Why Cyrillic Letters Stay in a Translated Document Number
In an English translation of a birth certificate or another document, you may see Cyrillic letters in the series or number, like ВК-7543, exactly as in the original. That's usually not an omission or a mistake: the original characters are kept on purpose.
The series and number identify the document
The document title, the holder's details, and the name of the issuing authority are translated into English. The letters in a series or number do a different job: together with the digits, they identify one specific document. They usually aren't a word or an abbreviation whose meaning needs translating.
That's why we usually don't translate or transliterate the letters in series and numbers and keep them as they appear in the original. The field labels, such as "series" and "document number", are translated.
Why we keep the original characters
Replacing Cyrillic with Latin letters changes the number as written: ВК-7543 becomes VK-7543. It's the same document, but the string of characters is different.
That can matter when documents are compared side by side or looked up in a database that needs an exact match. With the original characters kept, the series and number in the translation can be checked directly against the original.
Some Cyrillic and Latin letters look alike but are different characters. The Cyrillic В looks like a Latin B, yet it's usually transliterated as V. Keeping the original and transliterating it are two different approaches.
Can it be in Latin letters instead?
Yes. If you'd rather not have any Cyrillic in the translation, we'll transliterate the letters in the series or number. We'll explain the difference between the options, and the choice is yours, based on what the receiving agency requires.
If the recipient gave you instructions or a sample, send them to us before we start. We can also add a translator's note or show the original characters next to the transliteration.
What to check before you file
Compare the series and number with the original: letters, digits, leading zeros, hyphens, and spaces. If you chose transliteration, make sure it's consistent throughout the translation. It's best to tell us your formatting preferences up front, so the translation comes out the way you need it the first time.
