Russian Death Certificate Translation
Russian death certificate translation to English for a widow's petition to USCIS, a life insurance claim, Social Security survivor benefits or a US probate court, from a свидетельство о смерти issued by a ЗАГС in Russia or by the registry offices of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. We translate the certificate, the medical certificate behind it and any archive extract.
- Up to 250 words per page
- $25 per page
- Standard turnaround
- From 24 hours
- Certificate of accuracy
- Signed & stamped
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Written for Russian death certificate records
Three Russian death documents, and the certificate is the one without a cause
The свидетельство о смерти proves that a person died, when and where. It does not say why, and that gap sends many families back to the registry for a second paper.
Свидетельство о смерти
The ЗАГС certificate gives surname, name and patronymic, date and place of birth, date and place of death, the number and date of the запись акта о смерти and the issuing office. Place of death is a city and region, not a hospital, and the cause of death is not on it at all. We translate every field, keep the entry number as printed, and transliterate the name the way the person's passport did so an insurer or a court can match it to a policy or a will.
Медицинское свидетельство о смерти, form 106/у
The hospital, morgue or polyclinic doctor issues the медицинское свидетельство о смерти, учётная форма № 106/у, before the ЗАГС will register the death. It is the paper with the cause of death, written on the WHO pattern as immediate, intermediate and underlying cause with ICD-10 codes, plus the kind of death: natural, accident, undetermined. A US life insurer or a wrongful-death lawyer wants this form, and the family often has only the отрывной корешок, the tear-off stub, because the ЗАГС keeps the original. We translate the stub and the ICD codes stay as printed.
Справка о смерти and archive extracts
The ЗАГС also issues a справка о смерти, formerly form 33 and now form 11, which repeats the entry with the cause of death and is used in Russia for the funeral benefit. For a death decades ago the registry gives an архивная справка or a повторное свидетельство instead, and for wartime deaths families hold an извещение from the военкомат or a printout from ОБД Мемориал, the Ministry of Defence casualty database. We translate each as its own document.
Who is asking for your Russian death certificate translation?
The translation is the same. What changes is whether the recipient wants anything added to it.
USCIS
USCIS asks for a complete English translation and a signed certification from the translator. No notarization is needed.
Insurers and Social Security
Life insurance and survivor benefit claims accept a certified translation. Add the medical certificate if the claim turns on the cause of death.
Courts and consulates abroad
A probate court or a consulate handling a repatriation or an estate usually wants the original apostilled and the translation certified or notarized.
Before you upload
Three things that save a day of back and forth on a Russian death certificate.
Send the civil record, not only the medical form
The registry act is the document recipients ask for. Add the doctor's certificate as a second file if an insurer or a court wants the cause of death.
Include the reverse and the stamps
Issue stamps, the registrar's signature and folio numbers often sit on the back or at the edge. Photograph both sides flat with the whole page in frame.
Give us the names as they appear elsewhere
Tell us the English spelling of the deceased and of the spouse or parents named on the record, so the translation matches the petition, policy or probate file it joins.
Details and pricing
What is included in a Russian death certificate translation
One price per page covers the translation and its certification. A page is up to 250 words, and the quote tells you the page count before you pay.
Everything on the death certificate is translated, including stamps, seals and handwritten notes. Tell us the English spelling you use for each name when you order.
Certified Translation
Word-for-word translation with a certificate of accuracy for official use.
$25
USD / page
up to 250 words per page
Included
- Signed & stamped certification of translation accuracy
- Certified by a professional translator
- Digital delivery via PDF
- Review and approve final translation
- 100% Guaranteed Acceptance
- Standard turnaround starting at 24 hours
Optional services
- Expedited turnaround
- Priority handling when your deadline is shorter than the standard turnaround.
- By deadline
- Notarization
- A notary public signs and stamps the certification statement.
- $20 per order
- Physical copy
- A wet-ink original of your translation, mailed by express courier.
- $35 per order
- Apostille
- Authenticates the notary’s signature and seal for use in Hague Convention countries.
- $180 per document
What the certificate of accuracy states
Your translation arrives with a Certification of Translation Accuracy issued by ImmiTranslate. It is the page the receiving organization checks first.
- The translation is complete and accurate.
- The document title and the language pair.
- The translator is competent in both languages.
- A signature and the ImmiTranslate certification stamp.
- Our American Translators Association corporate membership.
Our translation process
Our goal is to make the translation process as simple as possible for you. Our service is streamlined specifically for documents of this nature.
Russian Death Certificate FAQ
Most questions about pricing and turnaround can be answered faster by requesting a quote.
- Which Russian document does a US life insurer need?
- Usually both the свидетельство о смерти and a document showing the cause: the медицинское свидетельство о смерти or the справка о смерти. The insurer will also check that the name on the translation matches the policy, and Russian certificates spell the name in Cyrillic only, so we add a note if the policy spells it differently from the passport transliteration. Send the policy name with your order.
- My relative died in Russia and I am an heir in the US. What do I translate?
- For a US probate court or a bank, the death certificate into English. For the estate in Russia it is the other direction: a Russian нотариус opens the наследственное дело and will ask for your own documents in Russian, the birth or marriage certificate proving the relationship, your passport, and a power of attorney if a lawyer in Russia acts for you. We translate both ways. The six-month period for accepting a Russian inheritance runs from the date of death on the certificate.
- Do you translate a US death certificate into Russian?
- Yes. A Russian pension fund stops or transfers a pension on a translated certificate, a ЗАГС in Russia will not record a death abroad without one, and a Russian notary needs it to open an estate that includes an apartment or a bank account in Russia. State death certificates in the US usually list the cause of death, which a Russian reader expects, so no second document is needed. The Russian office will also want a Secretary of State apostille on the certificate, and we translate that page with it.
- How much does a certified translation cost?
- Certified translation is $25 per page, with a page counted as up to 250 words. Notarization, a mailed physical copy and an apostille are optional and priced separately.
- How long does a certified translation take?
- Standard turnaround starts at 24 hours and depends on the length and language of your documents. If you have a deadline, include it in your quote request.
Other Russian documents we translate
Death certificate translation in other languages
Each of these pages is written for that language's death certificate records.
Sending it with an application? Read the Inheritance claim translations, Insurance claim translations, USCIS translation requirements before you order.