The passport card is an easy thing to travel with

Time to junk the program..What is this the hundred time they extended the deadline? It started in 2005 I think, has it really made travel any safer?

Just to add to this thread.. I am in Illinois and my SSN card is in my maiden name and my DL has both my maiden name and my married name. Been married for a long time so this is not a new issue. DMV was totally fine with the documents and issued real ID. I had to go into the SSN office for something else a few months later, and had to produce ID for them, and they didnt like the fact that my DL did not match my SSN exactly, and suggested I change the SSN (which requires a marriage certificate... which makes no sense. but.. )but did process my business for me.. Your tax dollars at work.

Did the Illinois DMV run the SSN verification check based on manually entering the name per what the DMV employee thought it was on the SSN and not caring about the name difference since it had already been accepted as a name change before applying for the “Real ID” DL?

SSA offices default to wanting documentation presented when it comes to changes of details associated with the SSN. Name changes mean being asked for government-issued original document/certified copy showing legal name change and identity. Sometimes the SSN name update may even require presenting proof of US citizenship.

That's a good question, and I did not want to ask too many questions when at the DMV. They looked at the SSN card and the DL and I think said, oh you havent changed your name on SSN.. or something like that.

The SSA office yes has a different philosophy. My mother who has no middle name had never changed her SSN. So in the pandemic cleanup activities we decided to change it. Was able to obtain her marriage license from 1955 and the change was made easily- with SSA saying wow.. that's a long time and most people dont bring in the right documentation so thank you. As an aside, I dont really understand the marriage license as the "proof" since there is no indication on whether you are still married, what name you chose to use and no requirement obviously to change your name. I dont even want to go to the "legal" name discussion since there really is no such thing as a legal name yet it is asked all the time as if it is fact.

As a lawyer currently in legal aid whose practice includes name changes, I beg to differ. :D

Whether to change one's name after birth, upon baptism, adoption, adulthood, marriage, divorce, or otherwise, is a personal decision. The "proof" is providing documentation of that decision (including correction of errors), not "proof" in a mathematical or scientific sense. :idea:

I appreciate the response and understand how important it may be to you and your clients. When an entity asks, what is your legal name - what does that mean? The name on your birth certificate, DL, passport, voter registration, SSN and medical records could all be different (with no fraudulent purposes intended) so which is a "legal" name?. And I still can not understand how a marriage license is any proof of a name change, since there is nothing to indicate which name you plan to use from that day forward. Different state and federal agencies have certainly had different requirements for proof of a name. SSN was never intended to be an identification number and yet has become defacto for tax and employment purposes.

Moderator's Note
 

This is the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues forum.

Please let's keep the discussion focused on asking for and offering practical advice and leave the legal arguments about name changes for the Policy Debate forum.

Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

Only continuing this for the practical aspect -- for purposes of RealID I believe most states require the name they issue driver's licenses in to match what the Social Security Agency has. So, for practical purposes, whatever name SSA has is your "legal name". You are correct that a marriage certificate is not by itself proof of a name change (my wife didn't change hers, for example), but it is a document that can justify changing it to an agency like SSA, and *that* is then proof of the updated name. I believe the first step on most changing name after marriage checklists is SSA. It may not have mattered as much in the past until retirement (and maybe not even then), but now that states are matching up the records it does more.

So I think the answer to the original question in the thread is that it's probably easiest to get a replacement Social Security card (and correct the name there if needed), which can be done by going to a nearby office and is fairly painless. At least it was for getting a replacement for a lost card for my daughter.

to help make REAL ID processing easier: do NOT ever separate the SS Card from the mailer piece when it arrives in the mail or is issued in person. There is no reason to ever have the SS card in your wallet. Keeping the card attached to the mailer helps the documentation process because the mailer has the delivery address on it. Once the card is separated the bona fides of the card are more easily questioned.