Medical, USCIS and court interpreting for families from Samar, Leyte and Biliran across the US, in Waray rather than Tagalog or Cebuano, plus certified translation of the Waray paperwork behind a PSA record.
Prism Linguistics provides Waray interpreters for medical appointments, USCIS interviews, court hearings and depositions anywhere in the United States, in person, by phone or by video, assigned as Waray rather than Tagalog or Cebuano, together with certified English translation of the affidavits, barangay certifications and letters that go with a Philippine civil record.
Last reviewed September 2, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Linguistics
Waray is the language of Eastern Visayas, of Samar and Leyte and Biliran, and it answers to Winaray and Samarnon as well. This page exists because a Waray speaker in the United States is nearly always booked a Tagalog interpreter, or a Cebuano one, and neither is the same language. Our office is in New York and our Waray interpreters and translators work nationwide, in person where one is based near the hospital or court and by phone or video everywhere else. The first thing we settle is that the speaker really is Waray and not Cebuano or Hiligaynon, because the label Bisaya covers all three.
The 2020 Philippine census recorded Waray in 698,745 households across Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Biliran. Almost every speaker also carries Tagalog and school English, which is exactly why the language gets missed: an older Waray speaker from a Samar town will follow a Tagalog interpreter politely and lose the detail that decides a case. Working-age arrivals seldom need Waray at all. A parent petitioned over on a family visa does, and so does a witness pressed under cross-examination.
Waray is not Cebuano, and Bisaya on a form settles nothing. A document or a patient tagged Bisaya may be Waray, Cebuano or Hiligaynon, and a Cebuano interpreter sent to a Waray speaker will fill the gaps with guesses. We ask which town the person is from before we assign. No state runs a court certification exam in Waray, so a court works from a qualified Waray interpreter, usually by phone or video, and a hospital that takes federal funds must supply one at no cost.
A hospital on federal funding owes a Waray-speaking patient an interpreter at no charge, in Waray and not through a near relative, and the appointment that goes wrong is the one where an adult child stood in and trimmed the account. The physician hears a tidy symptom where the patient gave a detailed one, or a consent that was never fully given. Video carries most clinic visits once we have confirmed the language is Waray. We send a person in for a surgical consent, an oncology review or a home health assessment, where an older patient will not talk to a screen.
Adjustment and naturalization interviews are the routine Waray work at USCIS, mostly for parents petitioned by their US-citizen children and older applicants taking the age-based English exemption. The applicant supplies the interpreter, and the officer accepts only an adult fluent in both languages with no stake in the case. A relative is allowed on paper and unwise in the room. Ours know the interview format, render each answer as it was given, and do not coach, which matters most in a fiance case where the officer is weighing whether the relationship is real.
No state offers court certification in Waray, so a court works from a qualified interpreter, and Prism is frequently the call once the court's own list produced only Tagalog. Depositions in injury and family cases, guardianship hearings for an elderly parent and the occasional criminal matter are the bulk of it. We book with the attorney or the court, confirm the interpreter is Waray rather than a general Filipino label, and are clear that Prism is a private agency working for the client, not a court-appointed vendor.
The PSA birth certificate is rarely the job. The Philippine Statistics Authority issues civil records in English on security paper, and USCIS wants that copy as it is. The Waray work is what the PSA cannot supply, or what it returns no record for: a late-registered local certificate, a baptismal record from a Samar or Leyte parish, affidavits sworn by relatives, a barangay certification, and the messages put in to prove a fiance or spousal relationship. The trap is the label again, because a paper marked Bisaya may be Waray and a translator who assumes Cebuano will guess. We translate exactly what is not in English, keep the PSA registry number on the translation, spell every name to the passport and sign a Certificate of Translation Accuracy. The full service is at certified translation.
Tell us the date, the city and the setting, or send a clear scan of the document. We reply with a fixed price and, for interpreting, a named linguist. Call +1 (833) 282 8883, email info@prismlinguistics.com, or use the quote form and you will hear back within 60 minutes during business hours.
Our only office is in New York, and our Waray interpreters work nationwide. For in-person work we assign someone based in or near the city. These are the areas where Waray work is concentrated; the full list of 288 cities is below it.
Prism Linguistics is rated 4.6 out of 5 across 67 client reviews for its interpreting and translation work in the United States. That is the company-wide figure; we do not publish a separate rating per language because there is no honest way to measure one. If a Waray assignment ever falls short, tell us and we put it right.