Changing last name in Poland.Plese help asap

[imagineyes 0]

Help!!! My wife needs to get a new Polish ID card and passport since hers expires in August. We are in the process of waiting for our next correspondence for the green card interview, already went for biometrics in Buffalo, NY. Well, we sent over a certified marriage certificate for her dad to help in her home town's city hall in Poland, but they are looking for a legal document that says she changed her last name to my last name. I live in Erie, Pa and we went to the erie county office but all they can do is give us a gold seal document and a few other documents that help us obtain an aposstille from the state. The nice ladies in the marriage bureau office said that it is assumed that the woman is taking the man's last name and that document doesn't exist in this state. Please any help is much appreciated. Thanks a lot and this is a great online community.

[Agnieszka 0]

Help!!! My wife needs to get a new Polish ID card and passport since hers expires in August. We are in the process of waiting for our next correspondence for the green card interview, already went for biometrics in Buffalo, NY. Well, we sent over a certified marriage certificate for her dad to help in her home town's city hall in Poland, but they are looking for a legal document that says she changed her last name to my last name. I live in Erie, Pa and we went to the erie county office but all they can do is give us a gold seal document and a few other documents that help us obtain an aposstille from the state. The nice ladies in the marriage bureau office said that it is assumed that the woman is taking the man's last name and that document doesn't exist in this state. Please any help is much appreciated. Thanks a lot and this is a great online community.

Does it need to be changed in Poland? Is she getting her ID and passport in the Embassy in the US? Because if she is, a marriage certificate usually has information about changing the name after the wedding. I mean, if you assume that the wife always takes the man's name, that's not accurate, right? What if a woman decides to keep her maiden name? Our wedding certificate says: "name" and then "name after marriage". If your wedding certificate has that information, this should be sufficient.

I'm guessing it's not, though. Polish town halls and offices are very hard to deal with. Why did you send paperwork to your wife's dad in Poland? Sadly, from my experience it's almost impossible to change anything in the town hall here unless you do it in person. The only way for them to acknowledge the fact of marriage and name change is to show your US marriage certificate with a certified translation and complete birth certificate (obtained in the place you were born only) and apply for a Polish marriage certificate. This, unfortunately, can be done only in person, so the idea with your wife's father might not work in this case.

I don't know your situation well enough, but my advice is to skip dealing with anything in Poland unless your wife can go and deal with it in person (note: it can take weeks to issue a Polish marriage certificate). But since you apply for an ID and a passport through the embassy (I'm guessing), they should be able to recognize your US marriage certificate and name change. If they don't, just tell them a document stating the name change does not exist and obtaining it in Poland can be done only in person (which they should know).

I'm not an expert on dealing with embassies (only bad experieces with getting a Polish visa for my husband), but if you have any questions or problems about getting things in Poland, I'm eager to help.

Oh, and the Apostille was not necessary. We got it too, but nobody knew what it was here.

[Ewa81 0]

Help!!! My wife needs to get a new Polish ID card and passport since hers expires in August. We are in the process of waiting for our next correspondence for the green card interview, already went for biometrics in Buffalo, NY. Well, we sent over a certified marriage certificate for her dad to help in her home town's city hall in Poland, but they are looking for a legal document that says she changed her last name to my last name. I live in Erie, Pa and we went to the erie county office but all they can do is give us a gold seal document and a few other documents that help us obtain an aposstille from the state. The nice ladies in the marriage bureau office said that it is assumed that the woman is taking the man's last name and that document doesn't exist in this state. Please any help is much appreciated. Thanks a lot and this is a great online community.

You gotta register you marriage first before applying for any ID's in Poland. I haven't done it myslf yet but I'm assuming that most of those issues can be solved with help from Polish embassy here in US (at least the new passport)

[Anastassia 0]

imagineyes,

this could be a tough one, depending where you live - the farther from Polish Consulate, the more complicated.

You can have the name changed either through Consulate or through relative in Poland. In my case the second scenario didn't work because Consulate in DC didn't want to issue the document the institution in Poland requested. I think the Consulate could have been right but I can't go to Poland just to argue with stupid clerks there and didn't want to put my parents through this hassle.

Consulate will charge about $150 for name change (at least this is what I was asked to pay 2 years ago). I chose to get my new passport in my old name.

Polish ID only in Poland, in person. If your wife knows somebody who works there, they might want to waive "in person" requirement.

[Anastassia 0]

But since you apply for an ID and a passport through the embassy (I'm guessing), they should be able to recognize your US marriage certificate and name change.

Agnieszka,

Polish passports are not issued here in Polish Consulate but in Poland and Polish citizens who live here have to follow the same rules as those in Poland. Consulate will recognize name change but if you want their assistance you need to pay.

Polish authorities won't just assume that she changed her name when she got married, they have to have it in writing and she has to be the one who writes it.

Ana