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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on September 6, 2013: |
Julie O
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
The Friday before the interview, I received an email from the Sydney consulate asking me to bring to the interview a certificate of name change. I started panicking as I have never changed my name and the request came in a few days before the interview. I was born in Quebec and the naming tradition at the time I was baptized was to give three given names, 1st given name - Mary for girls, Joseph for boys, 2nd given name - name of a relative and 3rd given name is the usual given name that we use in everyday life. Only our usual given name is listed on government documents such as passport, driver's license, etc. so they thought I had changed my name as only one of the three names on my birth certificate was mentioned on my passport.
I went to the interview as planned last Tuesday. I waited for about 20 minutes before being called by the first officer. I gave her all the paperwork and explained I had brought all the requested documents except the certificate of name change. I mentioned that I had emailed documentation over the weekend to explain the situation with my given names but she just told me to sit down, that should would review everything and call me back to the counter. Once she asked me to go back to the counter, her attitude towards me had changed and she was quite rude. She said I would need to get a new passport that would list all the names on my birth certificate or get a certificate of name change. When I mentioned that I wanted to give further explanations about my given names, she cut me off, said that I would have to do what she told me to do, she didn't want to listen to what I had to say and to talk to the case officer. I didn't know up until that point that she wasn't the case officer.
I was very stressed while waiting for the interview as I didn't want to get a passport that is not in my name (I don't consider my first and second given names as being part of my usual name, nobody uses the first two names listed on their baptism certificate) but at the same time, I probably would have done it to make them happy.
The case officer was very nice, she asked me a few questions about my relationship with my husband and then asked me questions about my given names. I explained the whole situation and she decided that I would not have to get a new passport. It was a huge relief.
If the first officer had been nicer, I would have given a 5 but she made the whole experience unpleasant.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12719