1

I'm applying for German national visa, and after taking a look at my contract again, I noticed that my name spelling in contract and in my passport is different. In the passport it's Aleksandr, but in the contract (and several other documents)it's Alexander. Is this going to be a problem?

Alexander Leontev
  • 51
  • 1

2 Answers2

1

I would guess that OP is from Russia. In such cases, the travel passport has names in both Cyrillic and Latin (transliterated). And the passport is also the main ID abroad (e.g., in Germany, however, please see https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/a/21174/13223 for details), which defines the name of the person.

However, Russia changes these transliteration rules approximately every 5 years since the time I can remember (2005). Also these rules are different from ISO 9, which is widely used in Europe for transliteration purposes.

In such situation it could make sense either to (1) check the current transliteration rules for passports in the homeland before signing the contract or (2) apply for custom transliteration while applying for a passport (for Russia, based on "Приказ МВД России от 27.11.2017 N 889 (пункт 37.1.6)").

Since these options were not used, it is much easier to ask to change the contract now, rather than to reapply for a new passport (which is also an option if OP does not like how his name got written there).

Andrey Sapegin
  • 1,609
  • 10
  • 26
-1

As a general rule, a given name should be used as in the birth certificate

  • in your case as used in your passport in its Romanized version

Use of first names

The given names in the birth certificate may be used by the namesake in private legal and business transactions at will and have equal rights

Any contracts should use the given name spelling used in the passport

  • where multiple given names exist, you are free to choose which

Assume your residence card will contain the same name spelling used in the passport.

In cases, like picking up a registered letter from the post office, different spellings should cause no problems (especially if the spellings are similar).

It is generally known that non Latin names are often spelled differently.

For a work contract (as for any important legal document) your official name spelling should be used

  • this name will be the one used for your insurance and pension registration

so you should send a copy of the passport page to your employer and ask that the contract details be adapted to the spelling used in the passport.

A copy of the letter sent to the employer should be submitted with the application so that they know it is being changed (if the changed contract is not yet available).

Community
  • 1
Mark Johnson
  • 5,264
  • 1
  • 8
  • 21
  • But Romanizations of names are different depending on the target language. Čajkovskij, Ciajkovskij, Ciaikovski (all Italian), Chaikovski (Spanish), Tchaïkovski, Tchaïkovsky (both French), Tsjaikovski (Dutch), Tschaikowski (German). All of these differ from the ICAO recommended Chaikovskii. As another example, using the spelling Gorbachev for Горбачёв in Germany would lead most people to mispronounce the name. Why not use Gorbatschow? – phoog Oct 20 '20 at 17:09
  • @phoog But only one exists in the national passport (the identity document), thus avoiding different spellings for one person. – Mark Johnson Oct 20 '20 at 18:15
  • 1
    The answer is confusing. There is no general rule, to use name from the birth certificate for foreigners. Also it is clear from the question that OP is foreigner, who is just going to apply for a visa. So far Melderegister in Germany does not know anything about birth certificate. In this case, as I wrote in my answer (https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/a/21174/13223), for foreigners that do not have any German documents issued from registry office (Personenstandsurkunde von Standesamt), the form of the name in the passport is determinative. The advice to change contract is however correct – Andrey Sapegin Oct 21 '20 at 09:31
  • @AndreySapegin The Federal Ministry of the Interior disagrees with your opinion (it's their quote, not mine). Generally/Basicly (Grundsätzlich) means there are exceptions. One major exception is in cases of foreigners. The employer will be familiar with the general rule, defined by the law, that applies to over 85% of the cases. – Mark Johnson Oct 21 '20 at 10:04
  • @AndreySapegin but suppose I'm named Горбачёв and I am irritated by German people calling me Горбахёв as they do when they see Gorbachev? To my mind it makes far more sense to use the transliteration appropriate for the target language. – phoog Oct 22 '20 at 18:27
  • 2
    @phoog, Yes, there is still a problem, even with transliteration. E.g., I have a name written in both cyrillic and latein in my travel passport (Reisepass). The problem is, however, that Russia changes transliteration rules approximately every 5 years. For me, my first name can be written as Andrej, Andrey and Andrei. So every time I apply for a new passport I ask them to keep "Andrey" since I do not want to undergo a heavy process of informing everybody in Germany about my name change. Similarly, one can try to ask for non-standard transliteration while applying for the passport. – Andrey Sapegin Oct 23 '20 at 09:37