Name on Passport spelled wrong!

[jmana 2]

My fiancee applied to get her and her daughter's international 10 year passports but they spelled her daughter's name "Mariia" instead of Maria. They told her there is nothing she could do about it. On all the K-1 and K-2 visa paperwork I've been putting "Maria" and now I'm wondering if this is going to cause issues?

[Dave&Roza 748]

My fiancee applied to get her and her daughter's international 10 year passports but they spelled her daughter's name "Mariia" instead of Maria. They told her there is nothing she could do about it. On all the K-1 and K-2 visa paperwork I've been putting "Maria" and now I'm wondering if this is going to cause issues?

If her name on her BC and national ID is Maria then I would get it changed. I realize this may take more standing in line and finding the correct person to fix this problem--and it may take a little "extra money", but come on this is her name we are taking about. All official documents need to have the correct name, especially the passport and visa. You may get an airline employee that sees that the name in the passport is Mariia, the name on the visa is Maria and the name on the ticket is Maria and may not let her board. Since she will have this passport for at least the next 4-5 years, have your fiancée go back and get this fixed. The government should correct their mistake, but it may take a bit of firm yelling to get it done.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited October 20, 2013 by Dave&Roza

[jmana 2]

Yeah I don't know who she talked to, but they told her it was "impossible" to change it, which is odd to me because she said they aren't even going to be completed until November 16th. And I'm not even sure what she is talking about because is it normal for them to put the English spelling on the visa? I was under the impression she would have to get the passport translated into English after she got it. I wrote her back asking for clarification, but she's so busy with work right now I think she probably won't have time to do anything about it right away.

[TylerMaria 1]

I ran into this problem with my fiancé just before filing the 129f. I guess it's the new way of translating the name Maria in Russia. We were told it wasn't a problem. However, if you want to be safe, I would have it changed to match all the other documents.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My fiancee applied to get her and her daughter's international 10 year passports but they spelled her daughter's name "Mariia" instead of Maria. They told her there is nothing she could do about it. On all the K-1 and K-2 visa paperwork I've been putting "Maria" and now I'm wondering if this is going to cause issues?

Except that the visa will be issued in that name, it will have no affect. The consulate is familiar with mis-spellings and simply issues visas in the name as in the passport.

If it is incorrect, get it corrected. Pay a bribe if needed. It CAN be corrected. "There is nothing I can do about it" in Ukraine actually means..."there is nothing I can do about it unless you slide me a $20 bill, then wait in the hallway while I correct it"

You can also ignore it on the passport and correct it on the green card. Transliteration problems are common and not a big deal. Our sons' name was variously spelled as "Sergey" "Sergei" and "Sergii" No immigration problems

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I ran into this problem with my fiancé just before filing the 129f. I guess it's the new way of translating the name Maria in Russia. We were told it wasn't a problem. However, if you want to be safe, I would have it changed to match all the other documents.

Yes and no.

It is not "new" and it is not a translation. It is a transliteration. A change of alphabet. It is someone's opinion of which ROMAN alpahbet letters make the same sound as the Cyrillic alphabet letters. The sounds "ee", "ye" and "ya" can be transliterated several ways. Also you have to consider that the names are not necessarily the same in Russian as they are in Ukrainian and Ukrainian is now the "official" language of Ukraine, so official documents are transliterated to reflect Ukrainian spelling of a name. we had this problem with both out sons. "Pavel" (Russian) became "Pavlo" (Ukrainian) Either way, we call him "Pasha"

It is the same reason you see lots of different spellings for Arab names.

It is not an issue at the consulates or for USCIS, nor has it ever been a problem for us for travel. We have two sons, one has three different spellings on documents, the other has two different spellings. Just is not an issue for anything, unless it really bothers you. Alla did not have this problem since there IS an "A" and an "L" in cyrillic, it is spelled the same in either alphabet.

[vbtwo 54]

Everyone understands that name transliterations can vary. It doesn't matter unless it's completely different. Otherwise, no one will care. When buying plane tickets, make sure to buy them in the same name as spelled in the passport.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

If you do not change the name in the passport and wish to change it with the green card, then apply for the green card in the name spelling you WANT and list the other spelling as one of the "other names used".

Everyone understands that name transliterations can vary. It doesn't matter unless it's completely different. Otherwise, no one will care. When buying plane tickets, make sure to buy them in the same name as spelled in the passport.