the CanadaVisa Team - 22 July, 2015
The issue was raised on Tuesday, addressed on Wednesday, and the policy dropped by Thursday. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) reacted quickly after the World Sikh Organization raised the issue about a 10-year policy that required Canadian immigration applicants with the last name Singh or Kaur to change their names.
A spokesperson for CIC explained that applicants at the New Delhi office were asked to provide a third name in order to help visa officers identify applicants' files quickly and accurately. There are millions of people with the surnames Singh or Kaur around the world, as all baptized Sikhs take on these names; Singh for males and Kaur for females. Some take it on as a middle name, others replace their surname with Singh or Kaur. As the New Delhi immigration office is among the busiest in the world, the goal of the policy was to reduce the likelihood of mistaken identity.
Yesterday's statement from CIC explained that “Permanent resident applicants with the surname Singh or Kaur are not required to change their names in order to apply. […] In no way did CIC intend to ask applicants to change their names.[…] CIC recognizes that previous communications with clients may not have been clear and regrets any inconvenience this may have caused. […] We are making changes to ensure there will be no misunderstandings in the future.”
