Australian Passport & Name Change process

[Jamie and Skye 0]

I think it does, I'll need to double check with Skye because it was her question but thank you very much. : )

-J

Edited June 12, 2011 by Jamie and Skye

[kiria&daniel 23]

hi there...

I have booked my flight tickets under my maiden name...(in my australian passport)

However all of my AOS, AP AND EAD is under my married name...

I have given enough time for my AP to be done before flying...

so when I go there/come back...should i just show my marrage cert. to prove my last name change...which will be on the AP?

Thanks

Kiria

[VanessaTony 3,567]

hi there...

I have booked my flight tickets under my maiden name...(in my Australian passport)

However all of my AOS, AP AND EAD is under my married name...

I have given enough time for my AP to be done before flying...

so when I go there/come back...should i just show my marriage cert. to prove my last name change...which will be on the AP?

Showing your marriage cert to link to the AP is great. Will you be changing your passport while you're there? You know it's free if changed within a year of marriage right? Or will you at least be starting the name change process while there? (the official name change in Aus will make getting the passport easier).

[SharynY 2]

my aussie passport still has 2 years on it till it expires ... and i have to visit australia for my mother who is really sick ... but im not travelling alone, i will have my 3 year old daughter with me who was borne in the US AND will have her own passport ...

so my question is this ..

i will have my maiden name passport, marriage license, and green card with me, .... do i book the tickets in my maiden name? or my married name .... ?

thankyou in advance.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

my aussie passport still has 2 years on it till it expires ... and i have to visit australia for my mother who is really sick ... but im not travelling alone, i will have my 3 year old daughter with me who was borne in the US AND will have her own passport ...

so my question is this ..

i will have my maiden name passport, marriage license, and green card with me, .... do i book the tickets in my maiden name? or my married name .... ?

thankyou in advance.

I'm sorry you're going home for a sad reason and I hope your mum is okay.

Well I was told that your ticket just needs to match "government issued photo-ID" which is a GC but that was in 2010 and I believe things have changed since then 'cause of fraud or whatever. As you are entering with your passport and not changing it while there (I entered with maiden name and changed it to married while there) i would get your ticket in your passport name, and you'll need to take your marriage certificate (not licence) with you and GC and you'll be fine

Also, your daughter has her US passport and Australian passport correct?

Edited February 16, 2012 by Vanessa&Tony

[SharynY 2]

No she has her US Passport only (or will have as soon as i apply for one) ... i havent even started on the citizenship by birth decent for her ... shes only 3 and i figured i had time

[VanessaTony 3,567]

No she has her US Passport only (or will have as soon as i apply for one) ... i havent even started on the citizenship by birth decent for her ... shes only 3 and i figured i had time

You might want to look into the rules. I know for USC children if they are eligible for USC they cannot enter the US on visitor visas etc, they need their passport first (friend of mine got into a little bit of trouble for it). I don't know if the same rule applies for Australia. Your child would be entering as a visitor with visitor restrictions.

I don't know how long you're home for but I would look into applying for your child's citizenship and passport while you're there. It would be a lot quicker.

[SharynY 2]

If i take her, she will have her US passport plus the ETA thingie ... visitor thingie that australia requires ....

[VanessaTony 3,567]

If i take her, she will have her US passport plus the ETA thingie ... visitor thingie that australia requires ....

Yep yep like the VWP. She isn't treated as an Aussie. She has stay requirements and all that but I don't know if that's against the rules 'cause technically she's an Aussie, she just hasn't got her passport or all that. Just give the Aussie embassy in the US a call, without giving identifying info, and ask them whether it's okay for her to do that. I know for the US it's not okay and if she was born in Aus she'd need her US passport before travelling to the US

[Athena13 10]

Ah it's my turn, originally I don't wanna change my surname but now I have to (don't ask why)

- Im an Aus citizen by naturalisation (in 1998)

- then in 2002 I officially changed my first name, so I got a NSW "Change of Name certificate" from RBDM. and later on changed every documents, except my birth certificate of course.

- Me getting married this month (June 2012) and will return to Australia for my wedding in Nov. and stay for 2-4 weeks then back to US for good.

- When I was in Sydney earlier this year, i renewd my NSW drivers licence for 1 year (since i won't be living in Aus)

We will be getting married next Monday in SF city hall. then i will apply for my SSN, AOS, EAD and AP under my new married name. in this county, we will have to buy the 'certified copy of marriage certificate' they don't give the original (e.g. in MA they do).

So after reading this wonderful thread (Thank you Vanessa again~ :oD) i'm thinking...

- this Nov when i go back, when booking ticket, i will use my maiden name.

- i'm not sure if i will change my AUS passport to my new name on this trip, i know it will be free. It originally will expire in Jan 2015, i shouldn't wait til 2014 right?

- If i don't change my passport during this Aus visit. I change it later (after 1 year) in US California, is showing the marriage cert enough as proof?

- Thought I will change my AUS bank card and Medicare card during this trip? With the certified marriage cert (CMC)?

- So there is absolutely no trouble to go back to US (after Nov) with my maiden name passport and new name AP?

- Later on i will do a master degree here in US under new name, and when applying to professional organisation, where i need to show my AUS bachelor degree document in my maiden name, I just need to send a copy of the CMC?

- what about transfering money from AUS to US, with paypal its not an issue? (Vanessa knows more about this I suppose)

- another thing, later on I got green card with new name, when I want to sponsor my dad from China to visit me, i need to show both the NSW change of name cert and the US CMC to prove that he is my dad?

Thank you guys~

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Ah it's my turn, originally I don't wanna change my surname but now I have to (don't ask why)

- Im an Aus citizen by naturalisation (in 1998)

- then in 2002 I officially changed my first name, so I got a NSW "Change of Name certificate" from RBDM. and later on changed every documents, except my birth certificate of course.

- Me getting married this month (June 2012) and will return to Australia for my wedding in Nov. and stay for 2-4 weeks then back to US for good.

- When I was in Sydney earlier this year, i renewd my NSW drivers licence for 1 year (since i won't be living in Aus)

We will be getting married next Monday in SF city hall. then i will apply for my SSN, AOS, EAD and AP under my new married name. in this county, we will have to buy the 'certified copy of marriage certificate' they don't give the original (e.g. in MA they do).

So after reading this wonderful thread (Thank you Vanessa again~ :oD) i'm thinking...

- this Nov when i go back, when booking ticket, i will use my maiden name. name on passport yes

- i'm not sure if i will change my AUS passport to my new name on this trip, i know it will be free. It originally will expire in Jan 2015, i shouldn't wait til 2014 right? When you do the free change it keeps the same expiration date of your original passport. So if yours is expiring soon anyway, just change the name then (if you don't mind keeping it in your maiden name for a while)

- If i don't change my passport during this Aus visit. I change it later (after 1 year) in US California, is showing the marriage cert enough as proof? No unfortunately. Because you got married in the US you will need to get a name change done with BDM (which you need to pay for) and then you use the name change cert to get it. If you were doing it in the "under a year" you would show the marriage cert to get the passport fee waived

- Thought I will change my AUS bank card and Medicare card during this trip? With the certified marriage cert (CMC)? You can try... but it's unlikely they will let you without an official name change. They wouldn't accept my US marriage cert. I tried VicRoads and ANZ. both said they needed something official like an Aussie marriage cert (but you're married in US so you can't marry "again" here) or an official name change. I needed the name change for the passport anyway so not a big deal.

- So there is absolutely no trouble to go back to US (after Nov) with my maiden name passport and new name AP? No problem. In this case you just show your marriage cert to link the AP to your new name.

- Later on i will do a master degree here in US under new name, and when applying to professional organisation, where i need to show my AUS bachelor degree document in my maiden name, I just need to send a copy of the CMC? When doing my interviews and stuff I showed my quals in my maiden name and never thought about how it looked... can't hurt to take your marriage cert just in case

- what about transfering money from AUS to US, with paypal its not an issue? (Vanessa knows more about this I suppose) Not a problem. I have a US paypal and an AUS paypal and do it that way. Takes about 10 days but the cheaper (and in some cases no) fees are worth it.

- another thing, later on I got green card with new name, when I want to sponsor my dad from China to visit me, i need to show both the NSW change of name cert and the US CMC to prove that he is my dad? Hahaha. Fun stuff. Actually you'd probably have to show your birth cert which lists him as your father, as well as the name change and marriage cert... but you don't actually "sponsor" your dad to get a visitor visa. He applies and is approved or denied on his own merits. The fact he has a daughter here (though he needs to say it) willing to "sponsor" him doesn't matter. You'll see on the application form that there's not anything required from you, it's all him. He need to show strong ties to his home country to be approved. Like a mortgage, car loan, family etc

Sorry I took a while to reply. I'm getting sick and my brain is muddled :S Replies in red above.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Vanessa&Tony

[Athena13 10]

Thank You Vanessa, you are very kind, loads of useful info you gave me.

[Travis and Meghan 24]

I have a question for anyone who might have an idea......

I wasn't going to change my name in Australia but given that we are now aplying for an Australian visa for Travis, I thought that I should for simplicity reasons. My question is this, I am applying to the South Australian office and aswell as my birth certificate they require two other forms of ID. I'm going to use my passport as one of them but they also want one with my current address and signature but I don;t have any of the things on the list with those things. The only thing that I have with an address even on it is my Oregon state ID card. Do you know if they would accept this or does it absolutely HAVE to be one of the items on their list???? Long winded question....i know, sorry!

http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/assets/files/change_name_adult.pdf

[Travis and Meghan 24]

Just for future reference for anyone else who needs to change their name with South Australian births deaths and marriages....

In the end I emailed them to ask if it would be fine for me to use my Oregon state ID, they replied about a little under a week later and said that would be fine. They also said that even though I'm doing a normal name change to still provide them with a certified copy of my marriage licence.

[lynJer 7]

OK....Thought I would add some horrible news regarding passports for those who are Australian Citizens born in the state of Victoria, AND married here in the USA.

In order to change your name on your Aussie passport - to match your husbands you will, as before, still need to apply to VIC BDM, completing the 'change of name' form which will result in a new birth certificate with your new married name and this is presented to the embassy for processing. They can then get you your new passport.

HOWEVER, only in the last few months, VIC BDM have altered their forms and the wording is misleading. (thats VIC BDM words to discribe it...not mine)

If you havnt been married before, and if your passport is simply going from your maiden name to your new husbands surname...it may not cause you too much heartache....but if you have had a husband or two before prepare yourself for Q 18 through to 20....by ignoring the question regarding 'have you ever been known by any other name in AUstralia and overseas' Because if you answer YES here...you will need to supply a complete credit history on all names used and you will need to obtain these reports yourself and they COST $60 bucks each. (and you need an aussie licence and address to get them)

I have since got it in writting that the wording should read FORMAL name change...not name change by marriage....apparently VIC BDM sees that as different???

I was told to write a note referring to this question on a separate piece of paper acknowledging that I have been married and to include all copies of marriage certificates and divorce decrees.

Im still going through this ardous task, so Ill update further information as it comes to hand.....BUT, as of this date...no other state have altered their process, however, be warned... watch this space....I would get in and change your passport name NOW...or as soon as possible, especially if you know you HAVE to do it....I need mine altered for work...otherwise I would be leaving it in my married name....

and yes...I cant help feel discriminated in some way with this whole process - I dont see too many men having to go through it! .