shall we change passport name before or after PR appl - Spousal Sponsorship

[goyalnilay]

Hi,

I am a Canadian citizen and am sponsoring my wife (Indian citizen) for Canadian permanent residency.

My question is shall I change her last name on her Indian passport before submitting the PR application or after that?
Her last name will be changed from her current maiden last name to my last name. The first name will remain the same. The changes in passport will also include addition of my name in her passport as Husband's name.

This change will add to the delay in application. The other option is apply first with her maiden name and while the PR application is in process, change the name on her passport. When her PR is approved and the passport needs to be submitted to CIC, can we submit her new passport with her new name?

Kindly advise as soon as possible on this.

Thanks,
Nilay

 

[guri3577]

Changing last name is a personal choice, it will have no impact on your application. On the other hand as you mentioned if you apply for change of name it will delay your application. Just keep the same name for now and change it once everything is done.

 

[keesio]

My wife changed her last name on her passport after submitting the application and notified CIC of this while her application was being processed. As for if this delays, I heard mixed opinions. Some say it will delay, others say they did it and had no problems. I even called the call centre and they said that this is a common scenario and should not be a big problem. So we took a chance.

That said, she did get PPR 3 weeks ago and she resent in her passport with her new last name and eCAS still has not updated to Decision Made (seems like the usual update time is 2 weeks). So maybe this is holding things up? I have no idea. She did e-mail the VO for an update and the VO replied simply that they have everything they need (which i suppose could mean anything).

 

[truesmile]

On the other hand, we changed last name in passport before submitting our application. It most definitely did not delay our application (different VO mind you). If anything I feel it may have added to the "genuineness of relationship" case (IF there was any doubt). Let's face it, a fraudulent applicant probably would rather not change their name if they don't have to.

 

[goyalnilay]

Thanks very much to all for the replies. We will not change the passport as of now and apply with the old name. We will take decision on whether or not to change the name once everything is completed.

Thanks again,
Nilay

 

[msblithe]

Hi Nilay,

I am from the Philippines married to a Canadian citizen. My husband and I have just submitted our spousal visa application. I used my maiden name in all the documents submitted. We plan to submit the change of my surname(which is his surname) as soon as I get my new updated passport.

Please share your experience. I need your insight before making any moves. How did you do with your spousal visa application? Do you think that changing Surname during the application process will delay our application?

If I were to submit the change of surname, should I submit it while the application is in Mississauga or when it is transferred to my visa office of my home country?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Hi Nilay,

I am from the Philippines married to a Canadian citizen. My husband and I have just submitted our spousal visa application. I used my maiden name in all the documents submitted. We plan to submit the change of my surname(which is his surname) as soon as I get my new updated passport.

Please share your experience. I need your insight before making any moves. How did you do with your spousal visa application? Do you think that changing Surname during the application process will delay our application?

If I were to submit the change of surname, should I submit it while the application is in Mississauga or when it is transferred to my visa office of my home country?

Thank you very much in advance.

this is an old thread, so i'm not sure the original poster is around.

it is possible to change your name during your application process. it does not cause delay. if the principle applicant is changing their name, then it's best to wait until the application is at the visa office before submitting an updated passport. mississauga is responsible for sponsor applications and checking for completeness of packages, so it can cause confusion and delay in sponsor approval if you randomly send a copy of something to be attached to a file that hasn't even been opened yet. just wait for sponsor approval and then send the appropriate information to the visa office when it's been transferred.

 

[Hardcookie]

this is an old thread, so i'm not sure the original poster is around.

it is possible to change your name during your application process. it does not cause delay. if the principle applicant is changing their name, then it's best to wait until the application is at the visa office before submitting an updated passport. mississauga is responsible for sponsor applications and checking for completeness of packages, so it can cause confusion and delay in sponsor approval if you randomly send a copy of something to be attached to a file that hasn't even been opened yet. just wait for sponsor approval and then send the appropriate information to the visa office when it's been transferred.

Thank you CDNPR. Its true the owner of the the thread was last active May 2015. My husband is the sponsor and we were thinking of the same. i would like to change my name to his surname and update my Visa office once the file has been transferred. I guess that will be in order. i desire my PR to have my husband's surname. But in case you find some more details, please share with us.

Thanks once more!

 

[Alidykeman]

Hi,

I agree changing name will takes lot of effort and time to get it done. i got married last Jan to a canadian who will sponsor me, i'm from philippine, . we choose to change my name first before applying. its more personal choice and also i think the right way. so i will not bother to update in the long run. until now i'm waiting to have our authenticated report of marriage so i can renew passport.
hopefully by june 2016 we can send our application by then.

 

[keesio]

My wife changed her last name on her passport after submitting the application and notified CIC of this while her application was being processed. As for if this delays, I heard mixed opinions. Some say it will delay, others say they did it and had no problems. I even called the call centre and they said that this is a common scenario and should not be a big problem. So we took a chance.

That said, she did get PPR 3 weeks ago and she resent in her passport with her new last name and eCAS still has not updated to Decision Made (seems like the usual update time is 2 weeks). So maybe this is holding things up? I have no idea. She did e-mail the VO for an update and the VO replied simply that they have everything they need (which i suppose could mean anything).

If it delayed things, it was minimal. My wife got COPR in 7 months

 

[msblithe]

Thank you very much CDNPR2014. Glad to hear from you. I will definitely follow your advice.
We have submitted our application last March thru FEDEX and they received it last March 22, 2016.

We are patiently waiting for the AOR. A friend of mine whose husband is a Filipino and a permanent resident in Canada has already received their AOR after one month and 7 days. They applied last March 2016 also. we have waited more than those days. My husband is a Canadian citizen, was wondering if they give priority to couples with the same nationality than one who is of different nationality married to a Canadian citizen.
I read some threads that it could take 68 days for CIC to send approval of sponsor. So, it gave me peace of mind.

What do you think?

 

[graceygrace]

Hi All, I just need some advise. Im a filipina and just recently married to a canadian citizen. We are planning to submit my PR application however I was confused if I will need to update my passport and ids. The story is I'm currently working in the middle east and updating passport and ids might get me in trouble as it won't match my Residence Visa details that was issued in the Middle East. My husband is back on his home country. Please advise. Thanks