Name change on passport

[sherose 0]

Hi All,

I was wondering when would be a good time to have my wife's name changed on her passport to her new married name? I am a little apprehensive to do it before her AOS interview because the passport has to physically be mailed to the Thai embassy in Los Angeles, have the name changed, then be mailed back to us. I am just afraid that if it were to get lost in the mail, God forbid, and we weren't able to get it back before her interview, some problems could arrise. I guess my question is this: At what point in the immigration process have you had this done?

Thanks,

Evan

[Tex'n'Brit 0]

Hi All,

I was wondering when would be a good time to have my wife's name changed on her passport to her new married name? I am a little apprehensive to do it before her AOS interview because the passport has to physically be mailed to the Thai embassy in Los Angeles, have the name changed, then be mailed back to us. I am just afraid that if it were to get lost in the mail, God forbid, and we weren't able to get it back before her interview, some problems could arrise. I guess my question is this: At what point in the immigration process have you had this done?

Thanks,

Evan

Hi there,

Well, your wife can't travel to a foreign country until she has her 'Green Card' anyway (unless she has an AP document of course), so there's no rush. If I were you, I wouldn't do anything about it until after the AOS appointment, at the earliest. Actually your wife can probably still use her current passport to travel, when the time comes ... The most important thing to remember if your wife wants to travel after getting her 'Green Card' (or an AP document, of course) but before changing her passport is that she must take as long as she takes your original marriage certificate too, assuming it shows both her names on it. Having said that, I would check with the relevant country's policies regarding the passport name issue. American Airlines between USA-UK - for example - don't mind what combination of names you use on the ticket and passport, as long as you have a valid passport and the original marriage certificate with you to cross reference each other. Most people would probably get tickets in the name that matches their passport, but I got tickets in my married name and it caused no problems at all because I had my marriage certificate too.

So ... I got married in October '05, got my 'Green Card' in April '06 and flew back to the UK a few weeks later. I still haven't changed my passport yet. The fact is I'm cheap - it's practically new and I hate having to fork out for a replacement until it's absolutely unavoidable!

All the best,

Sheila

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Hi All,

I was wondering when would be a good time to have my wife's name changed on her passport to her new married name? I am a little apprehensive to do it before her AOS interview because the passport has to physically be mailed to the Thai embassy in Los Angeles, have the name changed, then be mailed back to us. I am just afraid that if it were to get lost in the mail, God forbid, and we weren't able to get it back before her interview, some problems could arrise. I guess my question is this: At what point in the immigration process have you had this done?

Thanks,

Evan

I'd wait until after you get the GC. We actually haven't changed my wifes passport yet and we were approved last October.