a question please.
Do we leave question number 6 , about names, empty??
There is no consensus regarding this item. My view is "if in doubt, follow the instructions; otherwise, yep, follow the instructions," which in large part is a corollary to the premise that it is best to give a direct answer based on the
literal meaning of the question (subject to some exceptions).
Item 6 states
"List ALL names that you have used, including name at birth . . . " (emphasis added). The literal meaning of "all names" is clear. My view is that the best way to respond to this item is to indeed list all names ever used, even if there is only one name to list and it is the same as that listed in item 4.
Others have interpreted language in the guide and drop down help to, in effect, interpret "List all names" to mean "List all
other names" (at least other than the name already listed in response to item 4).
It may be the case that IRCC prefers that applicants do not repeat, in item 6, the name given in item 4. But obviously it is not wrong to give a full and correct answer to the literal meaning of the question.
My impression is that item 6 is like many other vague, ambiguous, and problematic aspects of the new form (item 9. c is perhaps the most obvious outright problematic item, although there are significant problems with others, such as the utter vagueness of what is expected in the "contact" column in item 11, the lack of an explanation box for item 16, which is also misleading since some things listed may not actually constitute a prohibition, and several other things which are, at the least, confusing). In particular, either item 6 is poorly worded, or the guide instructions and help information are poorly worded. As already noted, it may very well be, for example, that IRCC does not want the applicant to repeat the item 4 name (or a name given in response to item 5 either, for that matter), despite the "List all names" instruction in the form itself.
But for those who have only ever used one name (never used any initials rather than full names for example, never had any nick names or used abbreviated forms of their name), which of course means those who have always used precisely the name given in original documentation of their birth, listing this name in item 6 and checking "Name at birth" in the details column,
obviously will NOT cause any problems. At the very worst, it is repeating information already given (in item 4).
The alternative, that proposed by those who interpret the item to mean list all other names, is to put NA.
Another alternative is to write "none," as in no other names have been used.
(By the way, actually
neither the help information nor the guide say to exclude or not repeat the name in item 4, and indeed both begin by stating "
We need to know all the names you have ever used in your life . . . " and then go on to describe other names that need to be listed.)