Changing Last Name after Immigration of Spouse

[IsItLekker 183]

Oh dang, I realize I forgot to update this thread so people will know the maddening drill. I ended up communicating with a Senior Constituent Advocate for my US Representative. She hooked me up with the head of the DMV for the region of Colorado I live in. 

First, they are well aware of the fact that this issue exists. My perplexed call to them was not the first and it will not be the last. The advocate mentioned that she was trying to garner enough information to be able to push for them to do something about this at the congressional level (other states have similar issues), due to the fact the requirements are discriminatory and unnecessarily burdensome to women (as women are usually the ones to change their family name after marriage).

It turns out there is really only one quick legal channel to change your name on your driver's license in the state of Colorado if you were married abroad. I confirmed this both with the representative's office and the head of the DMV.

 

You must go in to a local county office (does NOT have to be the county you live in) and you have to set an appointment to get a marriage license.

In our case, we brought our foreign marriage certificate and it was noted in the system at the time we applied for the new license that we had been married abroad and the date of that marriage. Apparently, it is totally legal to remarry the same person. We signed the new license in front of the issuing admin and were issued a new marriage certificate from the county. The whole process took less than half an hour. They also issued a couple of certified copies of the marriage certificate at the same time (you want these... they are cheaper if you get them at the same time).

When you go to the DMV you can take the actual certificate or the certified copy with your social security card to the DMV. Apparently this is enough for the name change.

Federal law regulating the issuance of "real ID" driver's licenses are responsible for this giant pain in the behind. As of when I spoke with these offices, there was no active plan to improve the process. Hopefully, this will help you if you are trying to get your name changed in Colorado.

P.S. If you wait for your passport, you can use it to change your name without all this nonsense, however, I only received my passport with my legal name a few weeks ago due to the outrageous backlog. The whole name change process has been a 1 out of 10, do not recommend. 

[millefleur 5,046]

1 hour ago, IsItLekker said:

Federal law regulating the issuance of "real ID" driver's licenses are responsible for this giant pain in the behind. As of when I spoke with these offices, there was no active plan to improve the process. Hopefully, this will help you if you are trying to get your name changed in Colorado.

Wow, what a huge ordeal! There is always the court order option but it's probably even more annoying to go through than the "get re-married in the US" option.

 

1 hour ago, IsItLekker said:

First, they are well aware of the fact that this issue exists. My perplexed call to them was not the first and it will not be the last. The advocate mentioned that she was trying to garner enough information to be able to push for them to do something about this at the congressional level (other states have similar issues), due to the fact the requirements are discriminatory and unnecessarily burdensome to women (as women are usually the ones to change their family name after marriage).

Super frustrating. I hope more awareness is raised around this issue. Now that the "real ID" thing is out there, seems like it needs to be more prioritized. Thanks for updating us!

[T&JL 5]

On 4/19/2021 at 3:38 PM, IsItLekker said:

Thank you so much for all of the replies you guys! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to answer. I honestly thought it was just going to fall through the cracks. 😅

So I have continued to reach out, per some of the advice on this thread. Unfortunately, I did not send off to get my passport yet as it required my original marriage certificate and I thought I needed it for the DMV (bummer). If it was a matter of just changing it whenever, I'd go ahead and apply for the passport and deal with the license later, but since my name is already changed federally, I am on a deadline in the state of Colorado to inform them of my name change (within 30 days). That is why I have been in a bit of a panic... that deadline is in less than a week. 

So far, I have sought 2 avenues proposed here. Remarrying in state and court ordered name change.

Remarrying appears to be the fastest method, but I still question the legality of it all. It will officially solemnize our marriage in the state from the date we sign the license, but it supposedly will acknowledge we were previously married.

Court ordered name change seems to also be an option, however since it must be performed in the county where I live, I am less than thrilled with this option as they had no idea what to do when I called them. I was told to consult an attorney. Also, I must submit to finger printing and background checks which could taken a few weeks before I can even apply. 

I contacted the Colorado Attorney General's office and they gave me a canned response about calling my county and asking them for the process to record the marriage (...I have already done this and the result was still rejected by the DMV, probably due to the fact my county has no idea what is going on). However, he did provide me with an email for Vital Records for the state, so I have contacted them to see if they can explain it to me, so that I may in turn explain it to my county clerk and recorder. 

I've determined the word register, record, and certify mean different things to different people. None of the offices are on the same page here. I'll keep you guys updated if I hear anything else, if for no other reason than that there will be an answer to this clusterf**k for anyone else going through this insane process in the future. 

I am very curious how this turned out for you.   I married my husband in canada but i live in Colorado. He just immigrated here a month ago.  I am trying to change my name and running into the same walls.  You have done a lot of leg work here.  Any help is much appreciated.   

[IsItLekker 183]

On 8/30/2022 at 12:07 PM, T&JL said:

I am very curious how this turned out for you.   I married my husband in canada but i live in Colorado. He just immigrated here a month ago.  I am trying to change my name and running into the same walls.  You have done a lot of leg work here.  Any help is much appreciated.   

If you were married abroad (in this case Canada), you will have to either apply for a court ordered name change (costly, and time consuming) or go to a local county clerk and recorder and get "married" again in the state of Colorado. Getting married again is a lot less painful. Arapaho County totally knew what was up and it was relatively painless once we realized this was the best course of action. I think Denver and El Paso Counties also had the ability to do this, but Arapahoe had the shortest wait times. I would call their office first to confirm they are still doing it this way, and then schedule the appointment for a marriage license online. Make sure you take your original marriage certificate with you and the process should take around thirty minutes. After you get it and the certified copies, you should be able to get your name changed at the DMV.

[T&JL 5]

8 minutes ago, IsItLekker said:

If you were married abroad (in this case Canada), you will have to either apply for a court ordered name change (costly, and time consuming) or go to a local county clerk and recorder and get "married" again in the state of Colorado. Getting married again is a lot less painful. Arapaho County totally knew what was up and it was relatively painless once we realized this was the best course of action. I think Denver and El Paso Counties also had the ability to do this, but Arapahoe had the shortest wait times. I would call their office first to confirm they are still doing it this way, and then schedule the appointment for a marriage license online. Make sure you take your original marriage certificate with you and the process should take around thirty minutes. After you get it and the certified copies, you should be able to get your name changed at the DMV.

I actually went to Custer county today.  They called the process renewing our vows since we were already married.  We got our certified copies.  It just happens to be that the county I live in was hacked and the whole recording department was down.  I was seriously stressed over this, but $32 later we have a colorado marriage certificate.   Thank you for the update

[Family 3,988]

1 hour ago, T&JL said:

1 hour ago, IsItLekker said:

If you were married abroad (in this case Canada), you will have to either apply for a court ordered name change (costly, and time consuming) or go to a local county clerk and recorder and get "married" again in the state of Colorado. Getting married again is a lot less painful. Arapaho County totally knew what was up and it was relatively painless once we realized this was the best course of action. I think Denver and El Paso Counties also had the ability to do this, but Arapahoe had the shortest wait times. I would call their office first to confirm they are still doing it this way, and then schedule the appointment for a marriage license online. Make sure you take your original marriage certificate with you and the process should take around thirty minutes. After you get it and the certified copies, you should be able to get your name changed at the DMV.

I actually went to Custer county today.  They called the process renewing our vows since we were already married.  We got our certified copies.  It just happens to be that the county I live in was hacked and the whole recording department was down.  I was seriously stressed over this, but $32 later we have a colorado marriage certificate.   Thank you for the update

Thank you for posting. How absolutely odd , I wonder what date of marriage will be recognized for any unfortunate souls that end up in divorce…in another state? 
 

Apparently in Colorado you can even marry yourself…according to this: 

 

https://vowsandpeaks.com/self-solemnizing-elopement-guide/

 

YOUR DOG CAN SIGN YOUR MARRIAGE LICENSE

If you’re anything like me, then you love your dog. Your marriage license will still have space for an officiant to sign – but since you don’t need one, you can have your dog sign instead! Fur real!

[T&JL 5]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:31 AM, Family said:

Thank you for posting. How absolutely odd , I wonder what date of marriage will be recognized for any unfortunate souls that end up in divorce…in another state? 
 

Apparently in Colorado you can even marry yourself…according to this: 

 

https://vowsandpeaks.com/self-solemnizing-elopement-guide/

 

YOUR DOG CAN SIGN YOUR MARRIAGE LICENSE

If you’re anything like me, then you love your dog. Your marriage license will still have space for an officiant to sign – but since you don’t need one, you can have your dog sign instead! Fur real!

Haha great question.   I wonder if you would have to divorce twice?? Colorado is a strange one for sure.  I'm just happy the "vow renewal " satisfied the problem.