Administration of the Oral Proficiency Examination – Now Open

Registered Status Languages

Candidates in languages other than those designated as “certified” can seek registered status. Interpreters of spoken languages, for which there is no state-certifying exam, are only required to pass the Written Exam and Oral Proficiency Exam (OPE) in English and the target language if available and fulfill the corresponding Judicial Council requirements to become a registered court interpreter.

Note: Passing the OPE in a language designated as certified does not qualify the candidate for certified status. There is no “certified” status for registered languages.

Oral Proficiency Examination (OPE)

The OPE is administered by a certified American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) interviewer over a secure telephone connection. Your exam is recorded by the ACTFL interviewer so that it can later be rated. There is no order for taking the registered status examinations. Only interpreting candidates of registered languages who pass all required exams and apply to the Judicial Council for registered status are referred to as “registered court interpreters.”

*NOTE: Candidates pursuing registered status in one of the languages for which an Oral Proficiency Exam (OPE) is not available still must take and pass the Written Exam and the English OPE.

Exams are subject to availability. The current list of supported languages is as follows:

Exams for Registered Status Languages*

* List of exams for registered status languages is subject to change based on exam availability.
** Exam administration for this language is subject to rater availability.

Steps

1. Review the Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB)

For information about the Written Exam, Oral Proficiency Examination or Bilingual Interpreting Examination, including court interpreter credentialing requirements, fees, testing windows, what to expect on test day, rescheduling/cancellation policy and much more, please review the Candidate Information Bulletin.

2. Special Accommodations for Americans with Disabilities

If requesting testing accommodations, such as those protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please complete an accommodation request form or contact Prometric at 866-241-3118 for assistance. Accommodation requests may include supporting medical documentation of the accommodation from a medical professional.

Prometric requires advance notice of at least 30 days—from the scheduled appointment—for all special testing arrangements.

3. Register and Schedule Your Oral Proficiency Exam(s)

Identification

To register and schedule your Oral Proficiency Examination, contact Prometric candidate care at 1-800-967-1139, option 2, option 2, option 3 between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. (PST), Monday through Friday. Recording your legal name during the registration/scheduling process, as displayed on your government-issued identification form, is essential.

Your identification form must meet these requirements:

• A valid, non-expired form of identification.
• Be government-issued (e.g., driver’s license, passport, state-issued identification card, or military identification card); and
• Contain a current photo and your signature.

Location

The Oral Proficiency Exam is administered at select Prometric test centers in California. Before calling Prometric to schedule your exam, you are encouraged to select at least two preferred testing locations. For a complete list of the test center locations in California equipped to administer the OPE, click here.

Important: Not all Prometric test centers administer both the Written Exam and Oral Proficiency Examinations on the same site.

Need to change your examination appointment?

Please review the cancellation and rescheduling policies in the Candidate Information Bulletin.

4. Prepare for Your Oral Proficiency Exam

The Oral Proficiency Exam measures the ability of an individual to communicate in the language being tested; therefore, no preparation is required. However, candidates are encouraged to practice conversing 20 to 30 minutes to anticipate how a conversation that long feels. In planning for test day, you can view our What to expect on Test Day, Video 1: The Oral Proficiency Exam.

5. Take Your Oral Proficiency Exam

Before your scheduled exam appointment, confirm the test center address, hours of operation, and directions.

On the day of your exam, plan to arrive at the test center 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment.

The Oral Proficiency Exam is 20–30 minutes, a conversation over the telephone between you and an American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) trained and certified interviewer. The exam has four components:

• Warm-up
• Level checks
• Probes
• Wind down

During the exam administration, the interviewer will discuss topics of interest and then probe your level of speaking ability.

6. Examination Results

Examination results will be available within 30 days of the exam administration date electronically by e-mail and US mail, by request. 

After the Oral Proficiency Examination (OPE)

If at any time your address changes, please ensure you reach out to Prometric to update your profile. If at any time your language of intent changes, please ensure you reach out to Prometric to update your profile.