Official translation of name of my wife -- please help

[Journeyman]

Hello All,

I'd like to get the benefit of anybody's experience out there with the translation of a name by the American embassy in Kiev.

Right now, I am preparing to sumbit my paperwork for a K-3 for my wife.  Her name is Yulia, and she lives in Ukraine, and spells her name in the normal Ukrainian way.  I have tried to spell it in Russian/Ukrainian characters here, but when I type in the Russian font, the board won't accept it in the preview.

Her name, Yulia, can be spelled different ways in English.  Previously, it seemed that the American consulate in Kiev issued documentation, including the visa itself, according to its own translation of a name, usually a derivation of a Ukrainian pronunciation.  However, I am not sure what that might be, and I am concerned now to write my wife's name "correctly" on both the K-3 application forms and also on her new international passport, for which she is now applying for her new married name (my surname).  I have heard horror stories about visa's and entry being denied due to small discrepancies in name spellings.

I am asking for your help.  Does anybody have recent experience with the Kiev embassy regarding its translation of the name, Yulia?

Does anybody know how the embassy wants "Yulia" in English?

Thank you.

Journeyman

[William3rd]

I have seen Ouliya and Yuliya. What does her official document/international passport say? They will follow the international passport.

[Journeyman]

William 3rd,

Thank you for your prompt reply.  I've also seen the Yuliya, in addition to the more seemingly standard, Yulia.

I do not have a copy of her current passport.  However, her passport was the basis for the writing of her name on our Ukrainian marriage certificate.  My copy of that marriage certificate wrote he name with four Ukrainian characters.  _ _ _ _

The first character which looks to us like a connected "I-O"
The second character which is the normal Russian/Ukrainian letter for "L"
The third character is the Ukrainian "i", looking the same as our "i"
The last character is the Russian/Ukrainian "ya", or to us, the backwards "R".

That's it.  Thanks again.

Journeyman

[BC]

If your wife took your last name she could end up with a very different version of yours in her international passport.

Cruise can turn into Kruz or other variation for example. 

Created quite a few problems for us but finally got things straightened out.

[William3rd]

ouliya

[Jet]

What does her official document/international passport say? They will follow the international passport.

Funny you should mention this  Lil's original int'l passport spelled her first name "LILIYA" and USCIS/Embassy followed that.
She renewed her passport last summer and it came back with "LILIA", when questioned, OVIR said there was nothing that could be done to change the spelling 
Luckily it falls within the "one character different" allowance and she hasn't has any problems with USICE (the enforcement arm) at the border...yet

[Journeyman]

William3rd (et al),

The tranliterated name "Ouliya" seems quite a departure from the normal spelling.  As an immigration lawyer, I understand that you must have had some experience with this issue.  I was quite prepared to go with your first suggestion, "Yuliya," as it seems fairly normal for this layman.  However, I need a little more help to go with a name like Ouliya.  Can you please explain the basis for your recommendation?  Have you actually seen the American Embassy in Kiev translate Yulia as Ouliya? 

Perhaps if I picked the name Yuliya as the best tranliteration, the "one-letter difference rule" would work for both Ouliya [as (Y)uliya] and Yulia [as Yuli(y)a].  What do you thinK?

Thanks again for your and everybody's help.  I really appreciate it, as a lot of paperwork and time rides on a good decision here.

Journeyman

[Phil dAmore]

Okay, this may be reaching a bit, but how about 'Julia"... Russian and Ukrainian languages do not have the "j" sound so it it often
approximated by юля... English transliteration 'Yulia'... Americanized version 'Julia'..

Just a suggestion, what do I know?.....

[ScottinCrimea]

Makes me glad my in-laws had the foresight to name my wife Ella.  No problems with that one.

[Journeyman]

Phil D (et al),

Actually, I had considered "Julia" before, until I saw a transliteration of the name "John" in Russian.  That ended up with the name spelled in Russian with the Russian cyrillic characters for D-Z-O-N. 

In that case, the transliteration for Julia would end up looking quite different from her other official Ukrainian documents (certificates for birth, divorce, and marriage) in which her Ukrainian spelling is shown.

Also, my wife does pronounce her name with the "Y" sound in Yulia, and prefers it to the English name Julia.

I have 24 hours to make a decision on this.  Please keep the ideas coming.  They are helpful.  Thanks.

Journeyman

[jb]

IIRC, your wife's international passport has her name printed both in Russian and in some latin form.  It is that latin form of her name that you should use.

Of course, you can always check it at the ever useful    http://www.translit.ru/

юлиа = Julia,,, most of the time

[Journeyman]

JB,

Thanks.  Yes, I will check on that possibility.  If the Ukrainian authorities have already transliterated her name into a Latin spelling, that should be the gold standard -- which even the American embassy should observe.  Any Anglicized version just seems to invite trouble. 

----------------

Just checking ...... can anybody out there now see such a Ukrainian passport with the Latin spelling of the name Ukrainian pronunciation of the name Yulia?  I ask because my wife is not yet sufficiently proficient in English to tell me the names of the letters in the Latin version of her name (if she has one already).  She'd have to scan it and send it to me, and there isn't time to do that.

Thanks.

Journeyman

[Jet]

IIRC, your wife's international passport has her name printed both in Russian and in some latin form.  It is that latin form of her name that you should use.

Absolutely agree! At worst mabye she can make a photocopy and fax it if she can't punch the corresponding letters into an e-mail at a local net cafe  :noidea:

Of course, you can always check it at the ever useful    http://www.translit.ru/

юлиа = Julia,,, most of the time

hehe  just tried it with Firefox Russ-key and got юлиа = yulia

FWIW my first name in Russian is Джим(Jim) or  Джамс(James)

[Journeyman]

BTW,

It would seem to me that transliteration must be performed by a Ukrainian translator (or computer software using Ukrainian), rather than Russian, since the alphabet and pronunciation are slightly different. 

That is probably where the "Ouliya" transliteration suggested by William3rd comes from, as I have also seen the Ukrainian transliteration of "Alexander" result in something like "Oleksandr", rather than "Aleksandr." 

I will attempt to get my wife to scan an email her passport asap.  That might work.  Unfortunately, she is terrified of computers, and has never set foot in an internet cafe.  That fact has presented a number of challenges along the way.  On the other hand, our more frequent communication by phone has kept us close (and also kept my monthly phone bill sky high for the past 3 years).

Journeyman