PR CARD RENEWAL AFTER NEW PASSPORT FROM INDIA WITH CORRECT GIVEN NAME AND SURNAME FIELD

[Drycool]

Hello

My father Passport from India expired in 2024, he went to India during that time and issued a new passport.
The Old Passport was having full name under GIVEN NAME field like GIVEN NAME - JOHN DOE and SURNAME - (Blank).

Now the new passport issued by authority has correct placement of the field as in GIVEN NAME - JOHN and SURNAME - DOE.

I was renewing their PR Car and want to attach a letter of explanation but unsure as what to include and if they will issue the PR according to the new passport corrected name.

Also since they issued everything in canada DL , SIN etc with placing full name on SURNAME and leaving FIRST NAME as blank , do i need to ask for the change of all those documents including CRA ? . any further documents or advice you can provide .

@canuck78 @abff08f4813c

 

[abff08f4813c]

Hello

My father Passport from India expired in 2024, he went to India during that time and issued a new passport.
The Old Passport was having full name under GIVEN NAME field like GIVEN NAME - JOHN DOE and SURNAME - (Blank).

Now the new passport issued by authority has correct placement of the field as in GIVEN NAME - JOHN and SURNAME - DOE.

I was renewing their PR Car and want to attach a letter of explanation but unsure as what to include

More or less exactly what you mention here.

As an additional supporting doc, if you can get a letter from the India agency on why they changed the format of your father's name, it would help.

Otherwise, if the new passport has a page where it references the old one (not all do but I've seen a passport with a stamp like "This replaces the passport with no. XXXXXXXX"

If you can't get anything, the LOE might be enough.

Basically you just wanna establish that the Indian gov't is aware that it's the same person despite the difference in name.

if they will issue the PR according to the new passport corrected name.

That's my understanding - the PR card is issued in the same name as the passport.

Also since they issued everything in canada DL , SIN etc with placing full name on SURNAME and leaving FIRST NAME as blank , do i need to ask for the change of all those documents including CRA ? . any further documents or advice you can provide .

I had a similar situation - when I first came I got a work permit. The letter from my then-employer had a variation of my full legal name that I commonly use for business and the work permit was issued in that name. Later I used that work permit to get a bank account and credit card, and from there got a SIN in that name, and eventually got a DL and health card as well.

I changed provinces and got a new health card in the same name.

Later when I got PR and I went to renew the health card, they updated the name to match the PR card. Same with the SIN (though this is when I went from temporary to permanent SIN, so I applied for that with PR card as a supporting doc, I'm not sure how it'd work if you already have a permanent SIN).

I am not sure if I was suppose to renew everything right away as soon as the name changed - I just left it alone until I had to renew, and didn't experience any issues.

 

[Drycool]

@abff08f4813c So i got the email from IRCC about providing legal name change document.

D

Thread 'PR CARD Renewal rejection based on new passport name change format'

Thursday at 8:23 PM

Hello

I applied for my father PR Card Renewal in DEC 2025 . Got an email from IRCC to provide a legal name change document along with provincial ID because the name of COPR and Application doesnt match.

NOTE : If you passport have blank in Surname / Family name , the Canadian Authorities put your First Name in the Surname (Family name) and leave the First Name blank as you can not have Surname blank in western countries. Thats what happens in my Father COPR where Family Name "JOHN DOE and Given name - "Blank"

Long Story Short - My dad has a previous Indian Passport with First Name as...

• Drycool
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Permanent Residency Obligations

Below is what they wrote :
We have received your application for a Permanent Resident Card and note that the name on your application differs from that on your Record of Landing or Confirmation of Permanent Residence document. We are unable to process your application without proof of a legal change of name linking your name at landing and the new name you are requesting. Please submit a copy of all the applicable linking documents from the list below which link the name on your Record of Landing and your new name:


· Legal Change of Name Document

· Court Order, divorce decree, revocation of declaration or annulment of union

· Adoption Order

· Marriage Certificate, registration, declaration of union


In addition to the application linking documents requested and submitted from the above list, you MUST also submit a copy of the following:


· Provincial ID (from the province in which you reside) in the name you are requesting on your Permanent Resident Card ( DOE, JOHN). Identification should include the name, date of birth, photo and signature of the applicant (i.e. Driver’s license, Photo ID Card, Health Card, etc.) (PLEASE PROVIDE)

Note: Provincial ID is not required if you have provided a legal name change document issued by a province within Canada.


***Please note: If your name change occurred outside of Canada then you must also provide a copy of a passport or other national authoritative document that has been amended to reflect the new name andan official document linking the old and the new names.


Any document that would establish a name and is in a language other than English or French (for example, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate, etc.) must be accompanied by an official English or French translation. The documents must be certified by an authorized person and then the certified copies must be translated by a translator from an independent qualified translation service. The client will cover all costs related to the translation of documents.


If we do not receive the requested information within 30 days of the date above and your card will expire within the next year, your renewal card will be issued with THE NAME THAT APPEARS ON YOUR RECORD OF LANDING/PREVIOUS CARD (JOHN DOE, ).


For your convenience you may email the requested information to the following email:

 

[abff08f4813c]

If we do not receive the requested information within 30 days of the date above and your card will expire within the next year, your renewal card will be issued with THE NAME THAT APPEARS ON YOUR RECORD OF LANDING/PREVIOUS CARD (JOHN DOE, ).

Will the PR card expire within the next year? That seems pretty simple then - your father will definitely get his PR card, but it'll still be in the old name. Likewise, all other Canadian docs would then follow the format on the PR card so would also be unchanged.

· Legal Change of Name Document

· Court Order, divorce decree, revocation of declaration or annulment of union

· Adoption Order

· Marriage Certificate, registration, declaration of union

***Please note: If your name change occurred outside of Canada then you must also provide a copy of a passport or other national authoritative document that has been amended to reflect the new name andan official document linking the old and the new names.

Wonder why they're so strict and won't accept a letter from the gov't agency in question regarding the agency's own mistake.

I imagine, given the circumstances, actually getting a Legal Change of Name Document or a Court Order from India would be out of the question.

Note: Provincial ID is not required if you have provided a legal name change document issued by a province within Canada.

This suggests an interesting but simple workaround, if you prefer to keep the corrected name and use it consistently everywhere.

Once your father returns to Canada, simply apply for a legal name change in the province itself. Once he has that, he can use that to change the name on his provincial ID, and then his PR card, and follow up with changing the name with CRA etc.

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...ed-on-new-passport-name-change-format.877160/

This link doesn't work for me.

Edit: I wonder if you meant this one: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...of-name-issue-for-the-pr-card-renewal.845509/

 

[Drycool]

Will the PR card expire within the next year? That seems pretty simple then - your father will definitely get his PR card, but it'll still be in the old name. Likewise, all other Canadian docs would then follow the format on the PR card so would also be unchanged.

Wonder why they're so strict and won't accept a letter from the gov't agency in question regarding the agency's own mistake.

I imagine, given the circumstances, actually getting a Legal Change of Name Document or a Court Order from India would be out of the question.

This suggests an interesting but simple workaround, if you prefer to keep the corrected name and use it consistently everywhere.

Once your father returns to Canada, simply apply for a legal name change in the province itself. Once he has that, he can use that to change the name on his provincial ID, and then his PR card, and follow up with changing the name with CRA etc.

This link doesn't work for me.

Edit: I wonder if you meant this one: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...of-name-issue-for-the-pr-card-renewal.845509/

Okay thats the option if nothing worked . But he is in India . Do you think he will be having issues from immigration or airline on boarding plane due to this format change ? As his active passport will be first name JOHN and family name DOE but PR Card will be Family Name JOHN DOE and first name blank.

 

[abff08f4813c]

Okay thats the option if nothing worked . But he is in India . Do you think he will be having issues from immigration or airline on boarding plane due to this format change ? As his active passport will be first name JOHN and family name DOE but PR Card will be Family Name JOHN DOE and first name blank.

I'd expect the airline to give him a harder time than immigration, actually - it'll be easy for immigration control to see that he's the same person despite the slight difference in name on the two documents, since the new passport likely has a reference to the old one (which they have a record of) (might be easier for him if he brings both passports though) and they can see that otherwise all his docs line up.

How can he renew the PR card while he's in India? I thought you had to be physically present in Canada to be allowed to submit the renewal app.

 

[Drycool]

well the application is already with them still . we filed when he was here , thats the email that i got from IRCC. not sure if that means we have to reapply.

this is what written in the end of email -

If we do not receive the requested information within 30 days of the date above and your card will expire within the next year, your renewal card will be issued with THE NAME THAT APPEARS ON YOUR RECORD OF LANDING/PREVIOUS CARD (JOHN DOE, ).

 

[abff08f4813c]

well the application is already with them still . we filed when he was here , thats the email that i got from IRCC. not sure if that means we have to reapply.

Ok, /technically/ that's fine then. You're allowed to apply and then immediately leave (or leave in a bit, etc).

But this is risky, even if the name change wasn't an issue. What sometimes happens is that IRCC decides that you need to come into one of their offices in person for a visit to pick up your new PR card. So if the old PR card expires while your father is overseas, and the new PR card has to be picked up by your father in person in Canada, and he needs an unexpired PR card to be able to fly back to Canada - he might end up getting stuck outside of it.

If we do not receive the requested information within 30 days of the date above and your card will expire within the next year, your renewal card will be issued with THE NAME THAT APPEARS ON YOUR RECORD OF LANDING/PREVIOUS CARD (JOHN DOE, ).

So when does your father's old PR card expire? How much longer does he have on it? And how soon can he attempt to fly back to Canada?