Certified Russian Translation in the UK
We translate Russian documents into English for use in the UK: visas and settlement, British passports, courts, universities and employers. Each translation is certified in the form UK authorities ask for and delivered as a PDF by email.
Documents come to us from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and other countries where official documents are issued in Russian, including Soviet-era documents. Send a photo or scan and you receive a quote by email, usually within 30 minutes during business hours. Standard single documents start from £30.
Russian documents we translate into English
Many families hold Soviet-era certificates printed in two languages, the language of the republic and Russian. We translate the whole document and note where the two versions differ.
- Свидетельство о рождении (birth certificate), including Soviet-era booklets
- Свидетельство о браке and свидетельство о расторжении брака (marriage and divorce certificates)
- Справка о несудимости (criminal record certificate)
- Диплом with приложение, and аттестат (degree with supplement, and school certificate)
- Внутренний паспорт (internal passport), every page that carries an entry
- Трудовая книжка (employment record book)
- Водительское удостоверение (driving licence)
- Bank statements, employer letters and notarial documents
What UK authorities ask for
The Home Office asks for a full translation of every document that is not in English or Welsh, and it must be able to verify that translation independently. HM Passport Office, the courts and universities ask for certified translations too.
Home Office guidance says each translation must contain:
- Confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document
- The date of the translation
- The translator's full name and signature
- The translator's contact details
How we handle the details in Russian documents
Russian documents are checked against your passport letter by letter, so transliteration comes first:
- Names are transliterated exactly as in your passport, because the official system has changed several times and older documents may differ
- Patronymics are kept and labelled as such rather than being treated as a middle name or dropped
- Handwritten entries, registry stamps and the series and number of each certificate are transcribed in full
- Place names that have since changed are translated as written, with no silent updating to the current name
UK ENIC and academic documents
UK ENIC's Translation Waiver Service covers Russian at no extra charge, so you can submit Russian diplomas and transcripts for a Statement of Comparability without translating them.
The waiver applies to UK ENIC's own assessment only. A university, an employer, a professional regulator or the Home Office may still ask you for a certified translation of the same documents. These are UK ENIC's published terms for November 2026.
English to Russian, for use abroad
Authorities in Russia and neighbouring countries usually ask for a notarised translation made locally: the translator signs before a notary in that country. A UK document normally needs a UK apostille first.
The UK Legalisation Office cannot currently return legalised documents by courier to Russia, Ukraine or Belarus; they are sent to another address, or issued as an e-Apostille where the document is eligible.
Prices and turnaround
Standard single documents such as a birth certificate, an ID card or a driving licence start from £30. Longer documents are priced by word count, and you see the exact price before you pay.
You receive your quote by email, usually within 30 minutes during business hours, together with the delivery time for your document.
Get a Free Quote
Upload your Russian document and receive a free quote by email, usually within 30 minutes during business hours.
Frequently asked questions
Is your Russian to English translation accepted by the Home Office?
Yes. It carries what Home Office guidance asks for: the translator's confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document, the date, the translator's full name and signature, and contact details.
Do I need to send the original document?
No. A clear photo or scan is enough. Send every page that carries text, stamps or annotations, including the reverse side.
My name is spelt differently on my old documents and my current passport. Is that a problem?
It is common, and the translation deals with it openly. We use the passport spelling for your name and, where an older document would transliterate differently, we add a translator's note so the official can see that both spellings refer to the same Cyrillic name.
How much does a certified Russian translation cost?
Standard single documents start from £30. Longer documents are priced by word count. You receive the exact price by email before you pay.