Court and Deposition Interpreters — Pashto, Dari and 22 More Afghan Languages

Not in the formal sense. The federal courts offer a certification exam only in Spanish, and the National Center for State Courts does not offer its oral certification exam in Pashto or Dari. Courts therefore classify interpreters in these languages as professionally qualified, language-skilled, registered or qualified, depending on the forum. What protects your record is documented qualification and an oath. Because no exam exists, Ariana Nexus trains and assesses Afghan-language legal interpreters itself, and every interpreter we assign arrives with a written qualification record.

Send us the date and time zone, the location or video platform, the expected length, the witness’s language and where they were raised, and the case caption. We run a conflict check, screen the dialect, assign the interpreter or team, and send the qualification record before the deposition. The court reporter swears the interpreter at the start of the record.

For proceedings over two hours, yes. Accuracy declines after about 30 minutes of continuous interpreting, so federal courts, NAJIT and state guidance such as Virginia’s and Pennsylvania’s use teams of two for longer proceedings. Our teams rotate every 30 minutes, and the support interpreter monitors the rendering and checks names and numbers. Shorter proceedings are staffed with one interpreter and scheduled breaks.

A check interpreter monitors the other side’s interpreter and raises disputed renderings so they can be resolved on the record. We provide check interpreters in Pashto, Dari and the other Afghan languages, and our interpreters work professionally alongside an opposing party’s check interpreter.

Yes. We interpret on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex and by telephone, using a separate interpretation channel where the platform supports it, and we test audio with the court reporter beforehand. For witnesses abroad we plan around time zones: Afghanistan Time is UTC+4:30, eight and a half hours ahead of Washington, D.C., during daylight saving time.

It puts the record at risk. Dari and Iranian Persian share a grammar but differ in legal, administrative and everyday vocabulary, and many Afghans call their own language Farsi. We assign interpreters who speak Afghan Dari natively, including the Hazaragi variety when the witness uses it, and who can follow a witness raised in Iran.

Ask where the witness grew up. Southern Pashto around Kandahar and northern Pashto around Peshawar differ in sounds and vocabulary, and eastern and southeastern varieties differ again. Our screening call confirms the variety, any second language, and whether the witness grew up in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran before we assign the interpreter.

Yes. Since September 13, 2023, affirmative asylum applicants who do not proceed in English must bring their own interpreter. USCIS requires that person to be at least 18 and fluent in English and the applicant’s language, and not the applicant’s attorney, a witness, a representative of the applicant’s government, or someone whose own asylum application is awaiting interview. We assign interpreters who meet those rules and prepare with counsel on the declaration beforehand.

Immigration courts assign their own interpreters for hearings. We work with counsel before and around the hearing: client interviews, declaration preparation, witness preparation and translation of evidence, so the record the court hears is consistent with what your client has already said.

Not for the record. Federal Rule of Evidence 604 requires an interpreter who is qualified and under oath, and courts are drawing the line explicitly: Ohio bars its courts from using AI to interpret in any substantive proceeding. We use technology for scheduling, glossaries and secure platforms, and we review machine transcripts counsel has received, but a sworn human interpreter renders every word.

Executive Order 14224, signed March 1, 2025, revoked Executive Order 13166, and federal agencies have since withdrawn their language-access guidance. It did not change statutes or court rules: the Court Interpreters Act still governs federal courts, Rule 604 still applies to interpreted testimony, and state interpreter laws remain in force. This is general information, not legal advice.

We interpret dates exactly as spoken and state which calendar the witness used, Solar Hijri, Lunar Hijri or Gregorian, so counsel can clarify on the record. Before the session we confirm names, name order, spellings and place names, and share one glossary between the interpreters.

Every interpreter signs a confidentiality and conflict declaration for the matter and follows any protective order. Interpreters on U.S. matters are located in the United States, we do not record sessions unless counsel instructs us to, and we never route documents or inquiries through the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.

By session rather than by the minute: typically half-day or full-day blocks, with the team size, preparation and any travel stated in the quote. We confirm cancellation terms in writing before the assignment.