Exams for Language Access Providers in the California Court - California Certified Court Interpreter
2025 Spring Spanish & Farsi Language Limited Bilingual Interpreting Examination (BIE) – Registration Now Open!
Registration for the 2025 Spring Spanish and Farsi Language Limited Bilingual Interpreting Examination (BIE) is now live! The BIE will be administered from March 12 through April 3, 2025, on numerous days at various test locations in northern and southern California. For registration details, including registration deadlines, instructions, and test center locations, please click here.
New and Returning Candidates
There are 12 spoken certified languages in California.
Arabic Armenian (Eastern) Cantonese Farsi (Persian) | Filipino (Tagalog) Korean Mandarin Portuguese | Punjabi (India) Russian Spanish Vietnamese |
If your language of choice is not listed above as a certified language, click here to be redirected to information about becoming a registered interpreter.
*Examinations for the Western Armenian and Japanese languages are unavailable indefinitely.
**Registration for the Khmer Language is not available in 2024.
Steps for Becoming a Certified Court Interpreter in California
To become a California certified court interpreter, candidates must first pass the Written Examination before taking the Bilingual Interpreting Examination (BIE).
The Candidate Information Bulletin provides information on testing requirements, testing windows, what to expect on test day, the rescheduling/cancellation policy and much more.
The 9 steps to becoming a certified court interpreter are downloadable here.
Review Checklist
Interpreting Candidates must meet the requirements in the order as outlined:
Written Examination
Pass the Written Examination with a minimum score of 80%. The examination tests three primary content areas—English language, court-related terms and usage, and ethics/professional conduct.
Bilingual Interpreting Examination (BIE)
Take the BIE in one testing administration and pass the examination with a minimum score of 70% on each testing component in this section.
- Sight Translation (English language to Foreign language).
- Sight Translation (Foreign language to English language).
- Simultaneous Interpreting; and
- Consecutive interpreting.
Interpreter Orientation: Working in the California Courts
Take the interpreter orientation course and provide to the Court Interpreters Program of the Judicial Council of California a copy of the course completion certificate.
Credential Application
Submit the enrollment application to the Court Interpreters Program to become a certified court or registered interpreter (including certificate of completion from the on-line orientation and the enrollment fee).
Judicial Council Code of Ethics Training
Complete the required ethics training within the first two years of enrolling as a new interpreter with the Court Interpreters Program.
Reciprocity
Effective January 1, 2011, the Court Interpreters Program offers test reciprocity to court interpreters who passed Consortium-developed oral interpreting examinations (the California equivalent to the BIE) administered in member states. Please note that the Court Interpreters Program will only recognize oral interpreting examination standards and scores that meet or exceed the requirements in California. For additional information about reciprocity, click here.
For reciprocity questions, please contact the Court Interpreters Program at CourtInterpreters@jud.ca.gov.