Immigration: What to do if I want to correct my father's name in my passport?

Ramesh Rawal

Question: My mother was born in Uganda. Had to come back to India in 1972 due to Idi Amin's rule in 1958. And he had a British passport, which I have renewed. My aunt lives in London. He calls my mom to meet there, so what to process if he wants to go to London? Every agent talks differently. I am a bit confused. What should I do?- Riddhi Shah, Ahmedabad Answer : Since your mom has a British passport, she can enter British territory ie UK. There should be no adverse remarks in their passports. Agents work for tickets and tours. Not to give legal advice. If you need written proof in this matter then you can check in person or by email at the British visa office in Ahmedabad or your aunt living in London should take a copy of the passport and consult an immigration lawyer i.e. barrister there. There is no problem in going after that. Question: My ex-husband filed an immigration petition for me, but since we both decided to live separately, the file was closed due to separation. I applied for an F-1 visa for a master's degree, but it was rejected. I have a B-1/B-2 visa. So should I reapply directly for F-1 visa?- H. Patel Answer: No. There is no need to reapply now, as your closed immigrant file and F-1 rejection may cause problems. Before applying for the first time, you could have gone to the US on a visitor visa and consulted an American expert to change the status to an F-1 student visa there. Now if you apply for the second time, do not apply except for preparation of very good performance, college with ranking etc. Question: My F-3 priority date is 3-12-2009, so what is the waiting time for his interview visa call?- Sameer Patel, Ahmedabad Answer: If you have completed all the steps of your welcome letter, then your interview call The waiting is over. So the letter may arrive shortly, subject to the above mentioned conditions. Question: I want to apply for an Indian passport, but I am a resident of Nepal and married an Indian citizen three years ago. Even now I live in India. I want to go to Dubai immediately, so is it possible?- Shruti Jaha Answer : If you are a citizen of Nepal and have a Nepalese passport, check with Dubai immigration whether you can go to Dubai through it or not and they will issue you visa on arrival at Dubai airport. Or have to get a visa first? If you are going to live permanently in India with your Indian citizen husband, then you should apply for citizenship of India under Section-5 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Thus, you can get an Indian passport after getting the citizenship certificate. If Soniaben Gandhi, a citizen of Italy can become a citizen of India, so can you. Question: I have changed my son's name through gazette and he is NRE meaning (Non Resident External). Now I want to change his name in Aadhaar card, but Indian Govt wants his biometric. Now since my son is not staying in India, can he get biometric i.e. fingerprint through the consulate office abroad?- Sanjay Shah, Ahmedabad Answer : Changing the name in gazette does not legally change the name. But the name can be changed after taking all the steps as per the law decided by the government. If your son agrees to check with the Indian Embassy or Consulate where he is staying, biometrics can be done and presented in India. Question: In my passport my father's name is 'Jayrambhai' instead of 'Jerambhai' due to spelling mistake. So can it be changed? The correct name is Jerambhai.- Doctor Praful Patel, Ahmedabad Answer : Yes, the correct name can be corrected in the passport. Applying to the passport office along with proof of correct name indicating the name that has been mistaken. This can be done in person at the passport office or by email. Question: My sister filed F-4 petition for my family in 2008, in which my elder son is currently in US on H-1B visa and he is married. My other son lives in Canada on a work permit. So will both my sons get visa when the file is opened?- Suketu Shah, Bhavnagar Answer : As your elder son is married he will not get immigrant visa for green card. As you say, both the sons are above 25 years of age, so for the younger son to appeal for aging out, you can give my opinion on whether the appeal can be made or not by sending the copy of his birth certificate, approval letter with I-797 and the priority date of your file. (The author is an immigration expert advocate and licensed legal consultant in the US.)