Birth Certificate and name questions

[dispozo]

Hello, Everyone!

It has been a long time since I have posted here. I received some great advice the last time I had a question. So I am back again. My questions are about the K-1 visa process. The past two months I have read everything I could find about the process. So I have a good understanding of what needs to be done.

But.......

My G/F lives in Ukraine. So my questions.....

Passport is in Ukrainian and Birth Certificate is in Russian.  Any problems?

On Passport and Birth Certificate her name is Natalia, but spelt differently.

Everyone calls her Natasha. She has explained to me why her name is like that, I understand 50/50. So more question are....

Should we have her Birth Certificate translated before we start paper work?
If her name is translated into Natalia.  Will this become her legal name in America?
Is there a way to change the name to Natasha if needed?

I may be over thinking all this and it may be simpler then I think. But any information will be appreciated by the both of us.

Thanks!!!!

[AnastassiaAsh]

No problems with her Birth Certificate being in Russian - it will just have to be translated into English.

Both of you will have to go by the spelling of her name in her international passport. In her Birth Certificate it is in Russian any way, translator will have to use the spelling in her passport. All English spellings should coinside with her passport spelling.

You have to have her Birth Certificate translated while you gather all the paperwork, because you will have to submit that with the rest of the docs.

Her legal name in the US will be the one that is in her international passport (the same spelling) She is kind of stuck with that. Some say she will be able to change that later during AOS but I think it's a big problem and a pain in the b... By that time her SSN and driving lisence and everything else will have the same spelling...

Natasha is not official full name, Natalia is.

I assume they spelled her name as Nataliia in her passport, right? 

[dispozo]

Hi, AnastassiaAsh!!

Thanks!!

Everything you said makes sense, since she will be traveling on her International Passport.

Her named is spelled Nataliya in her International Passport. To her it does not matter it is all her name.

I like the way Nataliya sounds.

Thanks for your help!!!

I may have more questions later.

Thanks again!!!

[planner]

This may be completely useless information to you at this point, however, here it is.  My Liliya's passport was translated to Lilija.  This caused problems with pronunciation and documents.  Her visa, social security, driver's licence are all Lilija now as that is officially her name spelling. 

She has her U.S.A. naturalization interview in a couple months.  On the application document she can request a name change.  She requested her first name be changed to Liliya.  So, point is, much later in the process she can change her name (and her name on all the other documents) after her legal name change in the naturalization process.

This is a good motivation to get the correct translation/spelling on her original document/passport so all the following documents will also be correct.  She is stuck with whatever name is official until it is officially changed. 

She is still mad at Latvia for misspelling her name.

[dispozo]

It is never to late for advice and information.

There are many people who come here looking for information and every bit helps.

We have found a translator in her city. That will translate her birth certificate using the same name spelling in her international passport. She will bring her international passport with her. But now I will have her check the spelling before she leave with her documents.

Latter down the road if she wants to change her official name "Nataliya" to "Natasha". That will be her choice, it is good to know that it is possible.

Thanks!!

[docetae]

It is never to late for advice and information.

There are many people who come here looking for information and every bit helps.

We have found a translator in her city. That will translate her birth certificate using the same name spelling in her international passport. She will bring her international passport with her. But now I will have her check the spelling before she leave with her documents.

Latter down the road if she wants to change her official name "Nataliya" to "Natasha". That will be her choice, it is good to know that it is possible.

Thanks!!

It seems that Ukraine wants to translate all documents from CCCP to ukrainian... results, my fiancee has her birth certificate with Anna but translation done on her passport is Ganna... (ukrainian equivalent of Anna). We are trying now to revert things to Anna for her new passport that we will do after wedding (with my last name).
Check always spelling. My first name has lost an accent with the time...

[Mishenka]

A few words of wisdom.

It is now more difficult that ever for any foreigner to enter into the USA. ALL documents must be PERFECT without a single error. Any errors will result in disqualification. For example * Photo on a WHITE backround only! any other color will disqualify you. All documents translated into English must be PERFECT without error. Notarized and certified, including passports, birth certificates, bio pages,  medical reports ( all 18 pages), in other words, best advice is hire a lawyer or face issues and problems that can take the wind out of your sails for years to come. Remember in  the San Diego, CA  office alone, there are over 2.1 million applicants pending and only a few thousand will be approved each year. Multiply this by all the major cities in USA handling all the countries of the world applications and petitions, and figure out your personal timeline for approval. Their job is not to "let you in", it is to "keep you out"
Best of luck to all of us in this process. This is only the begining of a long journey.
Did I mention hire a lawyer?  Holmes and Lolly do a great job.
Mishenka

[groovlstk]

A few words of wisdom.

All documents translated into English must be PERFECT without error. Notarized and certified, including passports, birth certificates, bio pages,  medical reports ( all 18 pages),

This is simply not true. Translations do not need to be "perfect" nor do they need to be notorized. Mishenka, have you gone through the K1 process before or are you getting your info from a third party?

in other words, best advice is hire a lawyer or face issues and problems that can take the wind out of your sails for years to come.

I disagree, do not hire a lawyer if you're reasonably organized and can follow directions well. If you don't like filling out a lot of forms or can't pay attention to detail, THEN hire a lawyer. Regardless of what they tell you, lawyers do NOT have a special in with the USCIS, petitions filed are processed in the same order regardless whether you send it yourself or have a lawyer do it for you.

[Mishenka]

I'm speaking about documents required for a US citizen getting married outside the USA in her country.  We are filing a spouse visa K3 with no children.  Info is from the Dept of State and USCIS web page list of required documents and the steps to get married in her country. The list may vary a little from one country to the other but basically the same. Then filing the K-3 in her country.  It is the Notarius in her city that translates the documents, ie: passport, medicals, police reports, Bio's for ZAGZ, back and forth to the Embassies, 32 days later you are legally married in both countries. Congrats! 

Her brother and his family were recently disqualified because a photo of his wife was submitted against a light blue backround. At their final interview, the US Embassy took their $770 app fees and said goodbye, next! They waisted 3 years for this day.

There is about 34 hours of work involved in getting the petition ready to file, vitals, medicals, translations etc.a  For a weeks wage, I can pay an attorney to do it for me, know its done right and keep my mind on my business. Yes anyone can fill out a form. Right on, with millions and millions of applicants, clearly no one is paying attention to which one used an attorney or not.  The laws are confusing and I don't have time to research if a problem were to arise, in my life, they always do.

[groovlstk]

I'm speaking about documents required for a US citizen getting married outside the USA in her country.  We are filing a spouse visa K3 with no children.

Understood, but the OP had asked for info on K1s. I've seen posts here by K3rs advocating their method as the best since you don't have to deal w/the USCIS as extensively once she arrives.

I'm happy my wife and I went the K1 route, however. At that time all that mattered to us was being together, and no matter how annoying it was to deal with her AOS we were able to do it together, side by side. 

The laws are confusing and I don't have time to research if a problem were to arise, in my life, they always do.

Mine too brother, mine too.

[Misha]

She is still mad at Latvia for misspelling her name.

Well, it is always a question of which alphabet they use and based on which language serves as the point of reference.

In Russia, they still use the French language as a basis for the transliteration tables. For this reason, the Russian "у" will be written as "ou" [French] instead of "u" [English]. In Latvia, they would use the Latvian language as a point of reference and there the "j" is used for the "й" sound. It was spelled correctly, but spelled correctly using Latvian sounds and the corresponding letters.