Hi everyone! I'm a woman from Pakistan, living in Dubai. And I've recently received an ITA, so I'm filing my documents.
There's one big issue. My dad's name (which I have always entered as my father's name in every form ever, and which everyone calls him too) is not the same as the name on his passport.
I've been using Syed Zakir Ali* as my father's name everywhere, and it's NOWHERE on any of his documents. He's just always been known as Syed Zakir Ali. BUT my "father's name" on my own birth certificate, and his name on his passport are Zakir Ali Abdul Razaq (they just threw his dad's name in the end as a surname). So now I'm perplexed as to what I can do to prove that this is the same man i.e. my dad.
Even if I try to get a notary to sign an affidavit, he doesn't really have any documents where his name is "Syed Zakir Ali". EXCEPT, y'know, on all MY educational certificates and stuff :/
My dad doesn't even have his own birth certificate and it very likely cannot be made anymore because he was born in pre-partition Delhi, India, and he can't go back there. He's in his mid-70s.
I already entered Syed Zakir Ali in my EE profile, and idk if I can/should change it to his passport name in my ITA application. Super confused. This absence of his birth cert has also made it impossible for me to prove my relationship with my paternal uncle in Canada.
A third concern: I have been spelling my first and last name differently online for years. They're the same names, there's just a one letter spelling difference in both the first and last name. I'm a journalist so I've also used the different spelling in my online bylines and social media handles, and I carried on with it for added security. I've written a letter of explanation for this. Will that be enough? Thanks so much if you've managed to read through this massive essay!
1 message of help = bless you with 1 Canadian passport eventually lmao.
There's one big issue. My dad's name (which I have always entered as my father's name in every form ever, and which everyone calls him too) is not the same as the name on his passport.
I've been using Syed Zakir Ali* as my father's name everywhere, and it's NOWHERE on any of his documents. He's just always been known as Syed Zakir Ali. BUT my "father's name" on my own birth certificate, and his name on his passport are Zakir Ali Abdul Razaq (they just threw his dad's name in the end as a surname). So now I'm perplexed as to what I can do to prove that this is the same man i.e. my dad.
Even if I try to get a notary to sign an affidavit, he doesn't really have any documents where his name is "Syed Zakir Ali". EXCEPT, y'know, on all MY educational certificates and stuff :/
My dad doesn't even have his own birth certificate and it very likely cannot be made anymore because he was born in pre-partition Delhi, India, and he can't go back there. He's in his mid-70s.
I already entered Syed Zakir Ali in my EE profile, and idk if I can/should change it to his passport name in my ITA application. Super confused. This absence of his birth cert has also made it impossible for me to prove my relationship with my paternal uncle in Canada.
A third concern: I have been spelling my first and last name differently online for years. They're the same names, there's just a one letter spelling difference in both the first and last name. I'm a journalist so I've also used the different spelling in my online bylines and social media handles, and I carried on with it for added security. I've written a letter of explanation for this. Will that be enough? Thanks so much if you've managed to read through this massive essay!
1 message of help = bless you with 1 Canadian passport eventually lmao.
