Name change - Passport and ID issues

[Dualie 185]

Hello all

I am very new to posting here, but I have been lurking for a while. This site is a God send. My story in a nutshell...my USC manfriend and I plan on marrying in the near future. I pretty much know the drill now thanks to VJ, but I have questions regarding the name change thing.

I will be taking his name once we are married. We will just do it one weekend while I am visiting him down there. I am wondering whether it is wise to change over my Canadian passport (along with all my other ID) to my married name. My passport expires at the end of 2015. I am just concerned about confusion at the border while on visits while I am waiting for my visa to clear.

Any advice and words of wisdom would be welcomed. Thanks in advance!

[JnJ13 13]

You will just need to bring your marriage certificate with you along with your passport and any other documents (EAD or GC) and you should be fine. The marriage certificate will work until you change your name in your passport. I have everything in my married name except my passport as I haven't changed it yet so I just bring my marriage certificate.

hope this helps!

Edited September 12, 2013 by JnJ13

[Dualie 185]

Thanks so much JnJ13, that is what I thought but I didn't want to take any chances.

[Ms Hogan 295]

I opted to change all of my items as soon as I got back from getting married. My passport, SIN Card, driver's license, banking, all of it. I felt it would be a lot easier that way.

We were married in Niagara Falls on a Saturday. On the Monday morning the clerk from the chapel we were married in hand-delivered our paperwork to the City Clerk's Office and we went by a couple hours later to pay for and receive our marriage certificate right away. On my drive back to Toronto I made stops along the way wherever I could including the license bureau where they did my license and my car registration, the bank where they changed it all over and ordered a new set of cheques. I went to an actual Service Canada office so I could also get my SIN card back sooner rather than later. Once I had my new license and SIN in hand I went to an actual Passport Canada office so that I could get the fastest turnaround to get a new one in-hand with my new name.

It took some running around but I felt better having it all done. Being able to apply in my married name and have all proceedings with my new name felt like a smoother option than having to change it all after crossing the border. My name is consistent in both countries with everything.

[hikergirl 277]

I did the same as MsHogan.

There are a few threads on here about getting a passport while residing in the US. It’s a lot more expensive and you will have issues because you require a guarantor for a name change. The simple renewal from is no good for name changes.

You can start the immigration paperwork without the new passport but you’ll need it for the NVC stage if you are wanting all of your US documents in your new name.

Personally I’d bite the bullet and get one of the new 10 year passports in your new last name as soon as you can.

[Ontarkie 14,418]

Another thing to think about is your visa will be issued with the name that is printed in your passport. That will make your green card in your maiden name(matches passport name/visa). Makes for a pain in the butt when you want to change names all on US ID.

[NikLR 13,232]

Agreed with hiker, mshogan and Ontarkie. I was married in BC and changed everything over before we applied. Even at a Service Canada spot it only took 3 weeks to get my passport back, but it is faster through a Passport Canada office. I think it took me longer to change the credit card than it did to change my ID. >.<

[Stubby and Rio 4]

I changed my name after we started our application; I wanted my USA documents in my married name...I also opted for the 10 year renewal.

[Dualie 185]

Thank you all for the great advice! I definitely will renew my passport early with my new name and opt for the 10 year one. Everything else should be a piece of cake from there. Thanks again everyone!