The most difficult thing in filling out documents for a travel identity card is writing your first and last name in Latin. If we also take into account the frequency of changes in rules, we can say that for many such a task is overwhelming: often either the acceptance of documents is delayed, or the applicant receives a passport with errors. To avoid such situations, you need to understand the rules by which transliteration on a foreign passport is carried out in 2019.

A little about the changes in the rules

If you have long contacted the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (formerly the FMS) regarding the issue of obtaining an exit passport, then you may not be aware that the rules for writing names and surnames have changed somewhat. The previous transliteration was changed in 2010. It was based on the principle of combining the Russian language with international requirements for the translation of proper names.

In 2015, this system was declared ineffective and new standards were developed. For this reason, everyone who will be will use the new transliteration for their passport. The updated writing system now fully complies with international standards.

Initially, the rules for spelling names for machine-readable documents were applied in practice only by airline carriers that were members of the ICAO (World Association of Civil Aviation Services). The rules were spelled out in Doc 9303; Over time, they expanded beyond aviation and began to be used by companies in other areas. Today this standard is also used by the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which is authorized to issue foreign travel documents Russian citizens.

The main difficulty in writing proper names is the lack of analogues of some Cyrillic letters in the Latin alphabet. These include the following letters: Ж, Ц, Х, Ш, Ш, Ш, ь, Ъ, Я, У. Combinations of Latin characters are provided for them, which were revised in 2017.

In addition, new designations were introduced for the letters Ё, И, Ъ. The soft sign still remains without translation.

The new norms have significantly changed the spelling of first and last names familiar to Russians. This caused many questions and doubts to arise. So, let’s say, if previously the name Alexey looked like Alexey, now it has been replaced by Aleksei.

It is worth reassuring fellow citizens: translation from Russian to Latin for a foreign passport is carried out in a special program. The possibility of error is excluded, which indicates that the worries are groundless. But practice shows that many still receive their documents with incorrect data. We will tell you what to do in this case below.

What is transliteration

The process of transliteration in linguistics refers to the replacement of characters from one language with characters from another. The main goal is to achieve maximum compliance of the original version with what will be obtained as a result of the transformations.

Transliteration should not be confused with other concepts:

• Translation is a search for the equivalent of a word in another language;
• Transcription is the writing of the sound of a word using special phonemes that convey how the word should be read correctly.

Transliteration is essentially tracing paper. In our case, this is a tracing paper of words written in Cyrillic in Latin letters. It is very important that it is carried out in accordance with international standards.

What changes have occurred

To avoid mistakes, you can find many services on the Internet where transliteration of the Russian alphabet in Latin is carried out online. Such assistants will be useful not only, but also. To get an accurate result, you must enter your first and last name into the system as they are written on the birth certificate.

For convenience, we provide a table based on the new transliteration rules. It will help you check the correctness of the data when receiving a foreign passport.

Please note:

• the letter C is now represented by the letter combination TS, and not TC, as was previously the case;
• the vowels I and Yu should be written according to the new rules using the letter I instead of Y;
• the letter Y is now written with the Latin letter I;
• finally found its spelling and a solid sign - IE.

Let's understand the new spelling using examples:

• Anastasia - Anastasiia;
• Valery – Valerii;
• Dmitry - Dmitrii;
• Epikov - Epikov (formerly Yepikov).

What translation rules should you remember?

If you decide to translate your personal data yourself, use the table below. Simply replace each letter of your first and last name with the equivalent indicated in the Latin alphabet column. If you trust the computer more, then use one of the sites that will allow you to translate the necessary words into Latin.

This method will take no more than a minute:

1. Enter your information into the query bar.
2. Click on the button that will start the translation process.
3. Check out the results.

Such services provide information absolutely free, and you can check both yourself and the document that you will receive from the migration service. your task will be to correctly write your first and last name in Cyrillic. But their correct introduction into the system is the responsibility of the service employee.

Possible problems

Many people are concerned about what problems may arise if the spelling of the surname in Latin letters in the international passport does not correspond to the spelling in other documents? Will it be possible to travel abroad with such a certificate? After all, it is well known that a difference of even one letter can lead to the fact that you will have to prove your family ties exclusively in court.

Given this, it is very important to check several times how you wrote your first and last name on the application. If everyone - both the applicant and the employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - fulfills the duty assigned to him with full responsibility, unpleasant moments will be avoided.

If errors are found

Received your passport and found an error in it? First, you will have to pick up your application and check how your data was recorded in it. If you were the one who made the mistake in the first place, then the blame will be placed on you. If the data was entered incorrectly by an employee of the Main Department of Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then the migration service will have to answer.

In this case, a passport. But you are no longer obliged to collect documents again. Moreover, you should receive a new passport within two hours. The only thing you have to provide is. But this is only if you requested an old format passport.

It is impossible to obtain a biometric passport in two hours for technical reasons. Even if the GUVM employees make every effort, you still won’t see your passport in less than a week.

Do not forget that using a passport with incorrect data or typos is strictly prohibited. Such a document is invalid.

What to do with different spellings

The most common situation is. What to do in such a situation? Will you have to prove at the border or at the consulate that you are you?

In this regard, the migration rules say the following: if the spelling of your first and last name in the old and new passport differs due to changes in transliteration rules, representatives of other states have no right to make any claims against you. As soon as your old passport expires, you will simply start using a new document with the correct spelling.

This also applies to bank cards. Immediately after expiration, you simply need to order a reissue of the card, indicating in the application your name in Latin according to the new rules.

Even some airlines allow their passengers to use tickets that were purchased using an old passport: there should be no problems with check-in for the flight.

How to write a last name in English?

The time comes when we need to fill out documents, submit foreign passports for a visa, conclude important contracts and even simply sign a notebook for a child’s school... But the hand freezes in a stupor, the brain begins to analyze the facts, the letters are re-registered, the pupils dilate in awareness of the pettiness of existence , the criticality of the situation increases and this universally significant question is born - how to correctly write your last name in English?

So, the Native English School team will help you understand this issue!

First, let's look at how this or that sound can be transmitted from Russian to English; by the way, all this is beautifully called transliteration(from English translate - translate).

14 rules for writing a surname in English that will help you:

1. Let's start with a soft and hard sign - b,Kommersant. They are not expressed in English writing:

Baker Vladimir - Pekar Vladimir,

Overnikov Mikhail - Overnikov Mihail.

2. Letters Y And Y need to write like Y:

Kryshkin Konstantin – Kryshkin Konstantin,

Martynkina Vladislava - Martynkina Vladislava.

3. This also applies to endings - II And - YY:

Martovsky Valentin - Martovsky Valentin,

Snub-nosed Stanislav - Kurnosy Stanislav.

4. Letters E And E will be transmitted equally - E:

Kemerova Elizaveta - Kemerova Elizaveta,

Emanuilov Karen - Emanuilov Karen.

5. But, E can transform into YE, if it is at the beginning of a word, after b or b signs:

Evdokiya Astafyeva - Evdokiya Astafyeva.

6. Letter Yo broadcast as YE provided that it is placed at the beginning of the word, in other cases - E:

Demina Marina - Demina Marina,

Yershinkov Alexander – Yershunkov Aleksandr.

7. Letter AND when writing it will be - ZH:

Mazhorov Pavel,

Rozhzhov Ruslan - Rozhzhov Ruslan.

8. Letter X in English spelling it will be KN:

David Kholmov – David Kholmov,

Oksana Volkhova - Oksana Volkhova.

9. Voiced consonant C will be written as TS:

Kuznetsov Igor – Kuznetsov Igor,

Nadezhda Tsarapina – Nadezhda Tsarapina.

10. Letter H will be transmitted as CH:

Chebotarny Konstantin – Chebotarny Konstantin,

Shepherd Vladimir - Chaban Vladimir.

11. Sibilant consonant Sh will be written as SH:

Shapovalova Oksana — Shapovalova Oksana

Sharko Dana - Sharko Dana.

12. And here is the letter SCH will be transmitted as SHCH:

Shchemilova Aleksandra,

Shcheglov Marat - Shcheglov Marat.

13. Vowel Yu will be written as YU:

Yulia Vladimirova — Yuliya Vladimirova,

Yuzhnov Artem - Yuzhnov Artem.

14. And the last vowel I will be transmitted as YA:

Yaroshenko Konstantin – Yaroshenko Konstantin,

Yagda Yadviga - Yagda Yadviga.

The NES team is always happy to help its students prepare documents correctly and suggest the correct spelling of English text. Good luck to you, our dear students!

Every language has such a category of words as proper names: first names, surnames, all kinds of names. Each of us has at least once been faced with the need not to translate, namely write Russian word in English. For example, when we are dealing with names, surnames, names of cities, streets, and various establishments (such as cafes, restaurants, hotels), we need to convey the sound of the word and make it readable in English. The names of cultural and religious events, names of holidays, national elements that are not in English-speaking culture also require transmission in English, because we communicate about these things with foreigners, talk about our country and culture.

There are rules for this purpose transliterations - a method of writing words of one language using the means of another. Each letter of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) has a corresponding English letter (Latin alphabet) or a combination of letters.

There are many transliteration systems and standards. But first, let's talk about transliteration standards. Now that almost everyone has a foreign passport, when we travel abroad and fill out documents and forms in English, it is simply necessary to know the rules of transliteration that are accepted in the world.

Below are options for transliteration of letters and combinations of the Russian alphabet:

Soft sign and solid sign are not transmitted in writing. Some letters are represented by combinations of two letters, and the letter Ш - by a combination of four: shch.

For example:

Surname Shcherbakov will be written Shcherbakov.

Vowels E And Yo transliterated as YE if they appear at the beginning of a word or after a vowel:

Yezhov
Yezhikov
Sergeyev

In the Russian language, letter combinations are often found Y with vowels, and each of the combinations has a correspondence:

Many countries have transliteration rules for international passports. In Russia, for example, the following rules apply for foreign passports:

A-A, B-B, B-V, G-G, D-D, E-E, E-E, F-ZH, Z-Z, I-I, J-I, K-K, L- L, M-M, N-N, O-O, P-P, R-R, C-S, T-T, U-U, F-F, X-KH, C-TC, Ch-CH, Sh-SH, Shch-SHCH, Y-Y, E-E, Yu-IU, I-IA.

Transliteration of first and last names for international passports occurs according to this standard using a special program into which your data is entered in Russian. If you have a foreign passport, you must use the spelling of your first and last name that is presented in the document.

Transliteration is used not only when preparing documents. We have already mentioned groups of words for which we use transliteration. For example, in English texts easy to meet words borshch, pelmeni, matryoshka, Perestroyka and many others that have no equivalent in English.

Or perhaps you remember the times when mobile phones did not support the Russian language, and we exchanged SMS messages in English. At the same time, everyone intuitively invented their own rules of transliteration. Reading these messages was not easy, but very funny. For example, to transmit a letter AND used the letters G, J, Z, ZH. With letter Y it was generally difficult: it was written as I, U, Y, JI. Those days are long gone, but the need to master the transliteration system has not disappeared, but, on the contrary, has increased. Use the knowledge you have gained and communicate in English fluently. Good luck to you!

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So, you registered on Aliexpress or any other foreign online store, spent a lot of time figuring out how to shop correctly, choose a product and a reliable seller. And now, the time has come for the first order, but to complete the registration process you need to write the delivery address in Latin letters.

But how to do it right? You are used to writing the address only in Russian, but here you need to somehow write it in English. Believe me, there is nothing difficult about filling out the address. It's very simple. The most important thing is to write the index correctly. It is at the specified postal code that the parcel will arrive at your post office, and there the postal employees will need your address in order to send you a notification about the parcel. Therefore, the address must be written in such a way that the post office can understand it.

If you write the postal code incorrectly, your package will make a short journey. First, it will arrive at another post office using the wrong postal code, and there the postal workers will read your address, understand that you made a mistake, edit the postal code and send your parcel to the correct post office.

If you made a mistake in writing the address, but the zip code was indicated correctly, then you just need to track your parcel from Aliexpress using the tracking number. As soon as it arrives at your post office, immediately take your passport with you (to confirm your identity and that the package is intended for you) and go receive it before it goes back to the sender due to an incorrect address.

Instructions on how to write an address in Latin (English) letters

1)County– we write the country here. The country needs to be translated into English
State/Province/Region– region.
City- City.
Google Translate will help you translate the country and city https://translate.google.com/?hl=en
2) The following address is written for the employee on your mail, so you need to write it in such a way that it is clear to him.
The address is written using Latin alphabet. There is no need to translate words. Otherwise your postman won't understand anything.
Street Address – here we write down the street, house number, building, apartment

Zip/Postal Code – index (post office number). The index will help you be found, even if you have errors in your address. The index can be checked on the Russian Post website.

Write the address in Russian letters to convert them to Latin writing
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We also write abbreviations in Latin letters:
boulevard
village - der.
house - d. or dom
name - im.
quarter - kvartal
apartment - kv
region - obl.
lane - per.
village – pos.
highway - highway

Example address:
292397 Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, st. Esenina, house 8-2, kv 14

Don't forget to include phone numbers:
Tel - city phone number. You only need to write numbers (no brackets or dashes). We start with the country code. (7 - Russian code). Then the area code and then your number.
Mobile is yours mobile phone. We also write with the country code. (7 - for Russia) then the operator code and your number.
Phone numbers are needed so that postal workers can contact you in case of any problems.

There is nothing more natural than starting to learn English by writing own name letters of the Latin alphabet.

Writing Russian names in English often causes difficulties, largely because there are no uniform rules in this regard. However, the set general principles can still be determined.

• About the special rules of transliteration used in at the moment when applying for international passports, read further in our article.

General rules for transliterating names

The first thing to remember is first and last names are not translated, especially when it comes to documents and business correspondence. You should not select English-language analogues and call Elena Helen, and Mikhail Michael. Instead, the name should be transliterated, that is, written in Latin. In this case, you can use the following correspondence system:

Special rules for transliterating names

Apart from the more obvious rules of transliteration, there are cases where it is not entirely clear how a given name should be written. Let's look at these options.

Letters b And Kommersant are not transmitted in transliteration. Using an apostrophe (") in their place is also not recommended:

• Daria - Darya
• Igor
• Olga - Olga

Letters Y And Y transmitted by letter Y:

• Bystrov
• Sadyrova
• Mayorov

If the last name ends with "th", remains in transliteration "-y":

• White

Since the letter H sometimes unreadable in English, to convey Russian sound "X" combination is used KH:

• Akhmatova
• Rakhmaninov

Russian combination KS better to convey in letters KS, not X:

• Ksenia - Ksenia
• Alexander — Alexander

If the letter E denotes one sound (as in the name Vera), it is represented by a Latin letter E—Vera. If it denotes two sounds (after soft sign), it is transmitted by the combination YE— Astafyev.

But: If E stands at the beginning of the name, both options are possible: the name Elena can be written as Elena or Yelena.

Letter E usually written the same way as E, but if you want to emphasize the pronunciation of the name, then you should use the letter combination YO— Fyodor, Pyotr.

Letter Ш can be written in the form SCH, but in German this combination will be read as "sh". In order to avoid confusion, it is recommended to use a seemingly unpronounceable combination of letters SHCH.

End "-and I" can be transliterated as -IA or -IYA. However, to avoid unnecessary bulkiness, Y usually don't write:

• Maria - Maria
• Valeria — Valeria ​

Important note: transliteration when issuing international passports

Transliteration rules for issuing foreign passports often change. IN present moment, - as of 2015, - the following transliteration rules apply (we present the differences from the main table):

• Previously, when issuing foreign passports, the rules of GOST R 52535.1-2006, introduced in 2010, were used.

If you want the previous spelling of your first and last name to be retained when receiving a new passport, you can write a corresponding application to the issuing authority, duly justifying your desire. The basis for such an application is the presence of documents with a different spelling of your first and last name: passports, diplomas, residence permits, visas, as well as other registration and banking documents, including bank cards.