When Your Passport and Birth Certificate Spell Your Name Differently
When the Latin spelling of a name differs between a passport and a birth certificate, a certified translation can carry a translator’s note reconciling the spellings for USCIS; the translation is $25 per page ($35 notarized), delivered within 24 hours. Updated September 26, 2026.
This is the most common worry we hear from Uzbek and Russian clients — and in almost every case it is not a mistake. Here is what actually causes it and how a translation should handle it.
Your passport says one thing. Your birth certificate says another. This is the single most common worry we hear, and in almost every case it is not an error on anyone’s part — it is structural, it is expected, and it is fixed by how the translation is prepared rather than by changing a document.
Why the two documents disagree
Uzbek biometric passports are issued in Uzbek written in the Latin alphabet, together with English. Civil records from the ZAGS office are issued in Uzbek and Russian — and anything from before the mid-1990s is in Russian and Cyrillic only. There is no single official system for carrying a Cyrillic name into Latin letters, so the same name legitimately comes out as:
| On the certificate | Common Latin renderings |
|---|---|
| Собиров | Sobirov · Sabirov · Sobirov |
| Хожиакбар | Khojiakbar · Hojiakbar · Xojiakbar |
| Розиқов | Roziqov · Rozikov · Rozikov |
| Ўзбекова | Uzbekova · O‘zbekova · Ozbekova |
The Uzbek letters q, x, o‘ and g‘ have no settled English equivalent, which is why the same family can hold four documents with three spellings and none of them is wrong.
What a translator must and must not do
8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires a complete and accurate translation. That means the translator renders the name as it is written on the document in front of them. A translator who silently “corrects” your birth certificate to match your passport has produced a document that does not say what the original says — which is a far more serious problem than the spelling difference it was meant to hide.
What we do instead is both, on the same page:
- The name is translated exactly as the source document writes it.
- A dated translator’s note, outside the certified translation text, records the passport spelling and states plainly that the two refer to the same person. The officer then has the discrepancy explained in front of them rather than discovering it.
This is why we ask, on every order, how your name is spelled on your passport. It is not an administrative question. It is the single piece of information that most often decides whether a packet goes through cleanly.
When it is a legal name change, not a transliteration
There is a real distinction here. If your name was actually changed through the vital records office in Uzbekistan — not merely spelled differently in Latin letters — the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent requires you to obtain a name change document from the vital records office. A translation cannot substitute for that document. If you are unsure which situation you are in, send us both papers and we will tell you what we see; if it looks like a genuine change of name we will say so rather than translate around it.
Consistency across a packet matters more than any single choice
Where families get into trouble is not one odd spelling but four documents translated by four different people over three years, each choosing differently. When we handle a set, one spelling convention runs through the whole packet and the note explains it once. If you already hold translations from elsewhere, send them with your order and we will match them rather than introduce a fifth variant.
Frequently asked
My name is spelled differently on my passport and my birth certificate. Will USCIS reject my case?
A spelling difference between a Cyrillic-script certificate and a Latin-script passport is expected and is not by itself a problem. What causes trouble is an unexplained difference. The translation should render the name exactly as the source document writes it, with a separate translator’s note recording the passport spelling and stating that both refer to the same person.
Should the translator just use my passport spelling on the birth certificate?
No. 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3) requires a complete and accurate translation, which means rendering what the document actually says. A translator who silently changes the name to match your passport has produced a document that misstates the original — a worse problem than the discrepancy it was hiding.
Why do Uzbek names have so many English spellings?
Because there is no single official transliteration standard. Uzbek passports use the Latin alphabet, ZAGS certificates are issued in Uzbek and Russian, and Soviet-era records are Cyrillic only. The letters q, x, o‘ and g‘ have no settled English equivalent, so Roziqov, Rozikov and Rozikov are all defensible renderings of the same name.
What is the difference between a spelling difference and a legal name change?
A spelling difference is the same name written in two alphabets. A legal name change is a new name recorded by the vital records office. If your name was genuinely changed in Uzbekistan, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent requires a name change document from that office — a translation cannot stand in for it.
Do you ask me how my name is spelled on my passport?
Yes, on every order, and it is the most important question we ask. Tell us the passport spelling exactly as printed, including any apostrophes. If a client declines to confirm it, we translate what the document says and note that the passport spelling was not confirmed — and we will re-issue free if it turns out to differ.
I already have translations from another company with a different spelling. What now?
Send them with your order. We will match the convention already used in your filing rather than introduce a fifth spelling. Consistency across the packet matters more than which defensible spelling was chosen first.
My parents’ names on my birth certificate are handwritten and hard to read. What do you do?
We do not guess. Anything genuinely illegible is marked as such inside the certified text, and our best reading goes in a note outside it, flagged as unconfirmed. If you can send a typed version of what the cursive says, that is ground truth and we will use it — ask a relative if you need to.
Does a notarized translation fix a name mismatch?
No, and anyone telling you it does is selling you something. Notarization attests to the signature, not to the content. What resolves a mismatch is an accurate translation plus a clear note explaining it — and, where the name was actually changed, the vital records document proving it.
Last reviewed 29 August 2026. Every rule quoted on this page links to its primary source. If a figure here is out of date, email orders@certifiedtranslationcenter.com and we will correct it.
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Who you are trusting with your document
Every translation is prepared, checked and signed by a named person — not a marketplace, not a bot.
Otabek Obidov — owner and translator (Uzbek · Russian · English), Certified Translation Center / Fire Up LLC, Brooklyn, New York. Commissioned New York Notary Public, No. 01OB0050820.
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