Passenger Information on International Flight Bookings

[Jason926 4]

My wife entered the US on a K-1 a few months ago, we got married, and filed for I-485/765/131 shortly after.  I'm planning some refundable international travel for next year assuming she is approved for her green card.  We plan to visit several countries, including the UK which is where she immigrated from.  She also took my last name and we filed all AOS paperwork with her new name.

 

I understand that she will have to travel on her UK passport.  So for all flight bookings, I've been using her maiden name and UK nationality which matches her passport.

 

I've encountered two issues so far which I could use some help on if anyone is knowledgeable enough.

 

1 - Some flight bookings require "Region of Residence".  I'm not really sure what to put here because she lives in the US, but her passport is from the UK.

 

2 - Do I use her UK passport or green card for the flight back to the US?  If I use her passport, the name won't match the green card and I just want to make sure that this won't cause any problems at CBP.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Mike E 11,739]

1. USA 

 

2. Passport. Often when attempting  online check in it will ask for her country of residency.  In that case I’ve never seen an airline online check in system handle an AP document, and thus online check in is not an option.  Assuming neither of you have elite status with the airline, I suggest she purchase priority check in so that she can get manual assistance sooner at the airport. Or just come to airport at least 4 hours before departure.    
 

She should bring her marriage certificate to cover the discrepancy between the name on her AP document and the name on her passport.  

[Wuozopo 4,293]

11 minutes ago, Jason926 said:

1- Some flight bookings require "Region of Residence".  I'm not really sure what to put here because she lives in the US, but her passport is from the UK.

 

2 - Do I use her UK passport or green card for the flight back to the US?  If I use her passport, the name won't match the green card and I just want to make sure that this won't cause any problems at CBP.

 

 1. Her residence is US.

 

2. A passport is required for international travel. She boards and travels with a British passport because that’s the only one she has. She shows her greencard at her entry into the US. Some people use ESTA or a visa to get in. She will use a greencard. If that hasn’t been issued by her trip, then she uses her Advance Parole she has applied for. She will show a copy of her marriage certificate to resolve any name differences between passport and greencard (or AP doc).

[carmel34 3,626]

7 hours ago, Jason926 said:

Do I use her UK passport or green card for the flight back to the US?  If I use her passport, the name won't match the green card and I just want to make sure that this won't cause any problems at CBP.

Green card always matches the passport.   Even if you filed all the AOS paperwork with her new name, they will default to the passport name.  She can get a new UK passport in her married name and send the new information to USCIS.  If you just filed AOS, you have a long wait ahead of you before the green card is issued, plenty of time to get a new UK passport.

Edited July 24, 2022 by carmel34

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Green card always matches the passport.   Even if you filed all the AOS paperwork with her new name, they will default to the passport name.  She can get a new UK passport in her married name and send the new information to USCIS.  If you just filed AOS, you have a long wait ahead of you before the green card is issued, plenty of time to get a new UK passport.

I’m aware of plenty others who had passport in maiden name and were issued a greencard in married name because that’s how they applied for AOS.  Visas have to be issued to match the passport they are in, but I don’t think that applies to green cards, work authorization, or advance parole.

[Lil bear 4,201]

3 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Green card always matches the passport.   Even if you filed all the AOS paperwork with her new name, they will default to the passport name.  She can get a new UK passport in her married name and send the new information to USCIS.  If you just filed AOS, you have a long wait ahead of you before the green card is issued, plenty of time to get a new UK passport.

GC will be issued in the name listed on the AOS application .. they ask passport number but not name on the application 

 

Airline tickets in passport name 

Marriage certificate links the GC and passport 

Online checkin wont work because of residency / document issues. Its a nuisance but a normal event for most of us .. 

[Jason926 4]

Thank you all for the useful information!

 

We will be in a premium cabin for our trips, so we should have some sort of priority when we get to the airport.  We plan on getting there early anyway just in case there are any document issues.

 

From my understanding, as long as the name on the passport matches the name on the ticket, everything else can be resolved at the desk.

 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Hi there! Just came back from an international trip with the exact same situation (green card with married name, passport under maiden name). No issues whatsoever. I even had my marriage certificate just in case they were concerned about the name discrepancy. Never had to show it.

[Thunderbolt 172]

9 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Hi there! Just came back from an international trip with the exact same situation (green card with married name, passport under maiden name). No issues whatsoever. I even had my marriage certificate just in case they were concerned about the name discrepancy. Never had to show it.

Same thing with us. We did 2 intl trips in the last 6 months and both times no problems. 

We had our marriage certificate just in case but nobody ever asked for it. 
GC is in married name and wife's passport in maiden name. 

 

Remember to book your wife's travel with her name in the PASSPORT I had that question for one of the European embassies (my wife had to apply for a Schengen visa), and I didn't know if I should put her new name or old name. It was cleared by the embassy via email. Always use passport name.

[Lil bear 4,201]

11 hours ago, Jason926 said:

Thank you all for the useful information!

 

We will be in a premium cabin for our trips, so we should have some sort of priority when we get to the airport.  We plan on getting there early anyway just in case there are any document issues.

 

From my understanding, as long as the name on the passport matches the name on the ticket, everything else can be resolved at the desk.

 

Yes 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

2 hours ago, Thunderbolt said:

Same thing with us. We did 2 intl trips in the last 6 months and both times no problems. 

We had our marriage certificate just in case but nobody ever asked for it. 
GC is in married name and wife's passport in maiden name. 

 

Remember to book your wife's travel with her name in the PASSPORT I had that question for one of the European embassies (my wife had to apply for a Schengen visa), and I didn't know if I should put her new name or old name. It was cleared by the embassy via email. Always use passport name.

Yes, I forgot to mention that tickets were under passport name. Tickets and passport should match.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

20 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

I’m aware of plenty others who had passport in maiden name and were issued a greencard in married name because that’s how they applied for AOS.  Visas have to be issued to match the passport they are in, but I don’t think that applies to green cards, work authorization, or advance parole.

It doesn't; Anastasia's green card (and the combo card that ended up only being useful for a month) both said "Anastasiia [my last name]"; her passport is in her maiden name (and will still be when she renews it, as the process for getting that changed for a Russian passport is quite cumbersome).