Surname addition on passport after H1b petition approval but before visa stamping

[rehaana]

Hi,
My H1b petition was approved under the name 'Rehaana LNU' because my passport did not have a last name.

During the H1 interview, they gave me 221G at Chennai and asked me to get a new passport because it had got damaged. My query :

1. They haven't asked me for any other documents except a new passport because the old one is damaged (some pages are stained because of water spill). Does it mean that the visa is rejected because they said that I am qualified for visa but they need to do additional processing. Yet, they did not ask me for any docs?

2. My name on the passport is Rehaana (first name) only. The last name field is empty. I know that this causes problems while taking Driving license/state id in us. I was thinking to apply for the new passport in the name of "Rehaana Parmar" (change my name on the passport to add surname - my father's name).
The issue is that the visa interview and the h1b petition were filed under the name Rehaana LNU. Now, when I am under 221G and they have asked me to send them a new passport, would adding a surname to my name in the passport cause a problem?

Thanks for the help,
Rehaana.

[shervin143]

Very hard to predict. If they go with the information that you have filled in DS160, then there will be a mis-match between the passport and the visa. If you get the passport with your first name and last name, then while submitting the passport include a cover letter stating that the DS160 was filled with your previous passport information and you want the visa as per the passport (last name included).

If you really want to make sure this doesn't complicate things, then you can withdraw the current visa application and file a new one with the new passport. But you have to mentioned the previous withdrawal (221g) as visa rejection while completing the new DS160.

Talk to VFS helpdesk and see what they have to say.