Question about translating marriage certificate.

[Kortex 0]

Hey guys,

So quick question.... I know that I'm not the first person with this problem but I don't know the answer...

My last name is Wittwer and I got married in Russia. When I got my Russian visa, they transliterated my last name as Витвер (Vitver when transliterared back into English) in cyrillic letters. My wife and I got married in Russia so of course our marriage certificate is in Russian so we need to get it translated. In Russian/Russia, we have the same last name - Витвер. My wife's passport has her last name written as Vitver in English instead of Wittwer - and it can not be changed (they told us how the computer transliterates it is how it is and they can't fix it). When we file our documents how are we supposed to translate our marriage certificate? The translators can either translate the names Wittwer or Vivter depending on how we request it BUT in that case one of our names will not match the translation. Is it wrong to have Wittwer for me and Vitver for her on the translation?

I hope I'm making sense... stressed and not sure how to explain myself and the problem correctly. Any help is appreciated!

[teeak 224]

Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem.

If she wants to "change" her last name to 'Wittwer', it will be acceptable to do so on the forms because your last name on the marriage certificate will be listed as 'Wittwer'.

Therefore, when you file the forms, list her last name as 'Wittwer' and her maiden name as 'Vivter' if she would like to have the same last name as you.

[Kortex 0]

Thanks for the reply! Follow up question.... Would it not matter that the spelling in her application and her passport are different then?

Edited April 6, 2016 by Kortex

[teeak 224]

Wouldn't the passport office recognize that she wants to change her last name to that of her husband? I've seen others on here who have brought their translated marriage certificate to the office and were able to change their last names. But, yours is a unique case since both of your last names are the same.

This is a bit old but maybe helpful: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/269952-changing-name-on-russian-passport/

If they won't be able to change it for her, then its probably just best to continue with whatever is on her passport. At that point, I'd just ask the translators to translate your last name to 'Wittwer' and hers to 'Vivter'.