Belarusian Name

[Reyan 56]

Hello everyone,

I made a mistake and used my fiancee's Russian (Olga) name instead of her Belarusian (Volha) which is what is on her passport. Do you think it would be easier for her to get a new Belarusin passport with her Russian name on it, or just request USCIS to change the name on the I-129F petition (is this even possible)? Thanks in advance.

[GeoffandAnna 19]

Hello everyone,

I made a mistake and used my fiancee's Russian (Olga) name instead of her Belarusian (Volha) which is what is on her passport. Do you think it would be easier for her to get a new Belarusin passport with her Russian name on it, or just request USCIS to change the name on the I-129F petition (is this even possible)? Thanks in advance.

I cannot speak for the USCIS but we did have a similar problem when it came time for the interview. I realized that Anna's family name was spelled differently (russian vs belorussian) on a couple forms. I called the U.S. Embassy in Poland and was told that they are aware of the differences in transliteration and that it wouldn't be a problem.

So, I wouldn't stress it too much, but it couldn't hurt to call the USCIS and explain the situation and see what they recommend.

Also, I can't imagine that changing her passport would help much as then she would have a different passport number and you would have to report that as well.

[Reyan 56]

Thanks for the reponse. I just called USCIS, and was informed to just mail a letter to CSC explaining why I needed to change her first name from Olga to Volha along with a copy of my NOA1 I-797C.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Thanks for posting this Reyan. We have transliteration questions/issues appear here periodically, but I have never seen this one. I understand that it is normally best to use the same spelling you see on a document (my wife's Ukrainian passport has both cyrillic and english spelling in it I think), but there do seem to be loads of different ways of spelling names. Best of luck, and I hope you stick around.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello everyone,

I made a mistake and used my fiancee's Russian (Olga) name instead of her Belarusian (Volha) which is what is on her passport. Do you think it would be easier for her to get a new Belarusin passport with her Russian name on it, or just request USCIS to change the name on the I-129F petition (is this even possible)? Thanks in advance.

They are used to differences in spelling. we had the same situation. They will issue the visa in the name as in the passport.

[slim 1,525]

Yep. What those guys said.

Don't even worry about it.

[Reyan 56]

Here is what happened after I sent the letter last week explaining Olya's first name issue. I received the original document back today with some scribble on it, and a generic USCIS letter stating that I can check the status on their website. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I just received an email that my I-129F petition was approved. It was a total surprise. I wish everyone a speedy process as well. Thank again everyone.

[slim 1,525]

All right!