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Certified Russian Name Change Document Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a change of name in Russia, 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.
ZAGS, and a certificate of its own
A change of name in Russia is registered at the ZAGS — the civil registry office — from the age of fourteen, and produces a свидетельство о перемене имени, a certificate of change of name, which is a standalone document on a numbered security form.
The ZAGS also annotates the birth record and reissues the birth certificate. A complete packet contains both, and people frequently send only one.
Given name, patronymic, surname
Russian names have three elements and the отчество, the patronymic, is formed from the father's given name with -ovich or -ovna. It is not a middle name, and Russian law treats a change of patronymic as one of the three things the procedure can alter.
Surnames are gendered — Ivanov and Ivanova — and that is one family name rather than two. A US reader treating the feminine form as a different surname is the routine error.
The security form, and the series number
Russian civil status certificates are printed on numbered security forms carrying a series in Cyrillic letters and a number, and the series and number are how the document is verified. We transcribe both exactly, including the Cyrillic series letters.
Soviet-era certificates use a different series format and are still valid documents; we reproduce the form as printed rather than normalising it.
Transliteration, and documents from elsewhere
Russian romanises several ways and the passport scheme has changed more than once, so Yuri, Yury, Iurii and Jurij can all be one person with no legal change behind them. We note the variants rather than silently choosing.
Russian-language civil documents also come from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and other former Soviet states, and we name the issuing state exactly rather than describing everything in Russian as Russian. See our Russian 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
Is there a separate name-change certificate?
Yes — the свидетельство о перемене имени, on a numbered security form. The birth certificate is reissued too, and a full packet has both.
What is the middle name?
A patronymic from your father's given name. Russian law treats it as one of the three elements a change can alter.
Ivanov or Ivanova?
One family name in masculine and feminine form. Not a change.
My document is Soviet-era.
Still a valid document with a different series format. We reproduce it as printed.
Ready to get started?
Upload the order, the resolution or the annotated certificate and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.