Translation Services in Richmond, VA

Languages spoken in Richmond

12.1% of Richmond residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 5.5% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by French, Haitian Creole, or Cajun and Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese.

Language spoken at home	Residents	Speak English less than “very well”
Spanish	18,073	9,912
Other Indo-European languages	1,953	383
Other languages	1,416	n/a
French, Haitian Creole, or Cajun	1,065	n/a
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	671	256
Other Asian and Pacific Island languages	655	n/a
Arabic	616	n/a

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Richmond city (tables C16001, C16002, B05002, B05006) (opens in a new tab). Figures with a wide margin of error are not shown.

Language access rules in Virginia

Court interpreter program: Foreign Language Services (FLS) Division of the Office of the Executive Secretary, Supreme Court of Virginia, which administers the Judicial Council of Virginia's process for certifying foreign language court interpreters and maintains a public directory of certified court interpreters available for private assignments.
Court-certified languages: Certified status is available in 19 languages with a certification exam: Amharic, Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Levantine), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in languages without an exam can earn qualified status.
The rule: Va. Code 19.2-164 requires appointment of an interpreter for a non-English-speaking accused in any criminal case, and for victims and witnesses unless the court finds one unnecessary, with compensation fixed under Judicial Council guidelines and paid from the state general fund; Va. Code 8.01-384.1:1 lets courts appoint interpreters for parties and witnesses in civil cases, and 19.2-164.1 requires interpreters for deaf persons in criminal cases.
School language access plans (effective July 1, 2027): Va. Code 22.1-4.4 requires every school board to adopt and post a language access plan that provides free oral interpretation and written translation for limited English proficient parents and translates all vital documents, such as enrollment forms, disciplinary notices, codes of conduct, IEP documents, and appeal-rights information, into the languages most commonly spoken by LEP parents in the division.
Qualified deaf interpreters for courts and agencies: Under Va. Code 51.5-113, a qualified interpreter for deaf or hard-of-hearing persons must hold a national certification recognized by the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, a current Virginia Quality Assurance Screening level, or an equivalent current credential from another state, and courts and state and local agencies with designated funds pay the interpreter's actual cost.
Civil case interpreter costs: Under Va. Code 8.01-384.1:1, civil court interpreters are paid from the state general fund to the extent of available appropriations, but the court may assess the fee against either party as part of the case costs.
Official language: Va. Code 1-511 designates English as the Commonwealth's official language but provides that, except as otherwise provided by law, no state agency or local government is required to provide, or prohibited from providing, written materials in other languages.
Statewide deaf interpreter service: Va. Code 51.5-113 authorizes the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing to run a statewide interpreter service for courts, legislative bodies, and public and private agencies, keep lists of qualified interpreters, and charge fees for its quality assurance screening.

Sources

Richmond by the numbers

Residents: 229,359
Speak a language other than English at home: 26,090 12.1%
Speak English less than “very well”: 11,825 5.5%
Limited-English households: 2,788 2.7%
Born outside the U.S.: 19,276 8.4%

Where Richmond residents born abroad come from

Countries of birth point to the languages behind the Census groups above, and to the documents (birth certificates, diplomas, court records) that arrive for translation.

El Salvador3,346
Guatemala2,651
Mexico1,964
Honduras1,358
India727
China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan510

Detailed languages in the Richmond, VA Metro Area

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for metro areas, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in the Richmond, VA Metro Area.

Spanish82,714
Arabic9,807
Vietnamese5,326
Hindi4,844
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)4,592
French (incl. Cajun)4,058
Portuguese3,629
German3,331

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, Richmond, VA Metro Area.

Language services in Richmond

Richmond questions

What languages are spoken in Richmond?

12.1% of Richmond residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 5.5% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by French, Haitian Creole, or Cajun and Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

How many Richmond households have limited English?

2,788 of 104,321 households (2.7%), according to the Census Bureau: households in which no one age 14 or older speaks only English or speaks English “very well.” These are the households most likely to need an interpreter or translated documents.

How are court interpreters credentialed in Virginia?

Foreign Language Services (FLS) Division of the Office of the Executive Secretary, Supreme Court of Virginia, which administers the Judicial Council of Virginia's process for certifying foreign language court interpreters and maintains a public directory of certified court interpreters available for private assignments. Certified status is available in 19 languages with a certification exam: Amharic, Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Levantine), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in languages without an exam can earn qualified status.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Richmond?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Richmond and across Virginia, and by phone and video nationwide, in 250+ languages including Spanish and ASL. Book less common languages as early as you can.

Do you provide conference and meeting interpreters in Richmond?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Richmond with simultaneous or consecutive interpreters. For simultaneous interpreting, our own technicians deliver, run, and strike the booths, transmitters, and receivers, shipped from our own inventory.