Student application rejected repeatedly: "last name must match billing information"

[eldqyqy2007]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Verification Help & Guidance

Hi everyone,

I'm a first-year student at the Higher Institute of Management and Information Technology (HIMIT), Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt. My school email can't receive messages, so I'm applying with document proof. My application keeps getting rejected with this reason:

"Please ensure that your academic affiliation document contains your last name exactly as it appears in your GitHub billing information."

What I have checked:

• GitHub username: eldqyqy2007
• Billing information: First name "Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed", Last name "Al-Daqiqi" (this is the English spelling stored in my school portal)
• 2FA is enabled and my profile name matches
• My documents are in Arabic, so I photographed the school portal (it shows the institute name, my name, my student code and the 2026/2027 semester) next to a written English translation, and I also tried a tuition receipt from the institute's bursar
• I captured the photos with my device camera

My questions:

1. Could the hyphen or the "Al-" prefix in my last name be causing a mismatch? Should I use "Daqiqi" as the last name instead?
2. For Arabic documents, is there anything else I should include so the name matches?
3. Can someone on the Education team review my case manually?

Thank you for your help

[MalikAhed]

The hyphen may be part of the mismatch, so I would not change the name to “Daqiqi” unless that is the exact legal/billing surname. Keep the spelling consistent everywhere: GitHub billing profile, the English translation, and the official school record. Do not guess or shorten Al-Daqiqi.

GitHub’s student-verification guidance says the replacement document should clearly show your current student status and at least one date. A single, sharp document is better than a handwritten translation beside a phone photo: use a school ID, current transcript/class schedule, or an enrollment letter on school letterhead. If the official document is Arabic, include the institution’s own English version or a certified translation if available, with your full name and the current 2026/2027 date visible.

After correcting the billing spelling and uploading a clearer dated document, reapply through https://github.com/settings/education/benefits. If it still rejects the application, contact https://support.github.com/contact/education and include the school name, website, application ID, and the exact rejection text so Education Support can review it manually. If this fixes the issue, please click Mark as answer.

[eldqyqy2007]

Hi @MalikAhed, thank you for taking the time to help.

I followed every step you suggested, but the result is the same: my application is rejected with "last name must match billing information".

Current setup:

• 2FA is enabled.
• Billing First name: Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed / Last name: Al-Daqiqi.
• The school portal stores my English name as "Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Daqiqi", so the document and billing names are identical.
• The proof is captured live with the camera (not uploaded from the gallery) and shows my full name, school name, student code and the current academic year (2026/2027).

My guesses about the cause:

1. The hyphen in "Al-Daqiqi" or the "Al-" prefix may be parsed differently by the automatic check.
2. The portal splits the name across two lines ("Al-" / "Daqiqi"), which OCR may read as a different last name.

If this is a known issue with Arabic names, could you tell me which format is safest for the last name ("Al-Daqiqi", "Al Daqiqi" or "Daqiqi")? If not, I would appreciate a manual review from the GitHub Education team. I've also opened a support ticket and can share the application ID there.

Thank you again.

[MalikAhed]

Thanks for checking all of that. Based on the details you’ve now confirmed, I would not shorten the surname to “Daqiqi” or change it to “Al Daqiqi.” GitHub’s public guidance does not define a special normalization rule for Arabic surnames, so the safest choice is the exact spelling used by the school’s official English record and your billing profile: “Al-Daqiqi.” Changing it just to satisfy a guess could create a real mismatch.

The line break at “Al-” is worth addressing, but I can’t confirm that it is the cause. For another application attempt, try to obtain an institution-generated English enrollment letter, transcript, or student ID that shows the complete name on one line (or at least makes the hyphenated surname unambiguous), the school name, and a current 2026/2027 date. Don’t edit or manually rewrite the document; keep the original document and any official translation together. GitHub lists these kinds of dated records as acceptable proof: https://docs.github.com/en/education/about-github-education/github-education-for-students/solving-problems-with-your-github-education-access

Since you already opened a support ticket, reply there with the application ID and explain that the billing name and school portal name are identical, that the surname wraps across two lines, and that the proof was captured live. Ask them to check the rejected application or escalate it for review rather than trying more surname variants. Please don’t post the application ID or document publicly.

[eldqyqy2007]

Thx

[MalikAhed]

if it worked please mark as answered i am trying to get an achievement and i am 1 question answer down :)