No Given Names on British Passport

Hello All,

I recently got the British Passport after naturalization process. The problem I have is,
In my British passport they did not put the given names.

In my indian passport and in all official documents, I have Given names and but no surname.
Indian passport
Given Names : Rajesh Kumar
Sur names : blank

In my british passport, they put given names as XXX
Given Names : XXX
Sur names : Rajesh Kumar

Has anybody faced the same situation? is it the normal thing they do or they made a mistake putting names in passport.
I am thinking it may create problem in future because they put given names as xxx which does not look ok.

Thanks

Seems correct, see the Single Names section

On a passport, a single name will be shown in the surname field, with XXX (i.e. three X's) shown in the forename field. They may also include an official observation explaining the situation.

"Rajesh Kumar" is treated as a single name and goes in the surname field. The XXX then goes in the forename field to show it's unused.

i have same thing by birth i have only one name so the name will go on surname section given name xxx
they issue right passport

How does one go about to prevent this from happening?

Presumably through a deed poll before applying for British passport. But HMPO will not issue a (first) passport in any name other than that reflected in the foreign passport. So if you want to prevent this from happening, change your name in the foreign passport first before applying for naturalisation.


From:
Given Name: Rajesh Kumar
Surname:

To:
Given Name: Rajesh
Surname: Kumar

Thanks all for replying back.

I called passport offce. They said, they cant leave the surname field blank on the passport. It is their policy that whenever person does not have surname, they leave the given name blank (put XXX) and put the surname into given names field.
Surname field is mandatory field in their system they cant leave it blank.

I told them i may have problem in future for mortgae application or filling any other forms (like flight ticket ,new job application form, backgroud verification). I will have confusion what to write in first name and last name field.

They replied that they did this for many applications and no body has any problem in future. They are assuring, there is no problem as all institues and bodies aware of this and they do not create any problem.

They also said i can ask for policy amendment but that will require long time and need a strong reason because it is big change in their process and system. They gave me email id to write this.

Hello Star0421,
Have you got the british passport wirh same problem? or you going to apply.

Hello Sushdmehta,
Yes the is another option to change your name by Deed poll forms.
Then i can change given name to Rajesh and suname to Kumar. But changing name is another painfull process and it may create problem in backgroup verification in case your apply mortgage, loan or bank account etc etc. and you need to give you new name to existing work place and bank accounts and many other places. Everywhere you need change and provide proofs. which i did not want to do.

For now I am going to send them a email to ask for change in policy. Please let me know if you know anybody with same problem and faced any problem in future.

Thanks

ravidhiman wrote:Surname field is mandatory field in their system they cant leave it blank.

If the Surname field is mandatory in their system, a change of policy will take more than a year to take effect. The mechanisms of procuring software services in the Civil Service is tortuous (that is putting it very politely). So, don't be in a hurry for a change.

I would concur with SushDMehta that the best option is to change name via deed poll. "Rajesh Kumar" (if that is the actual name) is an extremely common name in India and I presume that there must have been a cognomen, a nickname to differentiate you from others named "Rajesh Kumar". Such nicknames could be based on your or your family's place of origin or your or your family's occupation. You may wish to consider making such a nickname your formal surname.

ravidhiman wrote:changing name is another painfull process and it may create problem in backgroup verification in case your apply mortgage, loan or bank account etc etc. and you need to give you new name to existing work place and bank accounts and many other places. Everywhere you need change and provide proofs. which i did not want to do.

If you do not want to do it, be content with "XXX" as your first name. I agree with the Home Office that I doubt that that will cause any complications.

Updating your records is easier than you think, so long as you plan it out. One of my work colleagues changed her name and she had a road map for updating her names through all the organisations that needed to be updated. She managed to do that within a month.

And if you think about it, most women have to do that atleast once in their lifetimes. Most organisations have procedures in place for name changes. So, I would say that is far easier than a change of policy in the Home Office.

Hi ravidhiman ,

Did you get your naturalisation certificate without surname in the first place? So was your naturalisation certiricate like *xyz* abc or abc xyz without the *?

I am in similar problem but in my case the Indian passport i submitted had no surname only given names like abc xyz, but I received naturalisation certificate like *xyz* abc. I am not sure how to proceed with this.

Thank you

See Names and changes of name

Three options:
1. In your UK passport application write name exactly as given in Indian passport. Leave it to HMPO to issue a passport as per their policy.
2. In your UK passport application write name exactly as given in Indian passport and include a covering letter requesting HMPO to issue UK passport in the same name format as shown in naturalisation certificate.
3. In your passport application write your name as given in the naturalisation certificate. Leave it to HMPO to issue a passport as per their policy (this route could lead to a communication from HMPO to submit another application form with name exactly as given in Indian passport).

Hi ravidhiman

Did you have any issues in oci card application due to this?

Bennybabyty wrote:Hi ravidhiman

Did you have any issues in oci card application due to this?

Hi,
I have the same scenario, kindly let know how to correct

Hi guys,

I recentlky received British passport ,could someone please let me know what i should be using while booking the flight tickets since my given name in british passport is 'XXX' and surname as 'Shibu Yohannan',do i need to follow the same while booking the flight tickets.I do have an urgent travel comming up.

Many thnaks

Regards
Shibu

Hi Shibu
I had a somewhat similar situation - Managed to get a solution - I will be creating a separate post detailing what I did - hopefully by today or tmw latest.

In the meanwhile can I ask -
1) assuming you had indian passport was it the case that you had no surname in it - and only 2 names in the forename field?
2) for all other purposes like dvla, bank, work etc, was your second name the surname?

If that's the case then you could potentially create a deed poll stating your first name and surname separately and then update your BP?

obviously it may take time - this is more long term route.. (i will post my experience in a separate post)

for your current travel needs I am not exactly sure what's the best route but tbh it is not a big worry - hopefully someone can suggest a solution

Thank you very much appreciate your response .See my comments below :

In the meanwhile can I ask -
1) assuming you had indian passport was it the case that you had no surname in it - and only 2 names in the forename field? Yes
2) for all other purposes like dvla, bank, work etc, was your second name the surname? Yes

For the travel can i book the tickets by keeping forename as 'XXX' and surname as per the British Passport ?

Also if i go with deed poll route then what should i put as my old name ?
Forename and Surname ,i can't leave surname fields as blank in deed poll application ?

Thank You

Hi
Please check
http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1357045

>>Also if i go with deed poll route then what should i put as my old name ?

- Put your full name in the old forename field (with a space between two names)

>>Forename and Surname ,i can't leave surname fields as blank in deed poll application ?

- Yes you can. Pl check above link

>> Flight ticket booking

- I don;t know what's the best route - If able to change passport before travel then probably best (fast track hmpo service? - deed poll you can get in 1 day - extra charge) - Otherwise check with specific airline, get them to write by email (whatever they advice) and take print out in checkin - I don't think it will be a big problem...

Thanks

Hi Ravidhiman,

Glad i spotted your blog, I got my passport in Dec 2016 3rd week, with exactly same scenarios. All 3 given names in Indian passport were printed in same order in Surname of British passport with xxx on Given names, despite our Naturalization application and Passport application carried explicit split of Given and Surnames, even as per Life in the UK test and English eligibility certificates as well.

I successfully travelled to Dublin last week w/o any hassles, booking with Surname and Given name split.

During OCI process I had filled online application with split of Surname and Given name, but they asked me to redo online OCI again as per British Passport ( all names in Surnames and xxx in Given name), which I am due for document submission next week.

Called HMPO they advised me to redo application (normal 8 weeks process), felt not enough confidence in the executive whom i spoke.

I wanted to know if you did anything further on correction in British Passport or just continued with no hassles so far? Pls advise.

Regards,
rmgani

ravidhiman wrote:Hello All,

I recently got the British Passport after naturalization process. The problem I have is,
In my British passport they did not put the given names.

In my indian passport and in all official documents, I have Given names and but no surname.
Indian passport
Given Names : Rajesh Kumar
Sur names : blank

In my british passport, they put given names as XXX
Given Names : XXX
Sur names : Rajesh Kumar

Has anybody faced the same situation? is it the normal thing they do or they made a mistake putting names in passport.
I am thinking it may create problem in future because they put given names as xxx which does not look ok.

Thanks

not sure if this is an active thread anymore...
any one got any constructive reply on this subject , please?

I was unable to find a solution

I also have similar issue and running my first name and surname same same, because when i went to renew my passport my country embassy put both name same and advised to apply for any visa with both name same and also said when you apply for the British passport then get it change through deed poll. Apply for new passport with us then go for the British passport..