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Change name after oath?

jordan1992

Full Member
Dec 4, 2015
23
2
So I'm planning to change my first name after oath(which is in a month). But I heard it's gonna take about half a year for a new citizenship certificate? I'm traveling to Europe in August so I probably need to use my old name on my new Canadian passport? But here comes the conflict: Old name on passport and new legal name on all other government ids. My only option is to change name after I'm back from Europe?
 

btbt

Hero Member
Feb 26, 2018
541
210
So I'm planning to change my first name after oath(which is in a month). But I heard it's gonna take about half a year for a new citizenship certificate? I'm traveling to Europe in August so I probably need to use my old name on my new Canadian passport? But here comes the conflict: Old name on passport and new legal name on all other government ids. My only option is to change name after I'm back from Europe?
Current processing time for citizenship certificates is 5 months (meaning that 80% of all applications were processed in that time). You may get your updated certificate much sooner, but it could take longer.

Note that the name change itself will also take time. In Ontario it takes 6-8 weeks to receive the name change certificate. An updated driver's licence (4 to 6 weeks) and health card (4 to 6 weeks) will also take some time to arrive. Legally (in Ontario) you must request the new licence within 6 days of the moment you receive the name change certificate, so you cannot request the name change and then wait until after your trip is over to update your documents.

It seems unlikely you'll have enough time to get all documents sorted before you leave for Europe, and almost impossible to get a Canadian passport with your new name in that time, so you'll likely have to keep your current name until you're back from your trip.
 

jordan1992

Full Member
Dec 4, 2015
23
2
Current processing time for citizenship certificates is 5 months (meaning that 80% of all applications were processed in that time). You may get your updated certificate much sooner, but it could take longer.

Note that the name change itself will also take time. In Ontario it takes 6-8 weeks to receive the name change certificate. An updated driver's licence (4 to 6 weeks) and health card (4 to 6 weeks) will also take some time to arrive. Legally (in Ontario) you must request the new licence within 6 days of the moment you receive the name change certificate, so you cannot request the name change and then wait until after your trip is over to update your documents.

It seems unlikely you'll have enough time to get all documents sorted before you leave for Europe, and almost impossible to get a Canadian passport with your new name in that time, so you'll likely have to keep your current name until you're back from your trip.
So it's illegal to travel with a passport with previous name on it?
 

btbt

Hero Member
Feb 26, 2018
541
210
So it's illegal to travel with a passport with previous name on it?
I don't know if it's legal or not. The bits of regulation I referenced are provincial, not federal or international.

I'm more cautious than others on this forum (so others may have different advice), but I know I'd be hesitant to travel with a passport that did not match my other ID, as mismatched names seem like they could be a problem (credit card in one name, passport in another seems like it could cause difficulties dealing with tickets. A driver's licence in one name and passport in another similarly may make car rental fraught). Obviously, I don't know that those differences will cause difficulties, but it'd worry me... I expect any difficulties that arise could be fixed, but I'd rather avoid having to deal with that stuff at all.

(And I know of some people who were asked by airport security people to show a second piece of ID. I never experienced it, but a few years ago one colleague was denied permission to get on his (European) flight because of a mismatch between his ID card and his passport.)