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Change in passport - Separation into Given name and Surname
I have a US visa (B2 Tourist) issued by Chennai (India) consulate on 9th June 2009 (valid for 10 years)in my old Indian Passport. I have recently renewed my passport which was expiring on 10th April 2014 and have now been issued with a new passport expiring on 20th January 2024. My name in the old passport is mentioned in one single line (separating the given name and surname by a space) under the field 'Surname' where however the letters 'Sur" are struck off by ink by the issuing authorities as that passport was not a machine readable passport. The field "Given Name" is left vacant. But, when I applied for US visa with this passport, my name in the visa was mentioned in a single line under 'Surname' as it is in the passport. Under Given Name it was "FNU".
While issuing the new machine readable passport, the Indian Embassy at Riyadh (where I have been residing for the past few years and where the old passport was issued) separated the names and printed my 'Given Name' and 'Surname' under the respective fields correctly.
I am aware that as the US visa is still valid, I can travel to US carrying both the old and new passports. However, I just want to get clarified as to whether this separation into Given Name and Surname is likely to cause any issues at the port of entry in US (usually San Francisco). My undderstanding is that since I carry both the passports and the name is simply separated to read as Given Name and Surname, there should be no issues.
On querying the Chennai consulate with all the above details attaching copies, I got a final reply (the first one was vague) saying I can travel carrying both the passports and relevant documents for proof of name change and explain the circumstances to the officer at the port of entry. The problem is that there were no documents sought and none given as the authorities corrected the error by themselves.
Any 'visa veteran' to throw more light on this? Should I apply for a fresh visa?
While issuing the new machine readable passport, the Indian Embassy at Riyadh (where I have been residing for the past few years and where the old passport was issued) separated the names and printed my 'Given Name' and 'Surname' under the respective fields correctly.
I am aware that as the US visa is still valid, I can travel to US carrying both the old and new passports. However, I just want to get clarified as to whether this separation into Given Name and Surname is likely to cause any issues at the port of entry in US (usually San Francisco). My undderstanding is that since I carry both the passports and the name is simply separated to read as Given Name and Surname, there should be no issues.
On querying the Chennai consulate with all the above details attaching copies, I got a final reply (the first one was vague) saying I can travel carrying both the passports and relevant documents for proof of name change and explain the circumstances to the officer at the port of entry. The problem is that there were no documents sought and none given as the authorities corrected the error by themselves.
Any 'visa veteran' to throw more light on this? Should I apply for a fresh visa?
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