OCI Name change

[vishalv]

Hi all,

I have a query regarding name change in OCI. Let's say an Indian passport holder landed in canada and became a permanent resident some years ago. At that time, his name in the passport was as follows:

Given Name: Sharath Saxena
Surname:

Due to Canadian law stipulating that the surname cannot be blank, his name in Canadian records was as follows:

Given Name:
Surname: Sharath Saxena

He then applied for a legal name change in Ontario and his name was changed officially as follows:

Given Name: Sharath
Surname: Saxena

He then applied for canadian citizenship and in his canadian passport, his name is as follows

Given Name: Sharath
Surname: Saxena

He then surrendered his Indian passport & applied for OCI. Now my question is, can he apply for the same name in OCI as in his canadian passport ? or will his name in OCI be same as the indian passport ?
Please advise.

 

[Mvrsingh123]

Hi all,

I have a query regarding name change in OCI. Let's say an Indian passport holder landed in canada and became a permanent resident some years ago. At that time, his name in the passport was as follows:

Given Name: Sharath Saxena
Surname:

Due to Canadian law stipulating that the surname cannot be blank, his name in Canadian records was as follows:

Given Name:
Surname: Sharath Saxena

He then applied for a legal name change in Ontario and his name was changed officially as follows:

Given Name: Sharath
Surname: Saxena

He then applied for canadian citizenship and in his canadian passport, his name is as follows

Given Name: Sharath
Surname: Saxena

He then surrendered his Indian passport & applied for OCI. Now my question is, can he apply for the same name in OCI as in his canadian passport ? or will his name in OCI be same as the indian passport ?
Please advise.

Hi Vishal,

I am in the exact situation. Please let me know if you were able to resolve this and how?

 

[vishalv]

Yes I was able to resolve this before applying for citizenship.

If you already have OCI, you can update OCI by submitting a application for updating name change with name change certificate and id documents reflecting your new name.

 

[avneet01]

Yes I was able to resolve this before applying for citizenship.

If you already have OCI, you can update OCI by submitting a application for updating name change with name change certificate and id documents reflecting your new name.

What if we don't have an OCI yet and would like to apply fresh one with name as per the canadian passport (Surrendered Indian Passport has different name on it) ?

 

[abbas.pasha]

What if we don't have an OCI yet and would like to apply fresh one with name as per the canadian passport (Surrendered Indian Passport has different name on it) ?

You will need an affidavit and supporting documents for the name change
https://www.blsindia-canada.com/toronto-jurisdiction/pdf/OCI-Form-Filling-Instructions.pdf

 

[Namechange]

Hi @vishal

My case is slightly different. I got my Indian passport name corrected, now I’m confused how should I apply for Citizenship as my Canadian documents here still show my entire name in family name.

1) Name change in Ontario right now is taking 6-8 months. Unless it is done, I cannot apply for name as per how I want it be.
2) If I go by name as per PR, my citizenship documents will have wrong name while my oci will be ok. I hear that while applying for passport we can choose the name we want passport to be printed. Do we need to get our citizenship certificate also changed ? What is the processing time?

 

[Namechange]

You will need an affidavit and supporting documents for the name change
https://www.blsindia-canada.com/toronto-jurisdiction/pdf/OCI-Form-Filling-Instructions.pdf

My case is as under
My Indian passport had my name on Given Name and Family Name was blank


In Canada, family name is mandatory. So they printed my entire name on Family Name and Given Name is blank

I got my Indian passport name corrected by getting the name split and now it has Given Name and Family Name correctly mentioned.

Now I’m applying for Citizenship. As per my research so far I will need to apply for Legal Name Change. The Processing time these days is 6-7 months.

To save time If I apply with name as per my PR card, and I believe when applying for Canadian Passport we can mention the name as how we want it to be. Is that right? If yes, Will there be any issue in OCI application ?

What documents do they see for OCI? If they see Canadian passport then my names would match as my new passport I’ll choose the right name but if they see citizenship certificate then will I have to get my name corrected in citizenship certificate? How long that process would be?

I understand that immediately after getting citizenship we need to surrender our Indian passport and get OCI to travel. Since the name change may take months in citizenship certificate, I won’t be able to travel to India?

Also, what all documents require name correction post citizenship acquisition in canada ?