English to Russian Translation

This direction applies when an English document has to be submitted to a procedure conducted in Russian. The destination may be Russia, or one of the Central Asian and Caucasian countries where Russian is used as an administrative language. The situation most often met with is an English diploma, contract or birth record being submitted in Russian to an institution in Russia. The defining technical issue of this pair is the transliteration of names in the move from the Latin alphabet to the Cyrillic one.

The main users of this direction are people who studied or worked in an English-speaking country and are now dealing with a procedure in Russia or in a country whose administrative language is Russian, together with companies opening their English paperwork to the Russian-speaking market. Someone submitting a British or American diploma for recognition in Russia, a firm presenting an English employment contract to a Russian counterparty, a family using the birth record of a child born in an English-speaking country in Russia are the typical profiles of this direction. In these profiles, the spelling of the name matching the official record exactly is the most critical point in the process.

Challenges specific to this pair

In carrying personal names into Cyrillic, the only criterion is the spelling in the person’s Russian visa or official records; since more than one valid transliteration may exist for the same name, consistency between documents is essential. English institution and document names are rendered into Russian by their function rather than word for word. The date format reverts to day-month-year order, and in most official texts the name of the month is written out in letters. Units of measurement are explained in terms of the metric system; the thousands and decimal separators of English are adjusted to Russian usage.

The second difficulty lies in typesetting and layout. Because the letter repertoire, line-breaking and sorting rules of the Cyrillic alphabet differ from those of a Latin text, the page layout is rebuilt; the alignment of the source cannot be preserved as it is. English degree names are not forced onto an equivalent Russian degree; they are conveyed in their original form with an explanation, and the recognition decision is left to the relevant institution. The positions of the seals, stamps and signatures on the source document are indicated in the translation with a note; their content is translated and their official function preserved.

Third, the fact that English documents may come from different countries creates an additional consistency problem in this direction. State-issued documents from the United States, central records from Britain and other systems all carry different formats; as they are all moved into a single Russian presentation, the person’s name, the equivalents used for institutions and the date format are kept the same across every document. Numbers (registry, file, registration) are not translated, and the record they belong to is noted. On the Russian side the notary usually certifies the translation in a form attached to the original, so the way the papers will be presented is planned accordingly from the outset.

In this direction the Cyrillic spelling of the name is decisive not only within the translation but in all of the person’s dealings in Russia. Whatever the spelling on the Russian entry visa or migration card is, the name in the translation has to be the same; when the two documents are later compared, even the smallest difference can suspend the procedure. If the destination is a Central Asian or Caucasian country in which Russian is the administrative language, most institutions ask for the Russian version of the document even where the country has a different language of its own; in that case it is established in advance which institution accepts Russian. Measurements, currency figures and academic credits appearing in the English source document are not converted; they are only explained for the Russian reader. The numerical content of the document is thus preserved while its readability is secured.

Documents for which this direction is requested

Education and residence files come first; English diplomas, transcripts and course descriptions are requested for recognition, while civil registry and criminal record certificates are requested for family and residence procedures. Next come commercial contracts, powers of attorney and company documents. Throughout the file the Cyrillic spelling of the name is kept in a single form.

• English diplomas, transcripts and course descriptions
• English birth, marriage and criminal record certificates
• Commercial contracts, powers of attorney and company documents

Chain of certification

Russia works on the basis of the notarised translation (нотариальный перевод); the translation is usually certified by a notary locally. Although Russia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille may not be required for certain documents because of the bilateral agreement with Türkiye; for that reason the certification regime of the institution to be applied to has to be confirmed in advance. For destinations in Central Asia and the Caucasus, notarisation applies.

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The fee and turnaround information on this page is based on the current tariff; it may vary with the features of the document. The final requirement is set by the authority the application is made to; confirm it beforehand.