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Weddings, Honeymoons and Passports
So as some of you may know, I am getting married in late August. My fiance plans to change her name to my name (her choice, I am really indifferent).
Her first scheduled international trip after we are married will not be until Thanksgiving, so almost exactly 3 months after our wedding. Our real honeymoon is not going to be until March 2009. We are also going to be in the British Virgin Islands at Christmas time.
I gather that one has a year after getting married to change the name on your U.S. passport for no fee. Is it necessary to do it right away, or should we wait until after the honeymoon? By the time of the honeymoon, she will have a new driver's license with her new name and a new Social Security card. Would it matter that her Passport has her old name? The airline ticket would show her old name, so the passenger manifest and her Passport would match, so I don't think there is going to be a problem.
Also, when bookign travel for after we are married, do you usually book the flights under her maiden name or her married name?
Thanks!
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I changed my name when I got married. When the marriage certificate arrived (after a few weeks), it had my new maiden name on it and then had my new surname on it. So both names were there.
I then went about making all of the changes after I had a long break from flying. I suggest you advise your future wife to wait until after the honeymoon trip in March as you will be having many int'l trips between Nov and March.
The State Dept may still be backed up regarding passport changes so she may not get her passport back before any one of these trips.
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Why not wait until all the travel is over? Gone are the days when couples sometimes had to demonstrate that they were married to be able to share a hotel room.
Whatever she decides to do, obviously it will be very much easier if the travel tickets are booked for her in the name that is in her passport. Again, it seems to me that it would be easier to make all the bookings in her unmarried name and keep that name in her passport for the duration of your forthcoming travels.
So as some of you may know, I am getting married in late August. My fiance plans to change her name to my name (her choice, I am really indifferent).
Her first scheduled international trip after we are married will not be until Thanksgiving, so almost exactly 3 months after our wedding. Our real honeymoon is not going to be until March 2009. We are also going to be in the British Virgin Islands at Christmas time.
I gather that one has a year after getting married to change the name on your U.S. passport for no fee. Is it necessary to do it right away, or should we wait until after the honeymoon? By the time of the honeymoon, she will have a new driver's license with her new name and a new Social Security card. Would it matter that her Passport has her old name? The airline ticket would show her old name, so the passenger manifest and her Passport would match, so I don't think there is going to be a problem.
Also, when bookign travel for after we are married, do you usually book the flights under her maiden name or her married name?
Thanks!
If I understand correctly the "no fee" rule only applies if the name change is within one year from the passport issue date and not one year from date of marriage.
Hoping to revive this topic. I'm wondering what the best way to go about the whole name-changing situation is.
-I'm getting married in June.
-My fiancee is planning to change her last name.
-I have int'l trips lined up in May-July of this year.
-Because I'm using points/miles, I'm about to book an int'l trip for April 2013 (and will likely book an int'l trip for Nov. 2013 at 11-12 months out, i.e. Nov.-Dec. of this year).
Can I, and if so should I, book the April 2013 plane tickets (on points/miles) with my fiancee's maiden name, or with the changed last name (which would give her several months to effectuate the name change)?
And if I just book those April 2013 plane tickets (on points/miles) with my fiancee's maiden name, is there a relatively easy way to not run into problems? (For example, can we take the marriage certificate or old [canceled] passport?)
If you don't have any international flights between July and April planned that gives her plenty of time to do the passport thing.
If you don't want to do the passport change, just book the tickets in the maiden name. To me it would really depend on how much time is still left on the passport, and if you can renew it for free or not now.
Note that if the passport is less than a year old they will change the name for free, but if it's over that you have to pay the same as a renewal if that matters to when you do it.
If you don't have any international flights between July and April planned that gives her plenty of time to do the passport thing.
If you don't want to do the passport change, just book the tickets in the maiden name. To me it would really depend on how much time is still left on the passport, and if you can renew it for free or not now.
Note that if the passport is less than a year old they will change the name for free, but if it's over that you have to pay the same as a renewal if that matters to when you do it.
Thanks for the advice! When the last name is changed on fiancee's passport, I'm assuming her passport # does not change, right?
So I'm thinking as I type here, but I guess the easiest thing to do would be:
1) For the April 2013 trip, book airfare with fiancee's changed name, but omit her frequent flyer # on the reservation so the system does not automatically try to import her currently-listed maiden name.
2) Get married.
3) After July int'l trip, have fiancee change name on everything (including passport, FF accounts, Driver's license, etc.) as soon as possible.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andysiz
Thanks for the advice! When the last name is changed on fiancee's passport, I'm assuming her passport # does not change, right?
So I'm thinking as I type here, but I guess the easiest thing to do would be:
1) For the April 2013 trip, book airfare with fiancee's changed name, but omit her frequent flyer # on the reservation so the system does not automatically try to import her currently-listed maiden name.
2) Get married.
3) After July int'l trip, have fiancee change name on everything (including passport, FF accounts, Driver's license, etc.) as soon as possible.
For the April 2013 trip, yes, book in her married name. She should then look at changing her name on everything once you return from your international trips in July.
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Thanks for the advice! When the last name is changed on fiancee's passport, I'm assuming her passport # does not change, right?
I believe it's treated as a renewal and a new book with a new number will be issued.
She can change her name on the other stuff whenever she wants to and just not change the passport. She can do the bank accounts, social security, etc, that stuff doesn't have to wait until July if she doesn't want to wait. For travel the only thing that matters is that the ID name match the ticket, so for international flights just make sure it's the same as the passport
Weddings, Honeymoons and Passports
Analise
