Passport/Name Change Question

[RoseAngel04]

How long does it take to officially change your last name once you’re married? I know that you get your officiant to sign the marriage license and then you can manually take into the county clerk. Once the marriage license is on file is your name not officially changed until you get your license and SS card updated?? I’m just concerned about my passport for the honeymoon.

We are getting married 8/4/07 and honeymooning to Canada in December 07. I do not have a passport currently. Should I apply for one now while still using my maiden name and then request the name change on the passport after the wedding? Or should I just wait until we’re married and my name is officially changed to apply? I know they say it takes 10-12 weeks for a passport to come in, which we have 23 weeks in between our wedding and our honeymoon. Do you think this is enough time to have my name officially changed and still apply and receive my passport? To me it sounds like plenty of time but I don’t want to stress about my passport. Anyone have any experience?

TIA!

 

[cara]

The standard advice is to honeymoon under your maiden name but you do have quite a gap between wedding and honeymoon.

Um, it should be enough time but that is not to say that it will. US Passports have been swamped! And little things go wrong often and the passport officers are not always useful.

As long as you are willing to pay expedite fees if something goes wrong it should be OK.

 

[MustangGal]

It also might depend on how long it''ll take to get the new driver''s license and SS card. I know in California they mail you the driver''s license, and it takes a few weeks, but here in Arizona you walk out with your new card. I was a bit lazy, but it took 3 months before I got everything changed over.

It you want to be on the safe side, I''d get the passport now, and have your name changed on it later after the wedding.

 

[neatfreak]

If I were you, I would probably do one of two things.

Option 1: Get your passport NOW since it is taking 12 weeks often to get it right now (I hear). Then after the wedding, send in a name change ASAP AND pay the fees to have it expedited back to you. It will cost quite a bit more but you can be sure that you''ll get it in time. I''ve heard name changes are quicker than getting a first time passport.

Option 2: Don''t change your name on anything until after the honeymoon. No one says that you need to change your name immediately after the wedding, so don''t.

 

[Blenheim]

Another tip for speeding things along --

Typically the officiant mails the signed marriage license into city hall within a certain number of days (maybe 10?) of the wedding. Once city hall gets it, they begin to process it. After you request a certified copy, they''ll send you one. Then you take it with you when you get your driver''s license, SS card, etc., changed. This takes a while.

We bought a house two weeks after our wedding, so we wanted all of this done more quickly so that we could have the title to the house in my married name. The people at city hall told us to come in with the signed marriage licence on Monday morning, and that they''d give us a certified copy right there. Total amount of time after the wedding to get it was just two days (we got married on Saturday), so we were able to use it when we met with the bank three days after the wedding.

 

[njc]

Getting a copy of our marriage license was easy, just went to city hall where it was filed. I had to spend a day at SS and a half day at DMV to get that all changed, so that was a lot of time off work.

To go along with Neatfreaks comment about not needing to change your name right away, we got married the begining of August as well and I didnt start changing my name until November. I couldnt change it till the end of September when we got back from our honeymoon, and then I just wasnt in a rush. Some things are still in my maiden name...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

You should be fine. I went to the SS office and the DMV on the same day. They give you a letter (since they have to mail you the SS card) so you can do everything ASAP (including bank, etc...)

 

[surfgirl]

Because the US now insists that all US citizens traveling to/from Mexico, Canada and the Carribean carry US passports, the passport agencies have been swamped like crazy. I dont think you need to change your passport before your honeymoon, however, if you want to for whatever reason, I would recommend using a visa processing agency to expedite it for you. I travel alot and recently my passport expired and I waited until the last minute and was told it could be weeks/months before I got it back through regular channels so I paid extra for my visa service to push it through for me and I got it in one week. I use either Atlas Visa Service (in Arlington, VA) or Zierer Visa Service. The extra processing fees are worth the peace of mind right now given the backlog in passport processing.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Your thread got me movin'' to get my passport updated (name change). Just had to share my experience.

So DH and I are going to France at the end of September for our 1yr anniversary. I finally went and had new pics taken and sent in the paperwork on June 12th. I didn''t ask for expedited service, as it was about 14 weeks until we depart. So I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Well, I was SHOCKED to receive my "new name" passport last Friday. It only took a little over 2 weeks!

I know that my situation is a bit different than yours as I requested an updated passport and wasn''t applying for a new one. Maybe I got lucky!

I recommend that you get the paperwork filled out and have your pics ready to go so you can send it off as soon as you get your name officially changed (which took me only days to do)

GOOD LUCK!