Tweet
Visa stamped - Surname mismatch in Machine-readable zone on Passport & Visa
I have a peculiar situation. I hope one of you can point me to the right direction.
I am in India right now. My passport was reissued (after 10 years) while I was in the US. The reissued passport had an alphabet missing in my surname. My surname was very lengthy and the last alphabet of the surname was missing (I didn't have this problem in the Old passport). I checked by going to the Indian Consulate in Chicago and I was told that the machine-readable zone (MRZ) in the passport had my full surname (including the missing alphabet) and it was due to the space issue that my Surname isn't showing an alphabet at the end. The person at the counter in the Indian Consulate also showed me that in their system my Surname was recorded correctly. He assured me that I won't have a problem at the airport because when it's swiped, it shows my full name (including the missing alphabet).
So, I used this new passport details for my PERM/I-140/Petition. Now, when I went to get my visa stamped, in the OFC, I was asked to use whatever is shown in my Surname field and not what's present in the machine-readable zone of my passport. So, I had to use the Surname which was displayed in my passport with the missing alphabet. My Visa was also issued with the missing alphabet. The Machine-readable visa also had the alphabet missing. So, now, the machine-readable zone in my passport doesn't match with the machine-readable visa due to that one missing alphabet.
I checked with the US Consulate here in India and they came back to me saying that the Surnames on the passport and visa match. So, there is no need to correct my visa. But, I don't know if they noticed that the machine-readable zones on my Passport and Visa have a mismatch of one alphabet.
I am concerned about what would happen at the Port-of-Entry if the machine-readable zones of passport and visa are compared. Could I have an issue at the Port-of-Entry? Will the name on I-94 also have alphabet missing because it's missing on my visa page?
Should I get my passport reissued again in India (remember my passport was reissued first in Chicago) and do the H1B amendment and go for stamping again? That could be very painful.
Please help, guys! Please!
I am in India right now. My passport was reissued (after 10 years) while I was in the US. The reissued passport had an alphabet missing in my surname. My surname was very lengthy and the last alphabet of the surname was missing (I didn't have this problem in the Old passport). I checked by going to the Indian Consulate in Chicago and I was told that the machine-readable zone (MRZ) in the passport had my full surname (including the missing alphabet) and it was due to the space issue that my Surname isn't showing an alphabet at the end. The person at the counter in the Indian Consulate also showed me that in their system my Surname was recorded correctly. He assured me that I won't have a problem at the airport because when it's swiped, it shows my full name (including the missing alphabet).
So, I used this new passport details for my PERM/I-140/Petition. Now, when I went to get my visa stamped, in the OFC, I was asked to use whatever is shown in my Surname field and not what's present in the machine-readable zone of my passport. So, I had to use the Surname which was displayed in my passport with the missing alphabet. My Visa was also issued with the missing alphabet. The Machine-readable visa also had the alphabet missing. So, now, the machine-readable zone in my passport doesn't match with the machine-readable visa due to that one missing alphabet.
I checked with the US Consulate here in India and they came back to me saying that the Surnames on the passport and visa match. So, there is no need to correct my visa. But, I don't know if they noticed that the machine-readable zones on my Passport and Visa have a mismatch of one alphabet.
I am concerned about what would happen at the Port-of-Entry if the machine-readable zones of passport and visa are compared. Could I have an issue at the Port-of-Entry? Will the name on I-94 also have alphabet missing because it's missing on my visa page?
Should I get my passport reissued again in India (remember my passport was reissued first in Chicago) and do the H1B amendment and go for stamping again? That could be very painful.
Please help, guys! Please!
Comment