Prism Linguistics provides certified Catalan to English translation of civil registry certificates, academic records and legal documents from Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and Andorra, and Catalan interpreters where a case needs one, in Berkeley and across the United States.
Catalan Interpreters in Berkeley
Our Catalan interpreters in Berkeley are professional, experienced linguists who work in courtrooms, law offices, hospitals and USCIS interviews, and who handle Catalan-language exhibits as readily as a Spanish interpreter handles Spanish ones.
Catalan interpreting in the US is uncommon, because almost every Catalan speaker also speaks Spanish, and courts and hospitals book a Spanish interpreter without asking. Sometimes that is the wrong call. A witness whose home language is Catalan testifies more precisely in it; an elderly relative from a Catalan-speaking village may follow Spanish imperfectly; and a deposition or arbitration involving a Catalan company may need the interpreter to handle Catalan-language exhibits on the fly. We ask which language the person actually thinks in before we book.
No state runs a court certification exam in Catalan, so courts use a registered or otherwise qualified Catalan interpreter, and a Spanish court certification does not cover it. Catalan is a Romance language distinct from Spanish; a Spanish interpreter will understand much of it and mistranslate the rest. Speakers from the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands use their own varieties, close enough for any interpreter fluent in the language, though we match the variety where the client asks. Hospitals that take federal funding must supply an interpreter at no cost, in Catalan if that is the language the patient is fluent in. At USCIS the Catalan interpreter is neutral and renders the answer as given.
For an in-person assignment in Berkeley we assign a Catalan interpreter based in or near the city. Telephone and video interpreting can usually be arranged the same day. We serve courts, attorneys, hospitals, USCIS applicants and private individuals; we are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor, and we say so up front.
Catalan Court, Medical and USCIS Interpreters in Berkeley
Prism Linguistics supplies experienced Catalan interpreters in Berkeley for depositions, arbitrations, court hearings, USCIS interviews and medical appointments, in person, by phone or by video, and asks first whether the person thinks in Catalan or in Spanish.
Berkeley sits in Alameda County, and cases from the city are heard in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, which holds jurisdiction over the entire county under Article VI of the state constitution. California has no separate municipal courts, so limited matters such as traffic citations, small claims and probate are handled by the same Superior Court at its Berkeley Courthouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, while much of the county's felony and civil calendar runs in Oakland at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse.
Berkeley Unified School District runs a Newcomer Program at King Middle School, Spanish two-way immersion at Longfellow and Sylvia Mendez, and offers translation of its family web pages, and Berkeley High School operates a Multilingual Program for newcomer students. Nearby in the same county, Oakland Unified meets the state translation threshold for Spanish, Mam and Arabic; Mam, a Mayan language of Guatemala, is exactly the sort of rare language courts approach Prism for when other providers cannot supply it. UC Berkeley adds steady academic and research demand. Prism's only office is in New York, but a linguist near Berkeley is assigned for in-person work.
Local Catalan Interpreting Services in Berkeley
Catalan interpreting services in Berkeley and the surrounding cities draw on the same network of Catalan interpreters, so a court, law firm or hospital in any city below books one through the same call.
Our only office is in New York. For in-person work in Berkeley we assign a Catalan interpreter who is based in or near the city, and the same Catalan linguists cover the surrounding area:
Catalan to English Translation Services in Berkeley
Certified Catalan to English translation at Prism is done by a qualified Catalan translator, not a Spanish one, so the Catalan column, the marginal notes and the handwritten entries on a bilingual record are all rendered, and the translation is signed with a Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
Catalan documents are usually bilingual, and that is the trap. A birth, marriage or death certificate from a Registre Civil in Catalonia, the Valencian Community or the Balearics comes through the Spanish Ministry of Justice system and typically carries Catalan and Spanish (Castilian) side by side, or a Catalan form with Spanish stamps and handwritten entries in either language. A translator working only from the Spanish column misses Catalan marginal notes and annotations, and a Valencian record may label the language valencià. Andorra is different: its Registre Civil issues in Catalan only, with no Spanish version, and an Andorran certificate needs a Catalan translator, not a Spanish one.
The rest of the file follows the same pattern: degrees and transcripts from Catalan universities, Generalitat certificates, notarial deeds, court judgments, company documents and employment records. Place names and personal names switch language between documents (Girona and Gerona, Joan and Juan); we keep whichever the document uses, match the passport for the person's own name and note the variant. Every Catalan translation goes out with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy for USCIS, a court or a university admissions office.
Every certified Catalan translation is a complete, word-for-word rendering with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy, prepared to meet USCIS requirements. It is done from a clear scan, so a client in Berkeley gets the same translator, the same price and the same turnaround as one anywhere else in the country. See certified Catalan translation for the document service in full.
How to Book a Catalan Interpreter in Berkeley
- Send the document or the appointment details. A phone photo is fine for a quote; a clean scan is needed for the certified copy. For interpreting, tell us the date, the setting and where the speaker is from.
- Get a fixed price within 60 minutes during business hours, and a named Catalan linguist for interpreting work.
- Receive the translation by email as a signed PDF, with a paper copy by mail on request, or confirm the interpreter and the time.
Get a free Catalan interpreting quote or call +1 (833) 282 8883
About the Catalan Language
Catalan is a Romance language spoken in Catalonia (Spain), Andorra (where it's the sole official language), the Balearic Islands, Valencia, and parts of southern France and Sardinia. Roughly 10 million people speak it. Catalan is NOT a dialect of Spanish, it's a distinct Romance language with its own grammar, vocabulary, and legal-document conventions, and documents from Catalonia's regional government are routinely issued in Catalan rather than Spanish. Our Catalan translation work is a small but steady mix of regional civil documents, academic records from Catalan-language universities, and business contracts from Barcelona's substantial tech and design sectors.
Catalan Interpreting in Berkeley: FAQs
My birth certificate from Catalonia is in Catalan and Spanish. Which do you translate?
Both. We translate the full bilingual certificate, including any Catalan annotations in the margins and the handwritten entries in either language, so nothing on the original is left out. The translation is certified for USCIS with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
Can a Spanish translator handle an Andorran document?
Not safely. Andorran civil registry documents are issued in Catalan only, and Catalan is a separate language from Spanish. We assign a Catalan translator. The same applies to Catalan-only documents from the Valencian Community or the Balearic Islands.
Do you have an office in Berkeley?
No. Our only office is in New York. Catalan translation is done remotely from a scan, so location makes no difference to the document work. For in-person interpreting in Berkeley we assign a Catalan interpreter who is based in or near the city, and phone or video interpreting is available anywhere in the United States.
Related Catalan Services
Why Choose Us
We Are Committed to Excellence
Every assignment follows our TEP workflow for written work – translation, editing, proofreading – with a free revision policy, and every interpreting booking is managed by a dedicated coordinator to meet regulatory and client requirements.
Professional Catalan Linguists
Our Catalan interpreters are vetted for fluency, subject-matter expertise and professional ethics, and certified translation work is handled by certified translators who are members of provincial bodies under CTTIC.
We Provide Excellent Customer Service
We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year – including American statutory holidays. Confidentiality is protected in line with HIPAA on every assignment.