Does my fiancee need an apostille and is it Kyiv or Kiev?

[DavidandIrina 1]

(1)Irina is asking me whether or not she needs an Apostille on her documents such as her birth certificate and her divorce decree? I haven't seen that word even mentioned in the forums, so I wouldn't think so but her friend works for the government and suggests she gets them put onto her documents.

"Apostille - a stamp that is affixed in accordance with the Regulations of the certificate on the official documents for use in other states "on the documents issued by state authorities for assurances of the authenticity of print, signature and position of the person who marked on the document. This provides recognition of the document as an official in other states."

(2) On the official documents should she put her address city as "Kyiv" or "Kiev". She tells me she is Ukrainian and it should be Kyiv as the official translation, however, Kyiv doesn't show up in any dictionary, so I would have her put Kiev. Whats the official word?

Thanks!

David and Irina

[Max1gk 68]

(1)Irina is asking me whether or not she needs an Apostille on her documents such as her birth certificate and her divorce decree? I haven't seen that word even mentioned in the forums, so I wouldn't think so but her friend works for the government and suggests she gets them put onto her documents.

"Apostille - a stamp that is affixed in accordance with the Regulations of the certificate on the official documents for use in other states "on the documents issued by state authorities for assurances of the authenticity of print, signature and position of the person who marked on the document. This provides recognition of the document as an official in other states."

Hi David,

For what I know,yes It's necessary to put an apostille to all the documents like the birth certificate that are gonna be needed for the Adjustment of Status; Few others suggested me to do so and that's what I did with my birth certificate few days ago. Tell her to do that,It surely won't hurt

[HappyRs 8]

As for Kyiv vs. Kiev... Don't know what to tell you. I personally wrote "Bucharest" for all the papers/forms I filled out in English (the Romanian name being "Bucuresti"). I think American officials make already enough mistakes (some as silly as Slovenia vs. Slovakia on green cards etc)... why take a chance?

[ONA 133]

(1)Irina is asking me whether or not she needs an Apostille on her documents such as her birth certificate and her divorce decree? I haven't seen that word even mentioned in the forums, so I wouldn't think so but her friend works for the government and suggests she gets them put onto her documents.

"Apostille - a stamp that is affixed in accordance with the Regulations of the certificate on the official documents for use in other states "on the documents issued by state authorities for assurances of the authenticity of print, signature and position of the person who marked on the document. This provides recognition of the document as an official in other states."

(2) On the official documents should she put her address city as "Kyiv" or "Kiev". She tells me she is Ukrainian and it should be Kyiv as the official translation, however, Kyiv doesn't show up in any dictionary, so I would have her put Kiev. Whats the official word?

Thanks!

David and Irina

As far as I know, apostile is not quite necessary. I was also searching some information about that and ended up just translating my birth certificate myself. I happen to know some certified translators, so I asked one of them to put their signature and stamp for me on the translation.

As for Kiev/Kyiv - Kiev is transliteration from the Russian language, while Kyiv is from Ukrainian. So, probably, if the documents will be translated from Ukrainian, it's better to write Kyiv.

P.S. while you can search some information here, your fiancee might want to check zaokeanom.com - there is a lot of useful information about getting all the paperwork together, preparing for the interview and for American style of life. And it's all in Russian too

Edited March 28, 2011 by ONA

[Neonred 3,514]

Apostile not necessary.

[LvivLovers 39]

The US Embassy uses Kyiv, so that's what I would go with. http://ukraine.usemb....gov/index.html I remember this becoming the official spelling a few years ago..it was Kiev before that. Further evidence that Kyiv is indeed correct:

http://www.capitalofukraine.com/name/

Edited March 28, 2011 by LvivLovers

[SMR 368]

(1)Irina is asking me whether or not she needs an Apostille on her documents such as her birth certificate and her divorce decree? I haven't seen that word even mentioned in the forums, so I wouldn't think so but her friend works for the government and suggests she gets them put onto her documents.

"Apostille - a stamp that is affixed in accordance with the Regulations of the certificate on the official documents for use in other states "on the documents issued by state authorities for assurances of the authenticity of print, signature and position of the person who marked on the document. This provides recognition of the document as an official in other states."

(2) On the official documents should she put her address city as "Kyiv" or "Kiev". She tells me she is Ukrainian and it should be Kyiv as the official translation, however, Kyiv doesn't show up in any dictionary, so I would have her put Kiev. Whats the official word?

Thanks!

David and Irina

We went through Moscow so things could be different in Kyiv/Kiev (from what I can tell Kiev is more Russian while Kyiv is more Ukrainian) but we didn't get Apostilles on anything and no questions were asked. There was no divorce decree involved but we just translated the birth certificate on our own and typed it up. We had no problems. Neither of us is an official translator.

Apostilles have been necessary for translating her education documents and for obtaining citizenship for my son (Apostille on American documents for use in Russia).

[Sergi9 110]

(1)Irina is asking me whether or not she needs an Apostille on her documents such as her birth certificate and her divorce decree? I haven't seen that word even mentioned in the forums, so I wouldn't think so but her friend works for the government and suggests she gets them put onto her documents.

"Apostille - a stamp that is affixed in accordance with the Regulations of the certificate on the official documents for use in other states "on the documents issued by state authorities for assurances of the authenticity of print, signature and position of the person who marked on the document. This provides recognition of the document as an official in other states."

(2) On the official documents should she put her address city as "Kyiv" or "Kiev". She tells me she is Ukrainian and it should be Kyiv as the official translation, however, Kyiv doesn't show up in any dictionary, so I would have her put Kiev. Whats the official word?

Thanks!

David and Irina

Apostille not necessary unless the Embassy Website or some other agency officially requests it. Usually it is more common for the reverse situation, when dealing with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and for example the US Citizen wanted to convey some documents to the authorities there, they would request the Apostille on the US Documents.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Apostille is not needed

Kiev and Kyiv are both transliterations of city names properly spelled in Cyrillic. There actually is NO "correct" way to spell them using our alphabet. You are simply matching letters to a sound.

Kee-ev (Kiev) is the Russian pronunciation/name of the name of the city. Keeve (Kyiv) is the Ukrainian pronunciation/name of the same city. Either will work.

How we ever got Mos-COW out of Mosk-va is beyond me.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The US Embassy uses Kyiv, so that's what I would go with. http://ukraine.usemb....gov/index.html I remember this becoming the official spelling a few years ago..it was Kiev before that. Further evidence that Kyiv is indeed correct:

http://www.capitalofukraine.com/name/

The government paid for by the West and installed after the Orange Revolution made Ukrainian the "official" language and changed the "name"/pronunciation of the city to Kyiv/Keeve. Now either language is acceptable (again) and either pronunciation. When the government made Ukrainian the "official" language, OUR government chaned the name/spelling of the consulate out of respoect for the government wishes. They are diplomats, after all.

FWIW (and before Why_Me jumps on me with both feet) the original name for that territory was "Kyivian Rus" and the capital was pronounced "keeve". So Kyiv may be more "historically" correct at least long term and is actually the correct pronunciation now. It is kind of like saying "is it Leningrad or St Petersburg?"

FYI Alla's city has had four names Donetsk, Izum, Stalino and Donetsk again.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

The government paid for by the West and installed after the Orange Revolution made Ukrainian the "official" language and changed the "name"/pronunciation of the city to Kyiv/Keeve. Now either language is acceptable (again) and either pronunciation. When the government made Ukrainian the "official" language, OUR government chaned the name/spelling of the consulate out of respoect for the government wishes. They are diplomats, after all.

FWIW (and before Why_Me jumps on me with both feet) the original name for that territory was "Kyivian Rus" and the capital was pronounced "keeve". So Kyiv may be more "historically" correct at least long term and is actually the correct pronunciation now. It is kind of like saying "is it Leningrad or St Petersburg?"

FYI Alla's city has had four names Donetsk, Izum, Stalino and Donetsk again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russification_of_Ukraine

"Russification of Ukraine"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_Ukaz

"Ems Ukaz"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valuev_Circular

"Valuev Circular"

Edited March 29, 2011 by Why_Me

[ONA 133]

Still people, who grew up in Soviet times for some reason are less likely to have problems with the Ukrainian language, than those of my age. Weird, huh?

I absolutely love the language, but before declaring the Ukrainian language the only official one, the government of Ukraine should have taken care of translating all the possible terms in Ukrainian and providing all the universities with textbooks in Ukrainian. Otherwise it just doesn't make any sense... and that's actually why a lot of young Ukrainians can speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian properly.

[Gen+Olya 0]

The government paid for by the West and installed after the Orange Revolution made Ukrainian the "official" language and changed the "name"/pronunciation of the city to Kyiv/Keeve. Now either language is acceptable (again) and either pronunciation. When the government made Ukrainian the "official" language, OUR government chaned the name/spelling of the consulate out of respoect for the government wishes. They are diplomats, after all.

FWIW (and before Why_Me jumps on me with both feet) the original name for that territory was "Kyivian Rus" and the capital was pronounced "keeve". So Kyiv may be more "historically" correct at least long term and is actually the correct pronunciation now. It is kind of like saying "is it Leningrad or St Petersburg?"

FYI Alla's city has had four names Donetsk, Izum, Stalino and Donetsk again.

Donetsk never has had name Izum. Before 1924 it was called Uzovka (Юзовка) after its founder John James Hughes. From 1924 until 1961 city was called Stalino. Since 1961 it's Donetsk.

[slim 1,514]

... and that's actually why a lot of young Ukrainians can speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian properly.

Well, that and all that damn rap music.

[eekee 182]

Apostille is not needed

Kiev and Kyiv are both transliterations of city names properly spelled in Cyrillic. There actually is NO "correct" way to spell them using our alphabet. You are simply matching letters to a sound.

Kee-ev (Kiev) is the Russian pronunciation/name of the name of the city. Keeve (Kyiv) is the Ukrainian pronunciation/name of the same city. Either will work.

How we ever got Mos-COW out of Mosk-va is beyond me.

Maybe from the German? Moscow is Moskau in German, I believe.