Hi -

I was wondering whether anyone here might be able to advise me please...

I have a 13 year old daughter from a marriage to a man who I divorced five years ago. He is of Asian descent and always used an 'Americanized' form of his name until about the time of our divorce when he resorted to using the original Asian version of the name. So my daughter's birth certificate lists a slightly different first name for him than his present driver's license shows.

He was happy to sign the DS-3053 form in front of a notary to give permission for our daughter to obtain a passport and included a copy of his license. But the passport agency have asked, quite fairly, for proof that he is the same man as listed on the birth certificate because of the slight difference in first name. They ask for proof of his name change but all he has done is revert back to using his true name instead of the more US-friendly version so there is no legal record that shows he is the same man!

This means that we might not ever get her a passport until she is over 18 years old. I am planning to marry a British man and we had hoped to be able to travel back and forth between countries.

Will we have to get a revised birth certificate? Will drawing attention to my exes varying names get him in trouble with the government? Will the passport agency accept a sworn statement from him saying that he is the man listed on the birth certificate? If anyone has been in a similar situation or can offer any advice at all on this then it would be incredibly helpful.

Much appreciated.