Seeking guidance on verification rejections: Name order differences and network restrictions in mainland China

[redflood111]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Re-verification/Repeat Application

Hi everyone,

Dear GitHub Education Community Managers,

First of all, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the GitHub Student Developer Pack. It is an incredible resource, and as a university student in mainland China, I am very eager to use it to enhance my learning and programming projects.

However, I have been struggling with the automated verification process for a long time. My applications have been repeatedly rejected. After carefully reviewing the guidelines and reflecting on my situation, I realized I am caught in two specific dilemmas that I find very difficult to resolve on my own. I completely understand and respect the need for strict automated verification to prevent fraud, but I am writing to sincerely seek your advice and help regarding my specific circumstances.

1. Name Order Discrepancy (Cultural Difference)
In China, our official documents (like student IDs and enrollment certificates) strictly follow the traditional naming convention: the Family Name (Surname) comes first, followed by the Given Name.

However, Western forms and automated systems typically expect the Given Name first, then the Family Name. This creates an unavoidable mismatch:

• My official student ID shows: [Family Name] [Given Name] (as per Chinese convention).
• My GitHub profile or billing info might be formatted as: [Given Name] [Family Name] (as per Western convention).

Even though these represent the exact same person, I suspect the automated string comparison flags this as a discrepancy. I am unsure how to perfectly align my profile with my documents without breaking the formatting expected by the system.

2. Forced VPN Usage Due to Network Restrictions (GFW)
This is a difficult situation for students in my region. Due to the Great Firewall, accessing github.com in mainland China is heavily restricted. Without a network proxy or VPN, the pages either time out or fail to connect entirely.

This means I physically cannot load the verification page without using a proxy tool. However, the automated system detects this proxy and immediately rejects my application for "VPN usage" or "location mismatch."

I want to be completely honest and transparent: I am not using a VPN to spoof my identity or fake my location. I am a genuine student, physically located on/near my university campus. The VPN is simply the only way I can reach GitHub's servers to submit my application. It feels like a catch-22: I need to access GitHub to apply, but accessing GitHub requires a VPN, and the VPN triggers an automatic rejection.

My Humble Request
I am feeling quite helpless as I truly want to use these educational tools for my studies, but I keep hitting these systemic walls.

Could you kindly advise if there is any alternative verification path for students facing these regional and cultural barriers? If a manual review is possible, I am more than willing to provide my student ID, official enrollment certificates, or any other proof required.

Thank you so much for your time, patience, and understanding. I truly appreciate the hard work you do in maintaining this community.

Best regards,
A student hoping to learn and grow with GitHub