How necessary is it to have your spouse change the passport name?

[MPGGPM 0]

Yesterday at the embassy, after her interview, my wife was handed her passport back and we are now in the process of gathering one more document that the embassy needs to issue the visa.

After the interview, the woman who interviewed my wife did NOT tell her to have her passport name changed. What she asked for was a longer form of the birth certificate. On the green form my wife received, it said to submit that birth certificate along with the passport.

However, after the interview, since I was not in attendance with my wife, I then called the embassy to clarify the situation. The woman I spoke to told me that my wife also needed to have the passport changed to the "married" name which is now on the birth certificate for her.

I am puzzled and wondering if this really is required, because if it was, then wouldn't the actual woman who interviewed my wife be the one to tell her this?

I know from calling USCIS, NVC, and occasionally the embassy.......that you can hear one thing one day, and another the next.

I want to know if other married couples always are required to change the passport name after marriage?

I called more than once, but always got the same woman......so I am left with only her opinion that this is necessary. I was concerned , because I didn't want to return a passport that was different than the one we originally submitted. I felt it might create another issue. We DID have plans to change the name on the passport eventually, but wanted to wait until after the visa was issued. We thought that best.

So, the question is again..............is the name change on the passport definately required in order to match the birth certificate?

Also, to kind of cover ourselves, we are now in the process of changing the passport, but we decided that we will just "add" the married name. (AKA....on another page). Instead of changing the whole passport. Hopefully, that won't be a problem.

Thanks.

[Yodrak 7]

MPGGPM,

Changing the name on the passport is not required by any US law that I know of (although there are a lot of US laws that I don't know of). It might be required by the law of the country that issued the passport.

The people who are assigned to answer telephones are not always the people who know all of the correct answers. (People who know the answers are too valuable to be assigned to answering phones.)

But wait.... Are you saying that there's a newly issued birth certificate that shows your wife's 'married' name rather than her birth name?

Yodrak

Yesterday at the embassy, after her interview, my wife was handed her passport back and we are now in the process of gathering one more document that the embassy needs to issue the visa.

After the interview, the woman who interviewed my wife did NOT tell her to have her passport name changed. What she asked for was a longer form of the birth certificate. On the green form my wife received, it said to submit that birth certificate along with the passport.

However, after the interview, since I was not in attendance with my wife, I then called the embassy to clarify the situation. The woman I spoke to told me that my wife also needed to have the passport changed to the "married" name which is now on the birth certificate for her.

.....

Edited April 5, 2007 by Yodrak

[MPGGPM 0]

But wait.... Are you saying that there's a newly issued birth certificate that shows your wife's 'married' name rather than her birth name?

Yodrak

I totally agree with the opinion about the "people answering the phones". Which is why I asked the question here, to get answers from people who have actually been through the experience. I personally, felt like if that was what was necessary, then the person who interviewed my wife would have been the one to tell us.

To explain for your question......

The birth certificate we originally submitted, and even passed through the NVC etc.......turned out in the end, to be the wrong item. It is apparently a card, that Turkish citizens use for identification, but was not the one the Embassy was asking for. My wife had felt that it was, which is why she sent it to me, which I subsequently mailed to the NVC. Not being Turkish, I assumed it was what they were asking for.

Instead, what they want is another form. A "longer" form which has my name on it, etc.......

When you ask "new".......well.......it is new in the sense that after we married in 2004, my wife wisely "registered" the marriage with the Turkish Consulate in New York. (At the time, I had no idea how important in the end that would be....now I know). Had she not...we would be looking at another 3 month delay right now ....."registering" the marriage , if the marriage took place in the USA, is a requirement in Turkey , so the spouse can then show up on the birth certificate. She mailed in documents etc...to do that, while she was here in Florida. In Turkey, the marriage does not show up etc...and the spouse can not be included on the birth certificate, otherwise............

It was necessary for her to do all of the above, because unlike most couples who marry in the USA and remain to do AOS........she actually had to go "back" to Turkey for two years. So, the registering was necessary since we had to apply for the visa through Turkey. Had she been able to remain in the USA...all this would have been moot.

Then, about 6 or so months ago, my wife went to the proper authorities in Turkey , to have her name legally changed to include a "hyphen" and my last name. So, it is new in the sense that her name was changed, and the birth certificate now shows my name on it as her husband.

From your response, I gather that first , we may not have had to change the name on the passport (too late though...wife has already started the process in Turkey)................but most importantly, that by us "just" adding a page to include her new married name on the passport.... (rather than changing it entirely to only include the married name).............that it will be okay, and not a problem?

I don't think it will..............but with the way the government picks on things, you can never be too sure.

Thanks for the help.

[Yodrak 7]

MPGGPM,

How Turkey updates or corrects its' citizens passports is up to them - not the US DOS or USCIS.

Yodrak

.....wife has already started the process in Turkey)................but most importantly, that by us "just" adding a page to include her new married name on the passport.... (rather than changing it entirely to only include the married name).............that it will be okay, and not a problem?

.....

[MPGGPM 0]

MPGGPM,

How Turkey updates or corrects its' citizens passports is up to them - not the US DOS or USCIS.

Yodrak

That is true.....but it is not the Turkish government that will be looking at the passport that my wife is updating at this time ..... It is...and will be the DOS (Embassy) which will be looking at it. That is a branch of OUR government....not Turkey's.

My concern was, that if we change a page in the passport, and it will now include 2 names in it that my wife has used.......rather than to change the whole passport to show only the one married name.....if the embassy might consider that a problem. Because, originally....we only submitted a passport that had my wife's maiden name. I was concerned that if the embassy saw a change, they might question it.

I don't think they will....but wanted to get input from others who have married, and whose spouse is applying through their home country. If the changing of the passport name, is required for them. If it is something ALL embassies request.

Is changing the passport........to show married name.....a normal practice? I am trying to find out if any others on this website have had to do something similar.......... per request of the consulate/embassy that they have gone through?

To find out if having to change the passport to show the "married name".....is a common request by our government? Because although it will be done in Turkey, it is the DOS (embassy) that is asking that of us.

[Yodrak 7]

MPGGPM,

If the US DOS doesn't like the way that Turkey does its' passports they'll have to take it up with the government of Turkey. But I suspect that the consulate will accept the passport the way that Turkey wants to issue it (as long as it's machine readable).

Yodrak

MPGGPM,

How Turkey updates or corrects its' citizens passports is up to them - not the US DOS or USCIS.

Yodrak

That is true.....but it is not the Turkish government that will be looking at the passport that my wife is updating at this time ..... It is...and will be the DOS (Embassy) which will be looking at it. That is a branch of OUR government....not Turkey's.

.....

[MPGGPM 0]

MPGGPM,

If the US DOS doesn't like the way that Turkey does its' passports they'll have to take it up with the government of Turkey. But I suspect that the consulate will accept the passport the way that Turkey wants to issue it (as long as it's machine readable).

Yodrak

I must not be explaining myself well....

My concern was not about the way the passport was made (in Turkey), but the following.....

1) If the birth certificate name is now under the "married" name...........is it a requirement for the spouse that she MUST change the passport name to match that?

2) The other concern I had...................was a slight worry that because when we made copies of my wife's passport etc...and when she showed it at the embassy, it only had her maiden name. But now, because the woman I spoke to when I called the "immigrant visa" unit of the Ankara Embassy told me that even though the person who interviewed my wife did NOT tell her to change the passport name, that my wife was indeed required to do so......we have gone ahead and done it, and I don't want any issue to arise because of it.

Like you, I am a bit skeptical about how knowledgeable the people who answer the phone are, because not to get too much into detail, I actually called a few times afer my wife's interview, and the same woman who said my wife could not get the certificate in Turkey (she was incorrect), also told me to change the passport. Unfortunately, when you call the embassy, you don't get names of who you speak to nor get to choose who answers the phone. I was hoping to get another opinion, but unfortunately, I seem to keep getting the same woman on the phone. (I do not want to keep calling and use up their time)

We went ahead and made a change to the passport , which was OUR decision, which we made based on what we were told over the phone. It wasn't a matter of how the Turkish passport is made, It was a matter of whether the decision that I and my wife made, to go ahead and make a small change to the passport and kind of "hedge" ourselves. Rather than change the entire passport, we asked the passport agency to just "add" a page which will now say something like...."This woman is also known as "Johnson-Smith" (not our real name...just an example That way it still has the name we used when we applied for the I-130 (maiden).....and also the name which is now on my wife's birth certificate (married).

I was only slightly concerned that 1) maybe we needed to change the whole passport to include JUST the married name and slightly worried that the Embassy might see that we made a change, and it might not be enough. (Maybe they don't want two names on the passport) 2) Or maybe they didn't really want any change at all, because the woman on the phone could have been wrong again. It was not written as a requirement on the green form my wife received. (although.....whether we needed to or not, I would think the embassy wouldn't mind the change...and in either case if they did, I would definately argue it, since we were told by phone to do so......whether the woman was correct or not)

In the meantime, I wanted to hear from others who have wives overseas. If the consulate or embassy has ever asked them to do this. If this is what EVERY married spouse must do?

In either case, I have emailed the embassy today, let them know what we are doing, and am awaiting a response.

Thanks

Edited April 6, 2007 by MPGGPM

[Yodrak 7]

MPGGPM,

I wrote all I know in answer to this question back in my first post in this thread.

I wish someone who knows Turkish law with respect to passports would chime in. Absent that, maybe you could ask the question at a Turkish consulate here in the USA.

Yodrak

I must not be explaining myself well....

My concern was not about the way the passport was made (in Turkey), but the following.....

1) If the birth certificate name is now under the "married" name...........is it a requirement for the spouse that she MUST change the passport name to match that?

.....

Edited April 6, 2007 by Yodrak