Consulate wants change of name certificate but I didn't change my name

[Julie O 5]

Hi everyone,

I hope someone on this Forum has been in a similar situation as mine. My interview is next Tuesday and I received an email from the Sydney consulate today requesting that I bring a certificate of name change to my interview but I've never changed my name and don't know what to do.

I was born in Quebec and the naming tradition at the time I was born was to give all girls 'Marie' as their first name, followed by the given name of a relative (my maternal grandmother in my case) and then your actual given name. On my baptism certificate, my given name is 'Marie Claire Julie' but my given name really is just 'Julie'. All my friends have 'Marie' as their first name but nobody ever uses the first two names on their baptism certificate, the third name is the given name.

Baptism certificate are not recognized as valid birth certificates so I mailed them the one issued by the Quebec government. On my birth certificate, the names are listed in this order:

Given Names:

Julie

Marie

Claire

So the US consulate has now asked me to provide either a passport with the name 'Julie Marie Claire' which has never been my name or to prove that I was born 'Julie Marie Claire' and changed my name to 'Julie'. Again, 'Julie Marie Claire' has never been my name. In Quebec it's common knowledge that your third name on the baptism certificate is your given name, nobody uses the other two. I have never used the full name 'Marie Claire Julie' in my life.

Has anyone ever been in this situation before? I haven't seen my husband in over six months so I really want my visa to be approved next Tuesday but now I am worried. I have emailed back the consulate to explain the situation but I haven't received a reply yet. I really don't want to get a passport in the name 'Julie Marie Claire' but I think that would be the easiest solution if that's what they really want.

[Boggy1974 124]

Hi everyone,

I hope someone on this Forum has been in a similar situation as mine. My interview is next Tuesday and I received an email from the Sydney consulate today requesting that I bring a certificate of name change to my interview but I've never changed my name and don't know what to do.

I was born in Quebec and the naming tradition at the time I was born was to give all girls 'Marie' as their first name, followed by the given name of a relative (my maternal grandmother in my case) and then your actual given name. On my baptism certificate, my given name is 'Marie Claire Julie' but my given name really is just 'Julie'. All my friends have 'Marie' as their first name but nobody ever uses the first two names on their baptism certificate, the third name is the given name.

Baptism certificate are not recognized as valid birth certificates so I mailed them the one issued by the Quebec government. On my birth certificate, the names are listed in this order:

Given Names:

Julie

Marie

Claire

So the US consulate has now asked me to provide either a passport with the name 'Julie Marie Claire' which has never been my name or to prove that I was born 'Julie Marie Claire' and changed my name to 'Julie'. Again, 'Julie Marie Claire' has never been my name. In Quebec it's common knowledge that your third name on the baptism certificate is your given name, nobody uses the other two. I have never used the full name 'Marie Claire Julie' in my life.

Has anyone ever been in this situation before? I haven't seen my husband in over six months so I really want my visa to be approved next Tuesday but now I am worried. I have emailed back the consulate to explain the situation but I haven't received a reply yet. I really don't want to get a passport in the name 'Julie Marie Claire' but I think that would be the easiest solution if that's what they really want.

Quite confusing. Explanation should be sufficient.

[Ms Hogan 295]

Keep in mind that something that is just "common knowledge" in one country (or more specifically a province that does most things differently than the rest of the country) doesn't mean anything to the administrators dealing with your visa.

I'm surprised that your passport was not in your full name matching your birth certificate. What name is on your passport? Just Julie?

Is it a Canadian passport or Australian?

I definitely understand your concern but you aren't going to get a passport back to you in time before your interview anyway. My suggestion, at this point, would be to bring as much documentation with you as possible to show your name on government issued documents. Also take the time to write a carefully worded letter explaining about naming traditions in Quebec at that time. Be sure to word it in a way that makes sense to someone working in a U.S. consulate in Australia. This is not another person from Quebec and not even a Canadian. Think of how you would explain it from start to finish to someone who has no idea about it at all because that is what the situation is.

They are looking for your application name to match your passport I believe but if your birth certificate is different then obviously that's thrown them for a loop. I'm surprised it made it this far without being brought up but the fact that it has would indicate that you should be able to explain it to someone face-to-face.

I'm not speaking from experience but hoping that this helps. Perhaps there is someone who has dealt with the same thing. I would suggest posting it in the Canada forum as well to see if any fellow Quebec-born Canadians faced this challenge at any time.

Good luck!

[Julie O 5]

Quick update about my case in case someone faces a similar situation in the future.

I showed up to the interview as planned on Tuesday. When my number was called, I gave all the paperwork to a lady and explained that I had brought all the documents requested except a certificate of name change as I have never changed my name. The lady asked me to sit down and about 15 minutes later, she asked me to go back to the counter. I found her attitude quite different when I went back. She was very rude and said I needed either a passport with the name Julie Marie Claire (only the name Julie is listed on both passports I have) or get a name change certificate. When I asked if I could explain the situation with my given names, she just cut me off, didn't want to listen to what I had to say and said the names had to match what is on my birth certificate.

Fortunately, she was not the case officer. During my interview with the case officer, I explained the whole situation and she approved my visa. She didn't ask me to get a new passport. I am hoping to leave for the US next week

[Boggy1974 124]

Great! Finally reason and common sense has prevailed!

But you might want to get the names straightened on all your documents so you don't encounter such unnecessary hassle in the future. Just my thought.

[TBoneTX 45,075]

*** Thread moved from CR-1 Process forum to the CR-1 Case Progress subforum. ***

[raynlyd 3]

Hi Julie O,

My wife is also facing a similar situation. They scheduled her interview in sydney for this upcoming dec 3.

However her middle name shown on birth certificate is longer than that is shown on ther IDs, driver license and passport.

Basically, they cut short her middle name because it was too long.

Quick question for you, hopefully you're still following this...

After the lady at the counter told you that you need name change certificate, did they still call you for the interview? I feel like I'm missing part of the story here...

Thanks for the info.

[Julie O 5]

Hi,

Yes, they still called me to the counter for the interview.

Good luck