Asian Immigration Translation Needs

It seems that immigration in our news is focused on our southern border with Mexico.  Yet, people migrate to America from all parts of the world, not just through Mexico.  In fact, Asian immigration has risen steadily since the 1960s with the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.  In 2019, 14.1 million immigrants from Asia were reported as living in the United States.  Today, a third of the nearly 45 million immigrants living in our country were from Asia.

Asian Immigration Demographics

The Asian continent is enormous, and Asian immigrants come from many different countries.  For tracking purposes, Asian immigrants are divided into five broad categories:

1. Eastern Asia:  China, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan
2. South Central Asia:  India, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal
3. South Eastern Asia:  Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar
4. Western Asia:  Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria
5. Other Asia

In 2019, the most significant home countries of residing Asian immigrants in the U.S. were China, North or South Korea, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam.  Most Asian immigrants land in large metropolitan areas, including San Francisco, New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Houston, Dallas, and Seattle.

Comparatively, more Asian immigrants tend to be proficient in English than other groups.  Those from Eastern and South Central Asia are more likely to be Limited English Proficient (53% and 45%), yet that leaves about half of the immigrants still requiring translation assistance–from the point of visa application and later with school, medical care, real estate transactions, and more.

How are some Asian languages more challenging to translate?

Achieving accurate legal translations of many Asian languages is exceptionally difficult.  Take Vietnamese, for example.  Almost 10% of immigrants from Asia are from Vietnam.  Vietnamese belongs to the Austroasiatic family of languages–one that also includes various tribal and regional languages.  It is a tonal language, which means that spelling and pronunciation may remain the same, yet inflections in tone give words different meanings.  Understanding and applying localization based on tonal differences are critical.

Achieving Accurate Legal Translations Requires Professional Services.

Don’t leave your important legal translations to computer-based services or amateur translators.  Regardless of the language, The Perfect Translation has professionals who can serve you.

At The Perfect Translation, we use teams of professional translators who have expertise in the subject matter they are translating for.  You’ll rest assured that The Perfect Translation will translate your documents accurately and completely.  We provide certified and notarized document translation services for all document types associated with immigration, business, real estate, financial, academic, legal, and medical industries.  Contact us today for a free quote!