Hi guys so I'm currently waiting for my Oath ceremony next month but I've done the whole process using my married name. I'm currently separated from my ex and we have a divorce pending. I know for a fact I'll be going back to my maiden name and I'm wondering if there is any way to get my citizenship certificate produced with my maiden name or if that's not possible at this stage to at least get my passport done in my maiden name.
Thanks for the help!
It is of course possible to change the citizenship certificate (eventually).
But a few quick things:
-Look into what you need to change your name back - on provincial level. It's not that difficult a process (usually).
-You may want to delay making the change with IRCC so as not to delay the citizenshp process and certificate (with old name). Better to get the certificate and then deal with the change of name process.
-For the most part, almost every place in Canada you show the certificate plus proof of change of name will just accept that - i.e. there is very little need to actually change the certificate. This is important because it might take another 15 months or more to have the certificate re-issued.
-And crucially: you DO NOT need to have the certificate of citizenship changed to get Canadian passport issued with new (preferred) name - see above, they'll take the certificate plus change of name proof. Since almost every institution everywhere will take passport as primary identification (because photo!), it probably - as in, almost certainly - makes more sense to focus on getting the passport issued in your preferred name and dealing with the citizesnhip certificate later. (Honestly, you'll probalby almost never show the certificate to anyone ever again...)
Good luck, let others know how it goes.
