# What happens when Customs wants to interview a traveler they have no interpreter for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806 "2008-02-08T16:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/1 "2008-02-08T16:03:03Z")
Say sombody who speaks some rare language lands in a country and Customs or whoever wants to interview them, but they have no one who speaks their language- what do they do? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/2 "2008-02-08T16:12:26Z")
If they think it necessary, they often have interpreters on call for languages not commonly used. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/3 "2008-02-08T16:21:28Z")
Since I speak two very obscure languages (less than 5,000 people in the world speak either of them) I am listed with the custom service (among other governmental agencies and institutions) should they run into just such a problem. I have been called once. I was put on speaker phone, and it turned out it was not the language. They thanked me and hung up. About a month later I got a check for $24. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/4 "2008-02-08T16:23:31Z")
Sometimes, they taser him to death. [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/11/14/bc-taservideo.html](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/11/14/bc-taservideo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/5 "2008-02-08T16:27:50Z")
The emergency services, Customs & Excise and the NHS in the UK use Language Line ([www.languageline.co.uk](http://www.languageline.co.uk)), they have translators available for 170 languages. You phone up and then provide down-the-phone translations. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/6 "2008-02-08T16:27:58Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] Since I speak two very obscure languages (less than 5,000 people in the world speak either of them) I am listed with the custom service (among other governmental agencies and institutions) should they run into just such a problem. I have been called once. I was put on speaker phone, and it turned out it was not the language. They thanked me and hung up. About a month later I got a check for $24. [/QUOTE] Cool- what languages? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-customs-wants-to-interview-a-traveler-they-have-no-interpreter-for/436806/7 "2008-02-08T16:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Cool- what languages? [/QUOTE] Woleaian and Ulithian from islands of the Western Pacific (some would argue they are dialects of the same language, but so few people speak them it’s not a very big argument).