Questions about application... please help!

[AmandaB]

I have two questions I need help with! My husband only has one name, a given name. Culturally, they do not have family names. Do I just write N/A in that spot everytime, or do I need to write an explanation? Also, if we are applying inland, and he is staying here with me, is that what I write as his address? Because technically he is here on a visitor visa, but we gave up our house back in Indonesia to come here, so he doesn't really have an address there.

 

[iarblue]

I never heard of anyone not having a family name.they must have a last name????And just use your address.

 

[PMM]

Hi

I never heard of anyone not having a family name.they must have a last name????And just use your address.

Live and learn, most Nepalese and Indonesians don't have family names nor do Punjabis (other than Kaur and Singh)which aren't really last names.

 

[iarblue]

Exactly learn and live i never knew this,you learn something new everyday.Well then i guess immigration is use to this so put his first and leave the last blank.they will know why.

 

[plumosa]

I have two questions I need help with! My husband only has one name, a given name. Culturally, they do not have family names. Do I just write N/A in that spot everytime, or do I need to write an explanation? Also, if we are applying inland, and he is staying here with me, is that what I write as his address? Because technically he is here on a visitor visa, but we gave up our house back in Indonesia to come here, so he doesn't really have an address there.

I would write N/A in every line AND write an explanation. As for the address, just use your own!

 

[nyssa]

My best guess would be to write Not Applicable in each line asking for his family name, because what else can you do? If he doesn't have one, you have nothing to put there. You should put an explanation and explain that several times if possible. Like iarblue said, they should be used to this from your husband's area. Make sure you explain!

Best of luck to you.

 

[BeShoo]

Wikipedia has an explanation of what they do in the Netherlands, in Germany, and in the United States to deal with the lack of a surname. Maybe one of those would be a good solution. Form the Indonesian names article on Wikipedia:

In the U.S., there are generally three ways to deal with person with only single-word name.

• [size=10pt]
  • Use his/her name as his/her surname, then the official records (ID or Driving Licenses or school records) added FNU (or Fnu) as their first name. This can lead to a false belief that Fnu is a common Indonesian first name.
  • Use his/her name as his/her first name, then the official records (ID or Driving Licenses or school records) added LNU (or Lnu) as their surname. This can also lead to another false belief that Lnu is a common Indonesian surname. In some cases "FNU" will be added after the name, then standing for "Family Name Unknown".
  • Use his/her name as his/her first name and surname, such as Gema Gema.

• 
  
  Personally, I think option 3 would be the best. I'm sure this is not the last time you'll have to deal with this problem.

 

[ariell]

Hi

Live and learn, most Nepalese and Indonesians don't have family names nor do Punjabis (other than Kaur and Singh)which aren't really last names.

Tibetans also don't have last names.

 

[canadianwoman]

The visa officer should know about the name issue. Still, write n/a in the surname fields, and include an explanation.
You can use your address, even though he is 'visiting' - other people on this forum have done that and have had no problems.

 

[joecreosta]

some contries do not have city of birth or date of birth

 

[AmandaB]

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[ariell]

Hi Amanda,

Just to save you a bit of a surprise when your application is processed......


My husband also does not have a last name but just has 2 first names. We put his 2 first names as his given name and then put "not applicable" under family name. The problem is that Canada will not issue you ID with only a first name. So in our case, they issued his visa and all his subsequent ID with his 2nd FIRST name as his last name. They didn't ask us first, that's just how it was issued. So for instance let's say his name was Tenzin Tsering (not really!), he goes by Tsering but now that is his last name! It's a little bit confusing. I know this is a common situation for Tibetans and in speaking to others that only have one first names, it looks like CIC just repeated their first name as their last name as well (e.g. Tsering Tsering) or in one case that I heard of used "X" as their surname! Others I know have just picked a surname for themselves (often the village that they are from) but I don't know what the process is to do this. So I think if it matters to you, you should sort this out ahead of time. My husband kind of wishes that we had known about this beforehand because it's always kind of confusing. Anyway, best of luck to you!

 

[BeShoo]

Ariell, that's why I think the "repeat the first name" method might be best. Otherwise, you might end up being known as "Mrs. X" or "Mrs. Na". (I'm not saying that you're going to take your husband's last name -which doesn't exist anyway] but you know people are going to call you that way, anyway.)

 

[AmandaB]

Do you think we could use my family name, even though it isn't his legal name? His passport only shows his one name, so whatever they issue won't match. Or is it better to just let them issue it however and legally change his name after we get the PR?

 

[ariell]

Ariell, that's why I think the "repeat the first name" method might be best. Otherwise, you might end up being known as "Mrs. X" or "Mrs. Na". (I'm not saying that you're going to take your husband's last name -which doesn't exist anyway] but you know people are going to call you that way, anyway.)

Well I'm not sure that I agree with that. Not sure I'd want to be known as Bob Bob or Mary Mary. ???