legal name change

[Alabamak1 688]

Hi:

 

I have a few questions about name changes specifically for female fiance from the Ukraine.

 

1) Did you change your last name to your now husband?

2) How difficult is it get your international and national passport from Ukraine changed to your current name?

3) I hear the national passport needs to be changed first and then the international one, but it takes about 20 working days for the national and then another month for the international one.

4) What happens when you travel to the Ukraine back the first time? Do you get stopped at the border because of the name change? Can you leave the Ukraine?

5) and lastly...is keeping you name as it was while in Ukraine an inconvenience in the US? Has anybody kept their last name after being married to a US citizen? 

 

my concern is because my fiance says she will return to Ukraine and will have to be at least 2 month to fix that when she goes back the first time. the ukranian consulate apperantly does not change your passport while outside the country. What would happen to her property there?

 

thanks for any help

 

[betelgeuse 5]

from what I know..

she doesn't necessarily have to change her last name in her passports 

she can buy plane tickets to Ukraine and travel using her passport with maiden name

when she travels back (considering she has a green card with her new last name) she can just show marriage certificate on US border (explaining why last names in passport and green card are different)

 

 

 

[Alabamak1 688]

2 minutes ago, betelgeuse said:

from what I know..

she doesn't necessarily have to change her last name in her passports 

she can buy plane tickets to Ukraine and travel using her passport with maiden name

when she travels back (considering she has a green card with her new last name) she can just show marriage certificate on US border (explaining why last names in passport and green card are different)

 

 

 

so if she keeps her last name as is...she wont have problems having to explain here in the USA she is married and has different last name than her husband? aka Me

[betelgeuse 5]

she doesn't have to keep her last name (unless she wants to of course). She just doesn't NEED to change it to new in her national and foreign passport.

I took my husband's last name and didn't change anything in my Ukrainian and foreign passport.  If I need to show my id somewhere (here, in the US) I just show my foreign passport with my maiden name and marriage certificate with new last name. Never had a problem. 

 

[betelgeuse 5]

if she keeps her last name, she won't have problems either.

It's not a requirement that she changes her last name to husband's. Your marriage certificate proves your marriage, not her last name

[Alabamak1 688]

3 minutes ago, betelgeuse said:

she doesn't have to keep her last name (unless she wants to of course). She just doesn't NEED to change it to new in her national and foreign passport.

I took my husband's last name and didn't change anything in my Ukrainian and foreign passport.  If I need to show my id somewhere (here, in the US) I just show my foreign passport with my maiden name and marriage certificate with new last name. Never had a problem. 

 

oh ok. that sounds perfectly reasonable. we are just wondering this.

[Ksenia_O 696]

Hi..

 

Yes, that's truth - in case to change her last name in her Travel document/International passport, she has to change the name in her interior Ukrainian passport FIRST. 

 

But here is the thing -   if your marriage license doesn't indicate a name change, there is no way she will be able to have her name changed. In Ukraine they are looking for a statement in your ML, something like "the name has been changed from ______ to ______". So, you should take a look if there is a "statement" in your Marriage Licence.

 

If there is one, when she is lucky  and can get her last name changed on all her passports if she wants to. You should get an Apostille on your ML  (can be done in Secretary of State) - Ukrainian authorities work with documents, issued by foreign country, only  if there is an Apostille of that document.

 

I've done this, and it took about 6 weeks to get my last name changed on both passports... To be honest - it was a pain.. And If I knew this BEFORE, I would not have even started...  

 

Anyway, as betelgeuse mentioned, there is no problem if your wife doesn't change her last name on her Ukrainian documents. For International trip she just should have Marriage License along with her Passport/Travel document and green card/EAD .

Booking tickets, you should use her Travel Document/Passport - name on the ticket and in her Travel document/Passport must match.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Ksenia_O