California Form INT-300, Request for Interpreter: Filing and Appeals

California Form INT-300 is the one-page Judicial Council form you file to ask the court to assign a spoken-language interpreter for yourself or a witness in a civil case. You fill in your contact information, the case and hearing details, and the language you need, then submit it to the clerk or interpreter coordinator at the courthouse where the case is pending. Interpreters in civil proceedings are provided at no cost regardless of income under Government Code Section 68092.1.¹

Who the Form Is For

Any party or witness in a civil case who does not speak or understand English well enough to follow what is happening in court can use INT-300. You can file it for yourself or on behalf of a witness who will testify in your case.²

INT-300 handles spoken languages only. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and need a sign language interpreter, an assistive listening system, or real-time captioning, file Form MC-410 (Request for Accommodations by Persons With Disabilities) at least five days before the hearing instead.²

One more thing to know before you file: friends and family members cannot interpret for you during the hearing itself. A bilingual relative can help you at the clerk’s window or with paperwork, but courtroom interpretation has to come from a qualified interpreter the court assigns.³ That is the whole reason the form exists.

Filling Out the Form

You can download INT-300 from the California Courts website or pick up a paper copy at your local courthouse.⁴ The form is a single page. Work through it top to bottom.

Your Contact Information

Enter your name, mailing address, city, state, zip code, phone number, and email address. If you have a lawyer, add the firm name and the attorney’s State Bar number. The court uses this information to reach you with questions about the request or changes to the assignment.

Court and Case Details

Fill in the name of the Superior Court, the county, and the case number from your filing. Add the hearing date, time, department, and judicial officer if you know them. If no hearing has been set yet, there is a checkbox for that; you can submit the request in advance and update the court once a date is scheduled.² Check the box that identifies you as the plaintiff/petitioner, defendant/respondent, or other party.

Language

The form lists ten common languages with checkboxes: Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Arabic, Farsi (Persian), Punjabi, and Russian. If your language is not listed, check “Other” and write it in.

For indigenous languages, write in the town of origin along with the language name. A label like “Mixteco” covers dozens of variants that are not mutually intelligible, and the town tells the coordinator which variant you actually speak.² Getting this detail right is the difference between an interpreter you can follow and one who speaks a related but different language.

Witness Interpreter

A separate section covers witnesses. Enter the date the witness will appear and the language they speak. You can mark that the witness needs the same language you selected or specify a different one. Sign and date the form at the bottom.

Where and When to File

File the completed form with the clerk of the court or the interpreter coordinator’s office at the courthouse where your case is being heard. Some courts also accept electronic filing; check your local court’s website for the options available there.³

There is no statewide deadline. Each court sets its own advance-notice requirement, and the form directs you to check with your local court to find out how far ahead you need to file.² File early. The court needs time to locate someone with the right credentials, and for less common languages that can mean bringing an interpreter in from outside the county. Showing up without having filed in advance often forces the judge to reschedule, which costs you another trip and, if you have an attorney, more fees.

After You File

The court does not always send a formal confirmation that an interpreter has been assigned. Call or email the interpreter coordinator or language access representative at your court to verify. Their contact information is on the court’s language access web page.³ Follow up early enough to escalate if the request slipped through.

If the hearing is postponed or the case settles, tell the interpreter coordinator right away so the interpreter can be reassigned.

When no qualified in-person interpreter is available, especially for less common languages or in courts far from major cities, the court may provide interpretation through video remote interpreting (VRI). The court decides on a case-by-case basis, and VRI is most commonly used for short, routine, uncontested hearings.⁵ If your hearing is long or involves contested testimony, you can raise concerns with the judge about whether remote interpretation is adequate.

If Your Request Is Denied or the Interpreter Falls Short

If the court denies or ignores your request, or the interpreter provided does a poor job, you can file a language access complaint under California Rules of Court, Rule 2.851. Complaints can be submitted orally or in writing, and anonymously if you prefer, to the court’s designated Language Access Representative.⁶

Complaints about being denied a courtroom interpreter in a pending case receive priority. The Language Access Representative must send a written acknowledgment within 30 days (unless the complaint was anonymous) and conduct a preliminary review within 60 days. If the court cannot resolve the issue in that window, it has to tell you it needs more time and eventually send written notice of the outcome.⁶

If you disagree with the outcome, you have 90 days from the date the court sent its notice to submit a brief written follow-up statement explaining why. Keep it focused on what specifically went wrong and where the court’s response falls short. The court’s reply to your follow-up is the final action on the complaint.

1
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 68092-1
2
Judicial Council of California. California Form INT-300 – Request for Interpreter
3
California Courts. Ask for an interpreter
4
California Courts. Request for Interpreter (Civil) (INT-300)
5
California Courts. Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
6
California Courts. Rule 2.851. Language access services complaints