Spelling of First Name for Visa Application
FR

Translated into English.

Original post
ZO
Hi there,

I’m filling out a visa application for Thailand on the official thaievisa site, and I’m unsure about my second first name on my passport, which I need to enter in the online form: Jean-François. The site doesn’t accept hyphens or "ç"

I assume the site will accept "Jean Francois" as my "middle name," but I’d like to be sure this won’t lead to my visa being rejected...

Thanks for your feedback! :) Olivier
PA Papoucris ·
If your first name has a hyphen like Jean-François, you need to write it in the first box.. If it's Jean, François, it will be two separate first names, so Jean in the first box and François in the second. I had this issue with my wife’s first name, so you can trust me on this.
ZO ZoLive2010 ·
hi

Thanks for the reply, but it seems odd to me:

As I mentioned, Jean-François is my "middle name" (second first name). My "first name" is Olivier. Here are the dedicated fields in the attachment.

My issue with the spelling of Jean-François—with the hyphen not being allowed and the "ç"—still remains. Thanks for your feedback and experiences!

Olivier
TA Tatra Globetrotter ·
Hi,

You don’t have a "middle name"—only some English-speaking people do. You have multiple first names. If you want to include them in your visa application (which is probably necessary), you should treat "Jean-François" as a single first name, in one box. So it should be Olivier, Jean-François, not Olivier, Jean, François. In my opinion, it should be written as Jeanfrancois.

Michel
ZO ZoLive2010 ·
Hello,

Thanks for the feedback!

It’s not that I *want* to include the middle name—it’s mandatory. See the embassy’s attachment... As for writing "Jeanfrancois" without a space, I honestly don’t get the logic?
TA Tatra Globetrotter ·
The embassy’s wording is unclear. If it’s like on flight tickets, all caps with no spaces. Pretty standard.

Michel
ZO ZoLive2010 ·
I just asked AI for confirmation.

Thai embassies know their online form doesn’t accept accents, hyphens, or cedillas. Their own guide (the one you shared with me as an attachment) specifies that you should use the "international" English form of first and last names → meaning the version shown in the MRZ of your passport (the two lines with the chevrons <<<<<<). Visa rejections never happen for this reason, since Thai immigration is fully aware of this technical limitation.

If the form doesn’t accept a space or there’s a glitch, you can exceptionally write JEANFRANCOIS as one continuous string, but the most "official" version is the one matching your MRZ → JEAN FRANCOIS.

You must write it without accents, hyphens, or ç, exactly like in the MRZ.

The Thai form normally accepts spaces → so JEAN FRANCOIS.

If it rejects the space, just merge it → JEANFRANCOIS.

Thanks for your help! :) Olivier
AR Aroythai Globetrotter ·
Hi there, The only website I know for applying for a Thai visa is the one from the Thai Embassy in Paris:

https://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/
aroythai
ZO ZoLive2010 ·
Hello,

Yes, all my info/screen captures come from the Thai embassy website in France and from Thaievisa, the site for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa application.

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