Spoken Language Certification

***There are no available testing dates for 2025. Certification exams will be administered in the fall of 2026***

Minnesota Certification Requirements

Advanced and experienced interpreters who want to specialize in court work are encouraged to take the Certification Exam to become a Minnesota Certified Court Interpreter. Minnesota's district courts are required to appoint certified interpreters first.

To be certified, an interpreter must complete all of the following prerequisites:

Be listed on the Minnesota Court Interpreter Roster;
Receive a passing score on the court interpreter certification exam developed by the National Center for State Courts that is administered or approved by the State Court Administrator’s Office;
Be at least 18 years old; and
Be of good character and fitness as evidenced by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) report - a Criminal Background Check.

The State Court Administrator recognizes the Special Certificate: Legal in sign language as the highest level of certification supported by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). Certificate holders are considered more qualified to interpret in legal settings than sign language interpreters holding generalist certificates only. Sign language interpreters who obtain the certificate or the Texas BEI Court Interpreter Certification and complete all requirements for inclusion on the statewide roster can apply for certification in the Minnesota state court system.

Spoken language interpreters who want to be a Certified Court Interpreter must pass each part of the National Center for State Courts: Oral Certification Exam with 70% accuracy. Candidates for the certification exam should already be fluent in their non-English language at levels equivalent to that of highly educated native speakers.

The oral exam is divided into three sections: sight, consecutive, and simultaneous. All three sections are given at one scheduled exam appointment. Exams are offered for the following languages: Amharic, Arabic (Modern Standard for sight and simultaneous portions & Egyptian Colloquial or Levantine Colloquial for the consecutive portion), Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, Cantonese, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

The next round of certification exams will be administered in the Fall of 2026. Examination dates and registration forms will be posted in the summer of 2026.

Interpreters must read Overview of the Oral Performance Examination for information about the certification exam. Other helpful resources include:

The Council of Language Access Coordinators (CLAC), information includes practice kits and resources to prepare you for the certification exam.
Interpreters are encouraged to purchase a Court Interpreter Practice Examination Kit: All-English to study prior to the certification exam. Information on purchasing the kit is available on the National Center for State Courts website.

Review and study these resources:

National Center for State Courts Oral Exam: Overview
National Center for State Courts Oral Exam: Test Construction Manual
National Center for State Courts: Self-Assessment and Study Tools
National Center for State Courts: Practice Materials
ACEBO Products: Legal interpretation training products for foreign language interpreters

To be eligible for certification in Minnesota, you must pass all three sections of the exam (simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation) with a score of at least 70 percent in each section.
To be eligible for certification in Minnesota, you must take all three sections on the same day or within the same testing period. Candidates may retain passing score(s) achieved on each section for up to 12 months and retest only the sections they did not previously pass. Candidates must wait 10 months before retesting.
Interpreters are limited to the number of times they may take the same version of the test. This rule ensures that an interpreter cannot memorize exam contents through multiple attempts making the results no longer valid as a measure of interpreting skills. The number of attempts permitted varies depending on language.
Certification in other states does not automatically permit certification in Minnesota and certification in Minnesota does not automatically mean you are certified in other states. To find out if you qualify for certification in another state, contact that state's court interpreter program manager. See the list of state court interpreter program contacts.

Interpreter Resources