People in Nevada will soon have another chance to voice their opinion about the proposed regulations for the new Driver’s Privilege Cards. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed the law last May. It gives people without legal residency the chance to apply for authorization to drive. It can’t be used as identification.
During the public hearing in August there was a lot of contention over whether applicants should be required to pay for a translator.
Representatives from the Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association argued that people should work with professional translators certified by the Nevada Supreme Court or through an association such as the American Translators Association.
Others argued it was an unfair to require people to pay for translators if they could get other help or get by on their own.
Kevin Malone of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles said they have taken the concerns into consideration and compiled a new set of guidelines for translators. One of those recommendations is that translators be approved by the DMV. Malone said a potential translator will first have to present proof of some sort of certification.
From Nevada DMV’s website:
The Department is taking the position to mirror the program of the State of Utah, which requires a person to have an approved translator convert the document into English. The Department would provide a list of persons who have been certified by a company, school, religious organization, or government agency as an approved translator. Only those approved translators would be authorized to translate a document to English for the purposes of applying for any card within the Department (i.e., driver’s license, identification card, motorcycle license, or driver’s authorization card).
Along with Utah, New Mexico, Illinois, and Washington have driving authorization for undocumented immigrants. Colorado and Oregon passed similar laws this year.
Lorena Pike is the President of the Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association. She says the problem with following Utah’s example is that not everyone on their DMV’s list of translators meets professional standards.
“Some of them are organizations, and some are individuals who happen to be court-certified interpreters. But some of these are multi-service organizations that do not only focus on interpretation and translation,” Pike said.
Malone said the DMV cannot regulate fees requested by translators. During last month’s hearing several people said they would ask for little to nothing to translate documents. Pike argues that being bilingual does not mean a person is able to do a thorough job translating. The NITA charges $50 to $100 for English-language translations of foreign documents.
The debate follows NITA’s stance that their profession is undervalued. They argue this has led to a shortage of what they consider certified translators in areas such as helping people accused of crimes.
Under the new proposal, Malone said they also dropped the requirement that all translations be notarized.
Nevada’s program for driver’s authorization cards is anticipated to roll out Jan. 1 About 60,000 people in the state are expected to apply. People will get a chance to hear the proposed requirements at the next public hearing on Oct. 9.
