Name change in own country after marriage to a USC?

[Val Marty 1]

Just wondering how do you go about changing your last name on your passport. I am a Bulgarian citizen and my country accepts dual citizenship so I know that it shouldn't be a problem changing the name, but has anyone gone through it and what is the procedure?

[DaniG 3]

I just did that. You have to have one of your parents go to the municipality where your permanent address is and ask exactly what documents they require (BG public officials always know best and rarely follow the same standard, so in every municipality it can be slightly different). You can only change your name if your marriage certificate explicitly states that your name after the marriage will be different; otherwise you can do it only by hiring a lawyer and petitioning the court in BG.

Anyway, the documents I needed for my BG name change were:

• marriage certificate with apostille (from state capitol) - my parents then had it translated in BG
  
• hubby's birth certificate to show he is a US citizen (they need that for their database)
  
• a copy of my passport because they wanted to see the visa with which I entered the US (no idea why)
  
• power of attorney (pulnomoshtno), so that my parents could file all that in the municipality without me having to go back to BG - with apostille because it was notarized by a US notary. If you sign it in the BG embassy, you do not need an apostille, but the BG embassy was too far away for me and the apostille was much cheaper than what they charge.
  

When you (or your parents) bring all these, the municipality in BG issues a Bulgarian marriage certificate, which states that your name after the marriage will be [new name]. They do not return your original documents to you.

You go to the police in BG or to the closest BG embassy or consulate with this BG certificate (original, they do not accept copies) and now you can apply for a passport under your new name. They will not accept the US marriage certificate in place of the BG one (but you should bring it too, to show them how to spell your name in English, otherwise they will use the stupid conversion table)!take

Good luck!

[littlecrazyangel 1]

You can go to any consulate/embassy here in Us. There are 4, the make the registration of your wedding in Bulgaria and they will make your new passport. It takes only one day.

http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/UnitedStates

[DaniG 3]

Littlecrazyangel, yes, you are right in general. But the Bulgarian embassies would return you if you do not present to them the Bulgarian marriage certificate I described above without caring how many hours/days it took you to travel to the embassy (the reason is that they want to make sure your marriage was registered and your new name is in the BG system before they let you apply for a passport with the new name - stupid and burdensome, but go argue with them!). I have personally spoken about it with three Bulgarian consular officers and they all told me they have the same document requirements, which are also listed on their website, I believe. I need to change my passport urgently because mine is expiring and I would have just gone to the BG embassy instead of sending documents back and forth if it were possible; alas, it is not, they were adamant about it.

For other countries,the procedure is probably different and in most cases much easier.

For anyone getting married in the U.S. and wanting to change their name in their native country as well, I would recommend calling the embassy or the passport-issuing authorities before the wedding and informing themselves about the steps they need to take.

Edited March 25, 2010 by DaniG

[DaniG 3]

Also, the BG embassies do not make passports - they just forward the application to the Bulgarian authorities, who send your passport to the U.S. in several months (they are trying to make that faster with the new passports but it will still take at least 3 months to receive your passport).

[littlecrazyangel 1]

Littlecrazyangel, yes, you are right in general. But the Bulgarian embassies would return you if you do not present to them the Bulgarian marriage certificate I described above without caring how many hours/days it took you to travel to the embassy (the reason is that they want to make sure your marriage was registered and your new name is in the BG system before they let you apply for a passport with the new name - stupid and burdensome, but go argue with them!). I have personally spoken about it with three Bulgarian consular officers and they all told me they have the same document requirements, which are also listed on their website, I believe. I need to change my passport urgently because mine is expiring and I would have just gone to the BG embassy instead of sending documents back and forth if it were possible; alas, it is not, they were adamant about it.

For other countries,the procedure is probably different and in most cases much easier.

For anyone getting married in the U.S. and wanting to change their name in their native country as well, I would recommend calling the embassy or the passport-issuing authorities before the wedding and informing themselves about the steps they need to take.

Sorry I didn't know. The Romanian embassy/consulate makes the registration of marriage in Romania and they make the passport. I thought that in every country is the same or similar.

[Val Marty 1]

thanks for the replies guys. DaniG, where do I get the apostille? Also What do you mean by the marriage licence saying that I will be changing my name. They never asked anything like that. I know they ask in Bulgaria, but they didn't ask us here. I am also thinking about doing it myself when I go back next year, or earlier. Just worried about the whole traveling thin and the name on the tickets, etc.

[DaniG 3]

thanks for the replies guys. DaniG, where do I get the apostille? Also What do you mean by the marriage licence saying that I will be changing my name. They never asked anything like that. I know they ask in Bulgaria, but they didn't ask us here. I am also thinking about doing it myself when I go back next year, or earlier. Just worried about the whole traveling thin and the name on the tickets, etc.

You can get an apostille only in the capital of your state, usually in the capitol building where the office of the Secretary of State is located. I think they do it by mail too. It is a page certifying that the document was indeed issued by the US authorities (and states the agency and person that issued/notarized it). You need this on your marriage certificate, otherwise they would not take it in Bulgaria.

The name change on the marriage license depends on the state where you got married. Some states allow you to change your name at the time of the marriage, while in other states (such as Massachusetts, I think) name change is a separate procedure from marriage because they decided it was discriminatory or something (that's what I've heard from Americans at least). Now, the thing is that Bulgarian law allows you to legally change your name only in two instances - when you get married and when you specifically petition the court stating a valid reason for the name change (+ adoptions). This is why if your US marriage certificate does not say that after the marriage your name will be Mrs. "Husband," in Bulgaria the clerk registering your marriage will refuse to change your name unless you go to court to do it.

I think there is an exception to this in cases when the country where you got married does not allow you to take your husband's last name at the time of the marriage (one of the Scandinavian countries was included, and they require you to present some kind of certificate either from the consulate of the country or the BG Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I don't remember) - then they can allow you to take his name when you register the marriage in Bulgaria. I don't know if they would do it for a state, however. If your marriage certificate does not state that you take your husband's name, it would be a difficult task to change it. But if they put it in the translation of the US marriage certificate anyway, that's all the BG officials would read - they will not even care to see the US certificate in most cases and will write your names exactly as they appear in the translation.

Edited April 6, 2010 by DaniG

[Val Marty 1]

That was a good explanation - thanks a lot. I guess I will ask to be added to the translation. Thank you!

[coocoo 2]

Hey guys,

Just to present an alternative here, I've been married for almost 3 years and traveling back and forth between Bulgaria and the States with my US papers (including green card) in my husband's name and my Bulgarian passport in my maiden name. We just never bothered to go through with the whole marriage registration thing in Bulgaria. We live in the States and we only vacation in Bulgaria. We didn't feel like it was a big deal and I've never had any issues at borders. The biggest problem I'm having is that my air travel rewards accounts sometimes have one of the names on them and my tickets are sometimes booked to the other name, so I'm having a hard time getting my miles. But that's about all the grief I've had, fyi.

[Petya_BG 0]

Hello,

I am a Bulgarian citizen and I married an American in USA, Nevada. I need to change my name on my Bulgarian passport but the Bulgarian officials require a legal document that clearly states that I changed my name. This is usually shown on a marriage certificate but not in the case of the state of Nevada. My marriage certificate shows only my maden name and does not declare in any way that I chose to take my husband's last name. What do I do? What other document can I use as evidence of name change?

Thank you.