How to transliterate a name on USCIS forms?

Key answer

USCIS does not publish a mandatory transliteration table. The practical rule is single: write everything exactly as it appears in the passport you will travel on.

Breakdown from the data

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

Your name on the petition, the form, the visa and the passport must match character for character. A one-letter divergence creates an avoidable question at every later step, from NVC to the border. So the source of truth is the passport, not a transliteration standard.
For organisations, awards and publications there is no strict rule. The sensible approach: if the entity has its own English spelling on its site or documents, use that. If not, pick one form and use it identically across every document and translation in the packet.
If older documents spell the name differently from the current passport, that is not a blocker, but explain the divergence in the cover letter and, where appropriate, support it with a certified translation.

This breakdown is built on real USCIS notices and public sources, linked below. It is reference material, not legal advice: officers decide similar cases differently.

There is no official table, and that is not a problem

USCIS publishes no mandatory transliteration standard and does not require you to follow GOST, ISO or your passport authority's rules. The requirement is different and simpler: the data has to agree across all your documents.

The source of truth is the passport you will enter on. The name in the petition, on the forms, in the visa and in the passport must match character for character. A one-letter discrepancy is not necessarily fatal, but it creates one more opening for questions at every subsequent step, from the NVC to the port of entry.

Names of organizations, awards and publications

There is no hard rule. A sensible order: if the organization has its own English rendering on its website, in its documents or in English-language publications, use that rather than inventing one. It also makes it easier for the officer to confirm the organization exists.

If there is no English rendering, pick one variant and use it identically everywhere: in the petition, in the translations, in the cover letter, in the exhibit captions. Inconsistency inside one packet reads as different organizations.

Words with no direct equivalent - administrative-region terms, names of academic degrees - are better transliterated with a parenthetical explanation than mapped onto an approximate English term: an approximate term can change the meaning.

When the spelling differs between documents

An old diploma with a different spelling of the surname, a name change after marriage, documents from a country that issued passports under different rules - all ordinary, and none of it blocks the case.

What helps: a short explanation of the discrepancy in the cover letter and, where appropriate, a translator's certification stating that the same person is meant. Do not hide the discrepancy or silently normalize everything to one spelling - the translation has to match the original, and the mismatch is explained separately.

Sources

Form I-140 on uscis.gov
Current form, instructions, fee.
8 CFR 204.5 - the I-140 regulation

All questions on: The petition and formatting All questions on: Document translations All questions on: Process and timelines