Name in the translation doesn’t match the passport: why documents get sent back

One of the most common reasons an office abroad returns documents is that a first name or surname in the translation is spelled differently from the international passport. A one-letter difference — Oleksandr and Olexandr, Hanna and Anna — looks trivial to a person, but to an office it is a different person. Here is where mismatches come from and how to avoid them.

The main rule: as in the international passport

In a translation, the name and surname are written exactly as they appear in Latin letters in the international passport — letter for letter. Even if the official transliteration rules would give a different result. The office checks every document against your passport, and the translation has to match it.

If there is no international passport, the name is transliterated using the official table — Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 55 of 27 January 2010. Passports are issued under the same rules, so once you get one, the spelling will most likely match.

Where mismatches come from

The translator never saw the passport and spelled the name by the transliteration rules, while the passport has a different spelling — under older rules or at the holder’s request.
Documents were translated at different times by different people. The birth certificate by one agency, the diploma by another, and each spells the name its own way.
The document was issued in Russian. Older certificates record names in Russian: «Александр», «Екатерина». Transliterate the Russian form and you get Aleksandr or Ekaterina, while the passport says Oleksandr and Kateryna.
The name was “adapted” to the target language. For Poland or Germany the surname Kovalenko became Kowalenko. It sounds more natural, but it no longer matches the passport.
The surname has changed. The birth certificate shows the maiden name, the passport the married one. This mismatch is lawful and is explained by the marriage certificate, which is why the two are often submitted together.

What happens if it doesn’t match

Most often the office asks for a corrected translation or an explanation of the difference. A notarized translation cannot be corrected by hand — it has to be redone and notarized again. That means more time and money, and sometimes a new appointment.

How to avoid it

Send a photo of the data page of your international passport together with the document.
If the document names other people — parents, a husband or wife — and you know how their names are spelled in their passports, tell us.
If some of your documents were translated before, send those translations: we will spell the names the same way so the whole set is consistent.

We check the spelling against the passport before the document goes to the notary, not after. Send photos of the document and the passport via Telegram — we will tell you the turnaround and the price. More about notarized translation; prices are on the price list.