Hi All, I had the same issue with my name on Indian Passport with blank Surname. I will use John Smith as an example name.
Indian Passport: Given Name : John Smith Surname : Blank
Canada Passport: Given Name : XXX Surname : John Smith
Canada Citizenship Certificate: Given Name : XXX Surname : John Smith
OCI : Given Name : XXX Surname: John Smith
After receiving OCI with Surname as XXX, I got a legal name change done through Service Ontario and got a LEGAL NAME CHANGE DOCUMENT. This document reflected both Old Name and New Name as follows:
Old Name : John Smith
New Name: Smith, John
I took this LEGAL NAME CHANGE DOCUMENT and as first step, I got a new Canadian Passport issued with new name. So my new Canadian passport has name as follows:
Given Name: John
Surname : Smith
(Note:- Canada Citizenship certificate still has my old name. They don't need Citizenship certificate with new name at this point. They will only see the citizenship certificate with Old Name to validate you are a Canadian citizen).
After receiving new Passport, I applied for OCI Miscellaneous Service to get new OCI with my new name. This process requires
Canada Passport (new name)
Legal Name Change Document
** This application for OCI Miscellaneous Service does NOT require Canadian Citizenship Certificate with new name**
After 6 weeks I received OCI with correct name.
Given Name : John
Surname: Smith
As last step, apply for "Replacement of Citizenship Certificate" after Legal Name Change. This is a time taking process and as per CIC website it takes
17 months to get a new Citizenship Certificate. But the good thing is you don't need this certificate for any day to day process. So you can sit back and wait to get new certificate with new name.
After going through this process, I will say its not super complex and is totally worth it.
NOTE:- It is important to get OCI issued first with old name where your Surname is XXX. The reason is when you apply for fresh OCI you need to submit Citizenship Certificate as one of the mandatory document. But when you apply for OCI Miscellaneous service after Name change you do not have to submit Citizenship Certificate.
So if you change your name first without getting an OCI, and get new Canada Passport with new name, you have to wait until you get new Citizenship Certificate before you can apply for OCI.
Happy to answer any questions if anyone might have.