Legal Name Change

[raki]

Hello. I am over 18 and I want to change my name, but I have several questions. I apologize for the hassle and thank you for your patience.

1. I was not born in Canada, so if I change my name here, will I have to change my American birth certificate name as well?
   My mother will accept it if I change my name as long as the US birth certificate name remains the same.

2. Must I change my passport immediately, or can I wait until it expires?
   I just applied for the 10 year passport before I decided to change my name, and would have to go through the process again immediately if I must immediately change it.

3. I am quite sure this isn’t permitted, but kanji/asian characters are not allowed, correct? Only the English version.

Thank you

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

Regarding your question,

1. I was not born in Canada, so if I change my name here, will I have to change my American birth certificate name as well?
   My mother will accept it if I change my name as long as the US birth certificate name remains the same.

This is an important factor to consider. If you are a dual citizen, you may need to review what implications there will be if you have documents under a different name from your birth country and if there are any requirements or obligations.

2. Must I change my passport immediately, or can I wait until it expires?
   I just applied for the 10 year passport before I decided to change my name, and would have to go through the process again immediately if I must immediately change it.

If you have a passport that is not a Canadian Passport, you may want to contact the nearest embassy to find out what the procedures and requirements are in this case.

If you have a Canadian Passport, you can find some information on the Government of Canada website in the Canadian Passports section.

Here are some excerpts,

The name that appears on your passport is normally the same that appears on your birth or Canadian citizenship certificate.

and

If you are changing your name, you are not eligible to renew your passport. Renewal applications require that you keep the exact same name that’s currently printed in your passport. For any name change, you must apply for a new passport and submit additional documents to support the name change.

Legal name changes
If you have legally changed your name, you must get a new birth certificate or citizenship certificate issued in the new name before you apply for a passport.

Regarding your third question,

3. I am quite sure this isn’t permitted, but kanji/asian characters are not allowed, correct? Only the English version.

That is correct. You can find some information regarding this issue on various government document instruction guides and application forms.

One example states,

Characters of non-Roman alphabets

Only characters from the Roman script/alphabet can be entered on the eTA application form.
Example: Aa, Bb, Cc and French accents such as é, è, ë, ü.

Your country of nationality is responsible for making your names appears in Roman script on your passport.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

=====
Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org