Booked GRE Exam Date Without Passport; Now in Big Trouble
Don’t book your GRE Exam dates without having passport in hand. If you have applied for the passport, then wait till you receive the passport.
Some of the Indian students apply for passport with name that might be different with what you will register for GRE.
If you are going to have problems with your name (Given, Middle and Surname), then its don’t register GRE or test dates. If you still book the dates, you can run into problem similar to this reader ( potentially going to give-up the GRE fees).
I have a pressing concern about the name changes in passport, and I hope you can help me out.
As you know, in the Indian version the last name comes first and its vice-versa in the American way of doing things. Since I’m gonna apply for next fall, I want to make sure that I don’t get into trouble with the name issued in the passport.
Coming to my name, in all the certificates up and until now, it’s been A.B.CCCC, viz AAA BBB CCC . I booked my GRE date earlier, giving my name as CCC BBB AAA (in the confirmation mail I received, the middle name was ignored and I was addressed as CCC AAA).
It is mentioned pretty clearly on the website that we have to book the slot exactly as in the name of the passport.I’ve been going around the office for a few weeks now and they insist that I can either give my first name as CCC and last name as AAA BBB (which I think will get me into trouble later on), or first name as BBB AAA and last name as AAA (which is ok I guess, but in effect will make my name BBB, which will be weird after 20 years of going by CCC)).I can cope with losing 190 USD and book a slot with the proper name, but I’m worried about the university application process, where the issue of the name will crop up again.Is it necessary to give the middle name while applying to universities?
Is it absolutely necessary the name on my passport is exactly the same as in the booking form?Can I expect any form of lenient allowance?
Sorry for my time-consuming rant, but I’m pretty desperate, with three months for my GRE and no passport.
If you want to avoid such confusion, get things done in following order.
- Get Passport with Surname [ Life is Tough without Surname in the Passport and FNU in US F1 Visa]
- Book GRE Dates
- Book TOEFL Dates
- Verify Name in GRE confirmation
- Incorrect spelling can be corrected at exam center
- Verify Name in TOEFL confirmation
- Incorrect spelling can be corrected at exam center
- Complete exams
- Apply for admission with right names
- Mention that names in certificate will be A.B. CCCC
- Get Visa
- Book air tickets (not book tickets and get visa)
- Fly to US.
If you have a solution to above confusion/problem, please add your comment below. I gave couple of options, but lets see if anyone comes up with different solution.
I booked my gre via ETS at test center AAA…. i did not receive any confirmation email from AAA. what is the procedure to get confirmation email?
I dont have a surname and so do my passport, what should I do?
Hi,
I was about to book the exm date on ETS portal and came to know the passport is mandatory ID proof which I dont have with me yet.
I have applied for the passport..exm date i am planning for is 1 months from now.
I dont think I ll get passport till that date.
I have all other ID proofs like PAN card, Adhar card, Employment letter from my employer etc etc.
so is there are chance of ETS allowing me to appear for the exm?
Did you read what’s in the article above?
yup…there are no exceptions to this policy as mentioned on the ETS site as well (was hoping for one last chance though 🙁 )..
now I am in big trouble and tensed as well, i would like to have your opinion and guidance on the below:
I have initiated the tatkal passport here…which will take around 21 days..then I ll book the GRE date..aprox date for GRE would be around 15th Oct..will it be too late for me? toefel on 31st Oct..then SOP + LOR ..targeting to get everything done by 15th Nov..
will that be too late?
(also, would be great if you can highlight any other basic prerequisites, such as this passport thing, which are very important and cant be ignored..I have been reading your blogs and have subscribed as well..somehow didn’t notice the importance of having passport in hand before starting with anything about GRE 😐 )
hi……,
my name in gre registration & passport are same…..
but my address in passport & confirmation mail from ets differs…
does it cause any issue at the test date?
No problem with adress mismatch .
hi, in my gre registeration my name is A B C(first middle last), in my passport there is no provision for middle name therefore my first name is AB and my last name is C . will there be a problem? plz help.
hi, in my passport my surname is jeyachandran(which happens to be my father's name) and given name is Gokul prasanna……in what way i have to enter my names in the first middle and last name columns of the gre registration…….pls reply asap:):)
i have written toefl exam with my secondary proof .my identity is correct in exam, i got my score with correct identity, my passport is ready with correct identity but not dispatch, am i get any trouble?
There can be any options for the students who had booked the toefl or gre test date but at the moment passpot is not with them . This is not the fault of them as i am giving mine example firssssstly i checked out on the net that when they will despatch my passport they writteen that on the 24 august but they did not but i have taken the date of 18 sep still my passport is not here ……………..i am in big trouble…………………………………………help me………….
ny 1 reading this comment plz -plz plz plz…..help me….plz..plz…
i am in big mess…plz guyz plz help….!!!!!
hi,
i didnt booked my date…..i recieved my passport recently…My name in the passport printed as DURGA VENKATA SANTHOSH(Given Name), GUDLA LOKESHWARA(Surname) but my marks card and other documents contain name as LOKESHWARA DURGA VENKATA SANTHOSH GUDLA, now i am concerned as i do not know what to dotly…my surname is just GUDLA….and address in passport also printed as my present address i.e college address…..instead of my permanent adress……wat shall i do know…shall i book date ….shall i give my gre by having passport by giving correct name in booking form…..or else i have to correct first and ater on giving gre….please help me……
Hi,
I was about to book my gre slot then i realized that name in my passport had my initials missing and now i am in confusion. My name in the passport printed as CHANDRA SHEKAR(Given Name), PATIL(Surname) but my marks card and other documents contain name as CHANDRA SHEKAR PATIL B, now i am concerned as i do not know what to do as my initials in the passport are missing and moreover Indian passport authority do not allow initials, all the initials should be expanded.
Anyone reading this please help me what i should do…..! should i keep my passport as it is or get it corrected…. even if i get it corrected how should i fill the form so that the name in my passport and marks cards match….! Will this kind of error cause any problem while applying for colleges or visa etc…. PLEASE help me as i am completely lost and in absolute state of panic…..!
If u have passport not to worry abt names in gre exam. Himanshu you have registered correctly and you can sit in exam if you have passport with you. It is better to postpone exam if you dont have passport by paying $50 instead of giving 190$ again.
i am also running through same problem…..
I have also booked GRE without my passport…
My name is Himanshu (first name) Hemant (middle name) Deshmukh (Surname)
I have booked my GRE with name Himanshu Hemant Deshmukh…..
Whereas on our passport our surname comes first in first row and in second row first name/second name is present…..
What do i do now….ny 1 reading this comment plz -plz plz plz…..help me….plz..plz…
i am in big mess…plz guyz plz help….!!!!!
hmmm….let's see.
Go get your name corrected in the passport first. If I were you, I just only put [First name] and [Last Name]. Just vomit any middle initial.
I think you can cancel the GRE exam date and still get the refund [not sure] or at least postpone the date of the exam.
Just make sure that the name entered while registering for GRE exactly matches with Passport format. You do not want to screw this up.
Good Luck!
S J
There is no need of worrying about the university application process. Middle name is not important. What matters is your first and last name. When I applied to US in 2008 my univ. (MIT) issued me the form without my middle name. I queried with them as I too was worried but they quelled my anxiety and worry by saying that it is not important. I got my visa without any hassle. I hope this helps.
can u clarify me that GRE is going to be change some questions from august 2010 please suggest me