Prism Linguistics provides certified English translation of the Zambian and Namibian records that Lozi speakers hold, and Lozi (Silozi) interpreters for USCIS interviews, court hearings and medical appointments in Salem and across the United States.
Our Lozi interpreters in Salem are experienced, professional linguists who work with USCIS, state and immigration courts, hospitals and law firms, and who are booked as Lozi speakers, not as whichever Zambian interpreter happened to be free.
Lozi, not just any Zambian interpreter. Lozi is a Sotho-Tswana language, a different branch of Bantu from Bemba or Nyanja, so a Bemba or Nyanja interpreter cannot stand in for a Lozi one. Lozi is one of Zambia's seven official regional languages, used in early primary schooling and on ZNBC radio, and spoken by about six percent of Zambians, mostly in Western Province; in Namibia, Lozi is a recognised national language of the Zambezi Region. Most Lozi speakers of working age also speak English and will not need a Lozi interpreter; an elderly parent, or a witness describing life in a Zambezi floodplain village, will. No state runs a court certification exam in Lozi, so courts use a qualified Lozi interpreter, usually by phone or video, and Lozi is the kind of rare language courts come to us for. Hospitals that take federal funds must provide a Lozi interpreter at no cost. At USCIS the Lozi interpreter renders each answer as given.
For an in-person assignment in Salem we assign a Lozi 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.
Prism Linguistics supplies professional Lozi interpreters in Salem for USCIS interviews, court hearings, depositions and medical appointments, usually by phone or video, and certified Lozi translation of any affidavit or village letter in the file that was written in Lozi.
Salem is the seat of Marion County and Oregon's capital. Marion County Circuit Court in downtown Salem is the trial court of general jurisdiction for criminal, civil, family, probate and traffic matters, while the Salem Municipal Court hears city code and traffic violations. Legal aid serving Willamette Valley farmworkers reports clients speaking Mixteco, Triqui, Zapoteco, Mam and Akateco as well as Spanish, and courts and attorneys come to Prism Linguistics for precisely those rare languages, and for USCIS and immigration filings.
Salem-Keizer School District 24J provides free translation and interpretation for families and staffs native language specialists in Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Chuukese and Marshallese, with community resource specialists adding Dari, Pashto and Swahili. Salem Hospital, the city's only hospital, and the state offices around the Capitol generate steady language work. Prism's only office is in New York; its interpreters and translators work nationwide, and a linguist based in or near Salem is assigned for in-person work.
Local Lozi interpreting services in Salem and the surrounding area come from the same nationwide network of Lozi interpreters, so a court, clinic or attorney in any of the cities below books a Lozi interpreter the same way.
Our only office is in New York. For in-person work in Salem we assign a Lozi interpreter who is based in or near the city, and the same Lozi linguists cover the surrounding area:
Certified Lozi to English translation is needed for the supporting papers rather than the certificate, since Zambia and Namibia issue civil records in English. Our Lozi translators render the affidavit, the headman's or church letter and the traditional marriage statement, and sign a Certificate of Translation Accuracy prepared to meet USCIS requirements.
Lozi paperwork is in English. A Lozi family from Zambia's Western Province holds a birth certificate issued under the Births and Deaths Registration Act by the Department of National Registration, Passport and Citizenship at the Ministry of Home Affairs; a Lozi family from Namibia's Zambezi Region holds Namibian records, also in English. Neither country issues civil documents in Lozi, so a Lozi birth certificate as such does not exist. What reaches a Lozi translator is the affidavit, the letter from a village headman or church, the traditional marriage statement, and the Lozi names and villages inside an English record. The snag is a Lozi name spelled one way by a registrar in Western Province and another way by the passport office; a translator who quietly standardises the two hands USCIS a mismatch. We match the passport and note the variant.
Every certified Lozi 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 Salem gets the same translator, the same price and the same turnaround as one anywhere else in the country. See certified Lozi translation for the document service in full.
Get a free Lozi interpreting quote or call +1 (833) 282 8883
Lozi is a Bantu language spoken by around 500,000 people in western Zambia (Western Province / Barotseland), with smaller communities in Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The US Lozi-speaking community is essentially non-existent; Zambian civil documents are typically in English and routed accordingly.
Zambian birth certificates are issued in English by the Department of National Registration, Passport and Citizenship, so the certificate itself needs no translation. Where a supporting document is in Lozi, such as an affidavit or a village letter, we translate it into English with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy and spell names to match the passport.
No. Lozi is a Sotho-Tswana language, a different branch of Bantu from Bemba or Nyanja. We assign a Lozi interpreter, usually by phone or video because in-person Lozi interpreters are scarce in the United States. No state certifies court interpreters in Lozi. We are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor.
No. Our only office is in New York. Lozi translation is done remotely from a scan, so location makes no difference to the document work. For in-person interpreting in Salem we assign a Lozi interpreter who is based in or near the city, and phone or video interpreting is available anywhere in the United States.
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.
Our Lozi 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 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.