not normally share.

 

Actually my first attempt was to get my wife to contact the local community services center for immigrants from her country to get a referral but they were closed due to COVID and didn't call her back so I had to do a Google search.  In retrospect I probably should have told my wife to check the local newspapers in her language that you can pickup at Asian markets or checked one of the local "Yellow Pages" websites in her language.

 

I'm not sure if it's better to use a freelance interpreter, a company that specializes in providing language services only for your language or a more general language services company.  I suspect it doesn't really matter in the end.

 

However it was nice that I was able to see the resume of our interpreter and speak with them prior to our interview.  Our interpreter was court certified and had DOJ and DHS clearance, which was not necessary but a nice to have.

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by wagner17

[rasaco 39]

Just wanted to close the loop on my experience, in case anybody else is wondering the same question I was and stumbles across this thread.

 

We ended up hiring a local interpreter who I found online. Interview was in Kansas City, and this is the Mandarin interpreter we went with: https://www.tingbridge.com/en/about/

She does a lot of immigration interviews, so she was very familiar with the process and very professional. She let us know that lately USCIS had been allowing her to go in with clients to interpret, even though the letter says you're supposed to have a phone interpreter only. So we made a plan for her to try to come in with us, and that if they wouldn't let her in, she would sit in her car and interpret over the phone.

 

They let her in with us with no hesitation, and she interpreted for my husband during the interview. We probably would have been fine without an interpreter, as our interviewer seemed to be a very understanding person, but it gave me peace of mind knowing that there wouldn't be a communication problem. It was definitely worth the $180 we spent to have that peace of mind, and my husband's interview went well! Green card is now in hand. 🙂

 

 

[Juaco 5]

My wife and I are scheduled for an interview. This is for a marriage based I-485. My wife does not speak English. The letter for the interview states that will can have an interpreter by phone. The letter does not have specifis about the interpreter. Does anyone know what are the requirements for the interpreter such as can it be a family member? I tried calling theUSCIS office but no luck (recording IVR).