Face-to-face
Albanian interpreters on site for appointments, hearings and meetings.
European languages
Albanian interpreting and translation
Albanian forms its own branch of the Indo-European family, and the difference between its northern Gheg and southern Tosk varieties can matter a great deal in an interpreted conversation. SILA Linguists provides Albanian interpreters and translators for courts, health services, immigration matters and businesses.
shqip
- Script
- Latin
- Direction
- Left to right
- ISO 639-3
sqi
Albanian is not closely related to any other living language. It is the official language of Albania and Kosovo and has official status in North Macedonia, where a large Albanian-speaking population lives in the north and west. There are long-established Albanian-speaking communities in Montenegro, southern Serbia, southern Italy (Arbëresh) and Greece (Arvanitika), and a sizeable diaspora in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and North America.
The language has two main dialect groups divided roughly by the Shkumbin river in central Albania. Gheg is spoken in the north, in Kosovo, in North Macedonia and in Montenegro. Tosk is spoken in the south and is the basis of Standard Albanian, which was agreed at a national congress on spelling in the twentieth century. Speakers from Kosovo or northern Albania often use Gheg in everyday speech while reading and writing the standard.
Albanian uses a 36-letter Latin alphabet that includes ç and ë and nine digraphs such as dh, gj, nj, sh, th and xh. Arbëresh and Arvanitika are old varieties that have developed separately for centuries, and they are not always easy for speakers of modern Standard Albanian to follow.
- Main areas: Albania, Kosovo
- Also used: North Macedonia, Montenegro
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How we help
Albanian services
Video (VRI)
Secure video interpreting when people are in different places.
Telephone, 24/7
Telephone interpreting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Certified translation
Certified Albanian translation accepted by UK authorities.
SILA Linguists®
Albanian interpreters and certified Albanian translation with SILA Linguists®
Albanian, or shqip, is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, has official status in North Macedonia and is spoken in Montenegro, southern Serbia, by the Arbëresh of southern Italy and the Arvanites of Greece, and by a large diaspora in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and North America. SILA Linguists® provides Albanian interpreters, translators and transcribers for asylum interviews and tribunals, courts, police, healthcare, social care, schools and businesses, and we match Gheg or Tosk speech to where your client grew up.
Albanian interpreting: Gheg, Tosk and fine detail
The Shkumbin river roughly divides northern Gheg from southern Tosk, and standard Albanian is based on Tosk. A Tosk-speaking interpreter will usually understand a Gheg speaker, but in asylum interviews, mental health assessments and police interviews, fine detail matters. Tell us whether your client is from Kosovo, northern Albania, Tirana or the south, and we will propose an interpreter whose speech feels familiar.
Our Albanian interpreters cover asylum and immigration interviews and tribunals, courts, police and probation, hospitals, GP surgeries and mental health services, family proceedings and school meetings. In gynaecology, sexual health and domestic abuse cases, clients may feel more comfortable with an interpreter of the same gender, and we arrange that. Interpreters attend in person, answer by phone at any hour, or join on video through the SILA Linguists® video app or the video service your team already uses. For employers in construction and hospitality we provide consecutive interpreting for inductions and safety briefings, and business events can have simultaneous or remote simultaneous interpreting.
Certified Albanian translation that matches the passport
Civil documents from Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia follow different formats, and papers from Kosovo or North Macedonia may be bilingual. Names, places and dates must match the client's passport exactly, so we ask for the passport or identity card alongside the documents. Our translators render ç and ë correctly, because a missing diacritic can change a word or a name.
Birth, marriage and civil status certificates, police records, court judgments, school diplomas and medical reports are certified with a signed statement of accuracy and completeness, accepted by recruiters, tribunals and other UK authorities. Albanian and Kosovan records for US files carry a certificate of accuracy; for Canada we arrange a provincially certified translator. For businesses, we translate contracts, health and safety documentation, HR materials and marketing, and localise websites for Albanian-speaking markets.
Albanian transcription and subtitling
Police interviews, intercepted calls, voice notes and court recordings in Albanian are transcribed with timings marked and translated into English, with dialect and slang handled by native speakers. We also subtitle Albanian film, documentaries and online video.
Sectors we support in Albanian
Our vetted, trained and qualified Albanian linguists can support immigration practitioners and tribunals, courts, police and probation, NHS and mental health services, social care and family courts, schools, construction and hospitality employers. SILA Linguists® provides one project team, with every file kept confidential under confidentiality agreements and UK GDPR. Albanian interpreters can support US immigration courts and attorneys, Canadian refugee hearings, hospitals and businesses.
Good to know
Working with Albanian
Interpreting
- Dialect matching is the most common practical question. A Tosk-speaking interpreter will usually understand a Gheg speaker, but in sensitive conversations such as asylum interviews, mental health assessments or police interviews, fine detail matters. Tell us where the client grew up (for example Kosovo, northern Albania, Tirana or the south) so we can propose an interpreter whose speech is familiar to them.
- In some family and health settings, particularly those involving gynaecology, sexual health or domestic abuse, clients may feel more comfortable with an interpreter of the same gender. We recommend asking the client in advance rather than assuming.
- Albanian is regularly requested in UK and European immigration work, where we also provide Language Analysis for the Determination of Origin (LADO) and nationality assessment carried out by qualified analysts. Video and telephone interpreting work well for most Albanian assignments; face-to-face interpreting is advisable for vulnerable clients, children and long hearings.
Translation
- Civil documents from Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia follow different formats, and documents from Kosovo or North Macedonia may be bilingual. Names, place names and dates should match the client's passport exactly, so please supply the passport or identity card together with the documents for translation.
- Translations must render ç and ë correctly; a missing diacritic can change the meaning of a word or the spelling of a name. Our certified translations are accepted by UK authorities including the Home Office, the courts and universities, and by international bodies. For use in Albania or Kosovo, the receiving authority may ask for further legalisation, such as an apostille, so check its requirements first. Where a document is needed in the United States or Canada, we arrange the certification the receiving authority expects, whether that is a translator's certificate of accuracy for US immigration authorities or a translator certified by a Canadian provincial association.
Related languages
Albanian and its neighbours
Choose a language to see its page. Getting the right variety matters: tell us the region or dialect if you know it.
Where Albanian is often needed
- Asylum and immigration interviews and tribunals
- Courts, police and probation
- Hospitals, GP surgeries and mental health services
- Social care and family proceedings
- Schools and parent meetings
- Construction, hospitality and business
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Get in touch
Need a Albanian interpreter or translator?
Our bookings team will confirm the details with you and arrange the right linguist. Have the language (and dialect, if you know it), the type of assignment and the date ready.