Has anyone faced issues abroad with the structure of your name?

General

What's the worst that has ever happened?

In one of the countries I have worked in, the system only allows the first or last word of your name to be listed as your surname

Unfortunately I have the Christian Name - Chinese last name - Two word Chinese first name structure

This meant that in that country, my legal last name the second character of my Chinese first name

Sometimes they initialise all names but the last

so

Andrew Chen Xiao Ming becomes A C X Ming

I pointed out the chevron in the passport, and the clerk was even more confused

Posted Dec 10, 2025, 3:02 AM UTC

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