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Certified Guatemalan Name Change Document Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a change of name in Guatemala, including the marginal annotations and registry endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
RENAP, and what it replaced
Guatemala's civil registry moved from the municipalities to RENAP, the Registro Nacional de las Personas, at the end of the 2000s. Older records were migrated, so a RENAP certificate may restate an entry originally made in a municipal book decades earlier.
A change of name is authorised judicially and recorded by RENAP against the inscription. We name both the original municipal entry and the RENAP issue where the document shows both, because the reader is looking at two layers of record.
The DPI, and the CUI
The DPI is the identity document and the CUI the thirteen-digit unique code on it, which stays with the person across a change of name. A reissued DPI under the new name carries the same CUI.
Older documents predate the DPI entirely and reference the cédula de vecindad, issued by a municipality with a completely different numbering. We reproduce each as printed.
Maya names and the spelling
Guatemalan names frequently include Maya surnames — K'iche', Q'eqchi', Mam, Kaqchikel — written with apostrophes and letter combinations foreign to Spanish orthography. Registry clerks have historically hispanicised them, so a person may appear as Ixchop on one document and Ixchóp or Ixchob on another.
A name change is sometimes precisely a correction of that. We reproduce each spelling exactly as it appears and translate what the annotation says was changed.
The certificate, and the verification code
RENAP certificates are issued with a verification code, and offices increasingly check the document against the RENAP system rather than relying on the paper. We transcribe the code.
Guatemala is a party to the Apostille Convention, so the apostille rather than consular legalisation is the route for use abroad, and it is translated with the rest. See our Guatemalan birth certificate page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, so the reader can see that the change was recorded against the original entry rather than written into a fresh document. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
My certificate says RENAP but my birth was registered in a municipality.
RENAP took over from the municipalities and migrated the records. A RENAP certificate can restate a much older municipal entry.
Does my CUI change?
No. The thirteen-digit code stays with the person; a reissued DPI carries the same one.
My Maya surname is spelled differently across documents.
Historic hispanicisation. We reproduce each spelling exactly and translate what the annotation says was changed.
Apostille or consular legalisation?
Guatemala is a party to the Convention, so an apostille. We translate it with the rest.
Ready to get started?
Upload the order, the resolution or the annotated certificate and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.