Passport name change and such

[akdiver 3]

My wife's international passport expired in June, and on Saturday (6/29/2006) she sent it off to the Russian Consulate in Seattle to get it renewed. She also wanted to change her official registration to this consulate. We sent in the following via USPS priority mail:

propiska w/registration paper

international passport

various forms we filled out

original marriage certificate with apostille

money order for $150 (passport renewal)

money order for $50 (registration)

prepaid return envelope (priority mail)

Much to our amazement, she received a phone call on MONDAY (6/31/2006). They wanted let her know that they will change her name in her international passport WITHOUT having to change the name in her internal passport (propiska) first. I say again, rather than merely putting an amendment in her international passport indicating she also goes by a different name, they will actually change the name in the passport!

Before she left Kazan, she went to the local registration office. She couldn't get a stamp in her propiska indicating she was moving permanently to the U.S. because she had no proof in the form of a PR card or an immigration visa (the K-1 does not count). So, what she did was actually CHANGE her registration to Anchorage, Alaska U.S.A. This is not the same as having no registration, or (for some reason) indicating she is moving abroad permanetly (go figure). They gave her two official papers to this effect, one of which we kept in our safe, the other of which we stapled to the propiska page and sent to the embassy along with everything else. My wife says these papers are very important and we had better not lose them.

Unfortunately, the consulate cannot change her propiska because they simply lack the authority. So, after the embassy gets done with her stuff, she will have an international passport in one name, and an internal passport in a different name. Seems strange to me.

So, the embassy is sending back her papers. They want another $65 on top of what we already sent them, and some additional paperwork. Once we get her papers back in the mail, we will send them back with some additional things. The complete list of things we will send back will be:

propiska

international passport

various forms we filled out

original marriage certificate with apostille

translation into Russian of marriage certificate

notarized statement (in Russian) requesting passport name change

money order for $150 (passport renewal)

money order for $50 (registration)

money order for $65 (legalization + name change in passport)

prepaid return envelope (priority mail)

Now - get this - they also told her that they could process her request in about a month!! Yes, it's what they said! We'll see how it goes. If all goes well, I guess it will make up for charging an additional $65 to change the name in her passport when they are already issuing a new passport anyway.

So, if all goes as advertised, for $265, postage, and one month of time, my wife will have a newly minted passport complete with real name change, and a embassy registration for her propiska. It is unclear whether or not we will get a copy of the "legalized" marriage certificate (suitable for changing her name in her internal passport back in Russia I guess). It is also unclear whether or not we will get back the original marriage certiicate with apostille that we sent in (although I doubt it).

FYI. YMMV. Good luck.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[slim 1,525]

This gave me a good chuckle and reminded me of the "it's Russia" forum.

Then I grimaced as I'm reminded I'm going to be thinking about doing all this myself in a few months.

Good luck guys, keep us posted.

[Satellite 1]

Great news akdiver,

I wish the Seattle consulate had jurisdiction in San Francisco. But as we all know, my wife was told to head to Russia and do internal passport changes first before any external passports will be changed. I guess we can try again, but as usual Russia has different rules depending on where you are at.

[akdiver 3]

Great news akdiver,

I wish the Seattle consulate had jurisdiction in San Francisco. But as we all know, my wife was told to head to Russia and do internal passport changes first before any external passports will be changed. I guess we can try again, but as usual Russia has different rules depending on where you are at.

Yeah, I know - and I thought about this too. Truthfully, the consulate has no idea where you live - only what you tell them. As far as I can figure out, there is nothing to keep an interested person from acquiring "postal rights" to the jurisdiction of their choosing and filing accordingly. Get a PO Box, mail drop, or friends (all of which can forward to where you really are) and go to town. Once you have what you wanted (i.e. improved passport) from the more willing jurisdiction, then go ahead and change your registration or whatever to your real jurisdiction.

Not that I recommend any of this of course. (:

Cheers!

AKDiver

[slim 1,525]

Are you talking about some kind of "scam" involving the Russian government?

I've never heard of them being involved in that sort of thing before....

[akdiver 3]

Are you talking about some kind of "scam" involving the Russian government?

Scam...Russian Government.....if any two concepts were redundant - I' think those are the two.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[akdiver 3]

All:

Well, my wife got her passport back, exactly one month later, as estimated by the consulate!! Not only on that, but they actually did everything exactly right and with no errors. I could not be more amazed.

So, what they did was issue her a new passport with her new, married name, as the name in the passport (as opposed to an amendment that says she is also known by a different name). In this passport they put some stamp to the effect of "she is now registered here at the consulate in Seattle". They did NOT make any stamps in her propiska - they have no authority to do so. The new passport is good for 5 years (this is the standard period of validity).

They also sent us back a "legalized" copy of the the marriage certificate we sent in. It's very nice, all ribboned together with stamps and seals and such. The entire package includes the original marriage certificate, the notarization, the apostille, and the legalization from the consulate. It's all permanently bound together, sealed and ribboned and so forth.

In short, the consulate did exactly what they were supposed to do, perfectly on time, and in a very reasonable period of time. The cost was a little high, but not enough to complain about. I highly recommend taking all of your "consulate needs" to the Seattle consulate, even if you have to be, ahem, "creative", about jurisdiction issues.

Cheers!

AKDiver