Place of birth in Visa Applications - Country in the passport doesn't exist
I was filling up the application for the Canadian Visitor Visa for my grandfather. The application form (IMM5257e) asks for the 'Place of Birth' in which we can type in the city/town but have to choose the country from a drop down list.
The instructions for filling the form as mentioned in Govt. of Canada's site say
Question 5: Note, if your city, town, or country or territory of birth is indicated in your passport or your travel document, please record it as it appears in the document.
Now, my grandfather is an Indian citizen but was born in Lahore (Present day Pakistan) before the partition so his passport mentions the place of birth as Lahore, Undivided India.
What do I put in the country? India, as at that time Lahore was the part of British India, or Pakistan, where the place currently exists.
All his previous passports mention (going back to the 60s) either mention West Pakistan or Undivided India - Countries which don't exist anymore - and not countries which exist i.e. India or Pakistan.
He hasn't traveled much in the past decade and most of the applications at his time were paper based where he could've just wrote whatever it was in his passport so it was never a problem.
Best Answer
As a general rule, the information given in the application forms must match the information found in the documents attached to it. Quoting from the FAQ on the Canadian Immigration website:
If the name of my place of birth has changed, what place of birth should I enter in CAS?
In Client Application Status (CAS), use the name of your place of birth that appears on your immigration document.
Therefore, your grandfather should specify the country in which he was born, and not the country to which his birthplace currently belongs: Lahore, India. Even better if the application allows him to be more specific by using Undivided India, or whichever full denomination is shown on his documents. In addition, your grandfather could briefly explain his situation using supporting documents such as, for example, a cover letter.
Fear not. Immigration officers are aware of these situations and are trained to handle them.
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What should I write in place of birth in passport?
<Column 2.5: Place of Birth> If you were born in India, write the place of birth (such as village or town or city), district, and the State or Union Territory in which the place is located, under the respective headings. If you were born outside India, write the country in which the place is located.Can you put UK as country of birth on passport application?
You need to put down the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as your country of birth is, in the popular acronym, simply the UK. Wales is a country, it's also a principality, but it's also part of the UK and that's what will be written on the front of your standard EU pinkish purple passport.What do I put for birth country?
Should you put your residence of birth (your family home at the time) or the specific location of the hospital you were born in? In this case, you must enter the county or municipality that you were born in rather than where you lived. This will usually be where the hospital you were born in was located.What does country of birth mean on passport?
As a general rule with respect to passports, if the place of birth is to be a country, it's determined to be the country that currently has sovereignty over the actual place of birth, regardless of when the birth actually occurred. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live.Hide Your Birthplace if You're Born in THESE Countries! | Reasons to Omit Place of Birth on Passport
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