Info on Accepted system of transliteration by US

[ffp 2]

Hello I hope this information will be pinned for future members.

I come across that US have specific transliteration and I discovered it at the end of the K1 Visa.

Link for Accepted system of transliteration in PDF: http://stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov/root/pdfs/for-visa-section/transliteration-table.pdf

А - A

Б - B

В - V

Г - G

Д - D

Е – E; в начале слова, после гласных, ь и ъ - YE

Ё – E; в начале слова, после гласных, ь и ъ - YE

Ж - ZH

З - Z

И – I; после ь - YI

Й - Y

К - K

Л - L

М - M

Н - N

О - O

П - R

Р - R

С - S

Т - T

У - U

Ф - F

Х - KH

Ц - TS

Ч - CH

Ш- SH

Щ - SHCH

Ъ

Ы - Y

Ь

Э - E

Ю - YU

Я - YA

Link for a list of Russian middle names: http://stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov/swtspell2.html

With this you can convert names and street names too. This is used for any visa application. I hope some members will add other languages as well. I believe this information is very important for form ds-160

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

*** Moving from K1 to RUB forum ***

[Brad and Vika 129]

I assume this is for filling out the native alphabet portion of the I-129. There are other issues with transliterate spelling than simply picking the correct sounding letter, and many of those have been discussed ad nauseum here.

First off - because English letters can have several sounds, it is easy to pick alternate spellings for words or names that are technically correct, but odd looking. My wife's name (Viktoriya in her passport) is an example. Also, in Ukraine and other Russian speaking countries, the official language equivalent of a word or name may be quite different than the Russian. My MIL's name (Nadiia in her Ukrainian passport) is spelled differently in English if you use the Russian pronunciation (Nadezhda).

For the 129, let the passport spelling be the guide, with alternate transliterate spellings listed out on the form.

[Diazy 10]

Actually, there is a typo: Russian П is an English P.

[ffp 2]

I did not check for due this from St.Petersburg us consulate. It's funny they did typo.

In passport no middle name in English. Therefore you have to translate to English.

Note: In Ukraine there is mixed Latin letters with Russian.

Sourse:

or http://russian.stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov/visas.html Edited August 15, 2012 by ffp

[eekee 182]

Mixed Latin letters in Russian? What? Yes, Ukraine has a "i," as does Belarusian. But the letters are CYRILLIC, and having an "i" does not a Latin alphabet make.

P.S.: it is not a "middle name." It is a patronymic.

Edited August 15, 2012 by eekee

[Brad and Vika 129]

Mixed Latin letters in Russian? What? Yes, Ukraine has a "i," as does Belarusian. But the letters are CYRILLIC, and having an "i" does not a Latin alphabet make.

P.S.: it is not a "middle name." It is a patronymic.

Thank you eekee! ffp, just because the letters appear the same, doesn't mean they are pronounced the way the latin alphabet is pronounced. Different looking letters are not typos.

[slim 1,514]

I have a similar transliteration table written on a cocktail napkin by a lovely young woman circa 1999.

... ah, the good ol' days.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I have a similar transliteration table written on a cocktail napkin by a lovely young woman circa 1999.

... ah, the good ol' days.

Well... those may be typos

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Good information. Alla does a lot of translations for USCIS and in the past did many for the consulates in Kiev and Moscow. Transliterations vary depending on the language transliterated from. This can be a problem for Ukrainians and Belarussians for example. Our son, Sergey's, name appears in at least three different original spellings on official documents, Pavel's in at least two different spellings in the original language(s) sometimes within the same documents! Which means equally confused transliterations.

Good news! No one cares. USCIS and the consulates will accept any reasonable spelling (transliteration) of a name. So while they may have an "official" guide they do not adhere to it strictly.

FWIW always use the transliterated spelling as it appears in the person's international passport from their home country. That is what the USCIS and consulate will do. If you do not like that spelling, then get it changed in your home country before you present the passport, apply for the visa, or any other immigration process.

[slim 1,514]

Well... those may be typos

If they were, the girls didn't seem to care.