Worried I just made a huge mistake

[mrs. wife! 3]

You should be fine. Just tell her to show the marriage license and it will all work out.

Good luck!

[Betti 1]

I did the same mistake when I booked our tickets to Germany for next year. I booked through Expedia and it will be a Lufthansa flight. About a week after I booked it I saw a thread here on VJ that said they won't let you board, if the name on the ticket does not match the name on the passport. To me the proof of name change via marriage certificate made perfect sense, but both Expedia and Lufthansa said that they will not let me check in if the names don't match, when I called them. Several phone calls and e-mails later I had them cancel my flight and rebook in my maiden name (which is on the passport) for $100 extra. I will still have to carry my marriage certificate I think though, since my greencard is in my married name, but now the flight ticket is in my maiden name.

Most people said to not worry and that they would probably let me fly anyway, but I wanted to be sure to not be turned away on the day of departure and paid the extra $100.

Good luck and I hope it all works out for your wife!

[Joseph and Tsion 0]

Last night I just booked my wife's trip home for the holidays. It's non-refundable and non-changeable, but that didn't concern me when I booked it because everything about how I did it made sense at the time. Now that I've had overnight to think about it, I'm worried I could have made a huge mistake.

My wife is from Russia and holds a Russian passport. You can see from my signature where we're at in the AOS process. I purchased her airline tickets in her married name, which made sense to me since it's now her legal name. Where I'm starting to get worried is that she has very little in the way of identification that shows this as her name. Here's what she has:

Russian passport with her maiden name

South Dakota driver's license in her maiden name (we can't get it changed to her married name until she gets GC or EAD)

Certified copy of our marriage license

Advanced Parole documents in her married name (with her photo of course)

Do you think she'll be okay, or is she going to have problems?

Call the airlines. And have them make a note in the system about the name problem. Shouldnt be a problem

[SMR 368]

Here is a thread from the RUB forum about this very issue, specific to Russia. It seems someone was denied boarding for this very issue. However, she didn't have proof of name-change, which may have been the issue.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t=0&start=0

[Gage 2]

Here is a thread from the RUB forum about this very issue, specific to Russia. It seems someone was denied boarding for this very issue. However, she didn't have proof of name-change, which may have been the issue.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t=0&start=0

I still despair a bit at what to think. I've heard from several people saying they had a problem and I've also heard from several people saying they had no problem. I've talked to three different airline employees so far and all have told me "no problem as long as she has your marriage license." I suppose I could demand that they change the ticket, but so far they've declined saying that it's not necessary.

[clueless_in_usa 8]

While I hope it all works out fine for your wife (and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't), you -- and hopefully many new members on this board -- may now understand how many implications the name change for an immigrant has, even more when it comes to acquiring US citizenship, and many times more so when the person is from a country like Russia that does not allow dual citizenship.

There will always be the issue with two passports, one of the without a valid visa to Russia, two names, one mismatched passenger manifest, and the big riddle which passport to use when leaving Mother Russia again.

All that because of a name change.

Who said that Russia does not allow dual citizenship?

Russia's law says that a Russian never loses his/her citizenship, even after acquiring a new one. Therefore, an American/Russian must enter and leave the motherland with a valid RUSSIAN passport. What the Russian citizen does after leaving the motherland is only his/her own decision.

[Gage 2]

While I hope it all works out fine for your wife (and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't), you -- and hopefully many new members on this board -- may now understand how many implications the name change for an immigrant has, even more when it comes to acquiring US citizenship, and many times more so when the person is from a country like Russia that does not allow dual citizenship.

There will always be the issue with two passports, one of the without a valid visa to Russia, two names, one mismatched passenger manifest, and the big riddle which passport to use when leaving Mother Russia again.

All that because of a name change.

Who said that Russia does not allow dual citizenship?

Russia's law says that a Russian never loses his/her citizenship, even after acquiring a new one. Therefore, an American/Russian must enter and leave the motherland with a valid RUSSIAN passport. What the Russian citizen does after leaving the motherland is only his/her own decision.

That's always been my understanding as well. Russia doesn't necessarily have a problem with "dual" citizenship, but the United States doesn't recognize it with Russia. The whole "dual" term is really confusing to begin with. Let's say a person is a citizen and passport holder from Russia. They move to the United States and eventual become a U.S. citizen, getting a U.S. passport in the process. They're still technically a citizen in Russia since they still have a passport there, and they're also a citizen in the U.S. since they have a U.S. passport, even though the U.S. may not recognize it this dual situation. Off topic anyway, makes my head hurt.

[rebeccajo 14]

Here is a thread from the RUB forum about this very issue, specific to Russia. It seems someone was denied boarding for this very issue. However, she didn't have proof of name-change, which may have been the issue.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t=0&start=0

I still despair a bit at what to think. I've heard from several people saying they had a problem and I've also heard from several people saying they had no problem. I've talked to three different airline employees so far and all have told me "no problem as long as she has your marriage license." I suppose I could demand that they change the ticket, but so far they've declined saying that it's not necessary.

If the airline is telling you (three times) there will be no problem, then there will be no problem. They are the ones who allow her to board.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Last night I just booked my wife's trip home for the holidays. It's non-refundable and non-changeable, but that didn't concern me when I booked it because everything about how I did it made sense at the time. Now that I've had overnight to think about it, I'm worried I could have made a huge mistake.

My wife is from Russia and holds a Russian passport. You can see from my signature where we're at in the AOS process. I purchased her airline tickets in her married name, which made sense to me since it's now her legal name. Where I'm starting to get worried is that she has very little in the way of identification that shows this as her name. Here's what she has:

Russian passport with her maiden name

South Dakota driver's license in her maiden name (we can't get it changed to her married name until she gets GC or EAD)

Certified copy of our marriage license

Advanced Parole documents in her married name (with her photo of course)

Do you think she'll be okay, or is she going to have problems?

I don't think it will be a problem at all to leave it the way you did it.

Also, I'm not sure why you can't change her driver's license. Normally, the dmv only requires the current license and a certified copy of the marriage license to make a name change.

[Betti 1]

I would think so, too. If the airline says not to change it, she will be fine.

In my case Lufthansa actually told me (3 different times I called) that they will not let me board if the names don't match. That's why I chose to change it for an extra charge. They said they have a new rule since September which allows name changes, but only for 3 characters, for cases of misspelling. They do not allow to change the whole last name anymore. They said it had to do with new security rules. Hmpf.

[Gage 2]

Last night I just booked my wife's trip home for the holidays. It's non-refundable and non-changeable, but that didn't concern me when I booked it because everything about how I did it made sense at the time. Now that I've had overnight to think about it, I'm worried I could have made a huge mistake.

My wife is from Russia and holds a Russian passport. You can see from my signature where we're at in the AOS process. I purchased her airline tickets in her married name, which made sense to me since it's now her legal name. Where I'm starting to get worried is that she has very little in the way of identification that shows this as her name. Here's what she has:

Russian passport with her maiden name

South Dakota driver's license in her maiden name (we can't get it changed to her married name until she gets GC or EAD)

Certified copy of our marriage license

Advanced Parole documents in her married name (with her photo of course)

Do you think she'll be okay, or is she going to have problems?

I don't think it will be a problem at all to leave it the way you did it.

Also, I'm not sure why you can't change her driver's license. Normally, the dmv only requires the current license and a certified copy of the marriage license to make a name change.

SD recently enacted a new law that says that to renew, change, or get a new license, you have to have a Green Card or EAD (if you're a foreign national obviously). So now we're stuck with her license in her maiden name until we get one or the other.

I've also talked with Orbitz, the company I booked with, and they've also advised me there won't be a problem as long as she has the copy of the marriage license. So I guess she's as good to go as she can be. The only lingering concern I have is that I'm not sure what the Russians are going to do on the other end when it comes time for her to fly home. She'll have a ticket in her married name, a Russian passport in her maiden name, and a marriage license that they're likely not going to be able to read. To address that, I'm having an official translation done of our marriage license.

[rebeccajo 14]

Last night I just booked my wife's trip home for the holidays. It's non-refundable and non-changeable, but that didn't concern me when I booked it because everything about how I did it made sense at the time. Now that I've had overnight to think about it, I'm worried I could have made a huge mistake.

My wife is from Russia and holds a Russian passport. You can see from my signature where we're at in the AOS process. I purchased her airline tickets in her married name, which made sense to me since it's now her legal name. Where I'm starting to get worried is that she has very little in the way of identification that shows this as her name. Here's what she has:

Russian passport with her maiden name

South Dakota driver's license in her maiden name (we can't get it changed to her married name until she gets GC or EAD)

Certified copy of our marriage license

Advanced Parole documents in her married name (with her photo of course)

Do you think she'll be okay, or is she going to have problems?

I don't think it will be a problem at all to leave it the way you did it.

Also, I'm not sure why you can't change her driver's license. Normally, the dmv only requires the current license and a certified copy of the marriage license to make a name change.

SD recently enacted a new law that says that to renew, change, or get a new license, you have to have a Green Card or EAD (if you're a foreign national obviously). So now we're stuck with her license in her maiden name until we get one or the other.

I've also talked with Orbitz, the company I booked with, and they've also advised me there won't be a problem as long as she has the copy of the marriage license. So I guess she's as good to go as she can be. The only lingering concern I have is that I'm not sure what the Russians are going to do on the other end when it comes time for her to fly home. She'll have a ticket in her married name, a Russian passport in her maiden name, and a marriage license that they're likely not going to be able to read. To address that, I'm having an official translation done of our marriage license.

She won't be dealing with Russians for boarding. She'll be dealing with the airline staff at the airport.

[Gage 2]

Yes, and the airline staff will be Russian Aeroflot agents. If you've never dealt with Aeroflot employees, it's best not to leave anything to chance.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Gage