Surname & Given Name All Are in One Section on My Passport

[Sukhbir Singh]

My full name is sitting in the given name section of my passport. There is nothing in the section of surname. My wife has only one name and that is sitting in her surname section. There is nothing in her given name section. How we will fill out Canadian immigration applications for visitor visa? Do we need to get names changed?

[Rajpal (Admin)]

If you are outside Canada and will be submitting application for the first time ever, give a sworn affidavit for change of name to two newspapers. When the classified is published, go to passport office and get your names fixed as you want to see them in the given and the surname sections of your passports. I will recommend you to then launch any application and acknowledge that you have changed your name or not according to the wording of the application and the name you have now on your passports.

A Canadian application must have a surname to be saved or considered valid; therefore, you cannot submit an application with a blank section of surname unless ‘SNU’ (Sur Name Unknown) or ‘FNU’ (Family Name Unknown) is mentioned in the surname section.

If you are in Canada, try this process with an affidavit, if does not work, then change your name through the Registrar General’s office. Try to avid any international trips until unless all identity documents (passport, study permit, work permit, PR card, driver’s licence etc.) are sorted out.