Hi everybody...
I know, this has been asked a million times, but I just want to make sure. I got my 2 year green card in november last year and I want to visit my family in germany in mai but I'm not sure if I'm gonna have problems to come back in. My passport is still in my maiden name and my green card is in my married name, is it enough to bring my original marriage certificate with me to proof that this is my green card when I come back in? I also planed to get a name change on my german passport while I'm there but than I'm gonna have a different name on the passport than on the plain ticket, will that be a problem?

Anybody who has experience with that?!

Thanks a lot!!!!!

The name on the ticket and the name on the Passport must match... or they will not allow you to board your flight.... if you want to change your name on your passport then do it before you go or wait until you have returned....


If you are traveling on your passport with your maiden name then yes bring a copy of your marriage certificate to link your greencard to your passport.... that is what you need for re-entry into the US....


Kez

I have not exprienced this but you want make sure every thing is in check before leaving the USA

Hi Sandy. My passport is in my former name and my greencard is in my married name also. Until I get it changed, I buy all my airline tickets in the name which is on my passport. As Kez says, the name on the ticket must match the name on the passport. The passport and tickets are reviewed at check-in and at airport security... don't give them the greencard. When you go through Customs & Immigration, you hand them your greencard.... not your passport. I have never had them ask to see the passport as well, but I'm sure it happens. I carry my marriage certificate with me just in case.

The trail of breadcrumbs is all there....... Your visa is in your passport and shows the petitioner's name, which is now your married name. The greencard contains everything they need to know about you. Just one swipe and all that information pops up on their screen. You'll be fine, Sandy. Have a great trip.

Thank you guys, that really helps a lot!!!!!! Now I'm a little more relaxed

Sorry. I just re-read this and thought I should clarify that -- upon your return -- you show U.S. Customs & Immigration your greencard. Not any other country..... they get shown the passport.

You do have to show both passport & greencard upon your return to the US, but the good thing is you get to go through the short line you can re-enter through the "Citizen,Resident line!!...................i have done this a few times with my greencard & passport!, you dont need to show customs, all they will need is your white custom form!!, you also wont have to fill out a green visa waiver any more on the flight YAY!!!

Hey Sandy...
I went to Germany in 2006. My passport is still in my maiden name, my green card is in my new last name. I bought the ticket with the NEW last name (just double checked since I still had the boarding pass). I also had the marriage license with me in case they would ask but I didnt have any trouble at all!

Hey Sandy, as a former Airline Agent I know that we always advised our customers to have the same name on Airlineticket and on the Passport. If that dont match they might denied the boarding.

Viele Gruesse an Deutschland

No you don't, not always. I have offered to show my passport each time I go through the POE, and they have waved it away every time. I have it with me, but in my experience all they cared about is my green card and related paperwork (ie. your extension letter if you are at that point).

well maybe its different for you as your Canadian!................ , infact they stamped my passport every time i returned & wrote ARC??under the date stamp!!

I can't help shoving the kitten in amongst the pigeons.

I've flown to and from the UK (between both Gatwick, Heathrow and DFW) via American Airlines three times since getting my 2 year green card using a ticket in my married name and a passport in my maiden name.

I changed the name on my AAdvantage mileage account just after getting married. When I booked my first trip back to the UK a few months later I called AA and asked which name to book in, bearing in mind my AA account and green card are in my married name but my passport was (and still is) in my maiden name. The rep said using either name was OK, but it would be better to use the name that matched my AA account and also the green card. As long as I had the original marriage certificate with me on the trip it would be fine. So (admittedly with some trepidation) I decided to book in my married name - I wanted to be sure I would be able to get back into the US without difficulty since my ticket would match my green card.

So - as you know - when checking in these days there's a pre-check in security check desk in front of each airline's own check in desks ... At the pre-check in desk at DFW, the security staff simply compared the names on my marriage certificate with those on the ticket, passport and green card to confirm I was (and still am, I hope) the same person, added a note on the computer system to that effect and on I went. (In fact I have been a useful training exercise at DFW and Gatwick because a couple times newbie checkers have been shown how to handle my situation!) The actual airline check in processing has been quick because the information is all there in the system already.

I'm pleased to say that check in has been this easy every time, both in the US and the UK.

The last time I did this was in late January this year - after the US passport rule changes came in and just over two years after we got married. Passing through US immigration, all they ever wanted to see each time was my green card.

In case you're wondering why I'm still doing this two years later ... My old UK passport ran out just a few weeks before I moved to the US, so of course I had to buy a new one and it's valid for 5 years. If it was free, or cheap to change a name, that would be different, but a simple name change costs just the same as a full renewal, and I'm stingy and just not prepared to fork out yet more money unnecessarily, so I'll keep on doing what I've done for another couple of years or so, unless either the USA or UK change their travel laws again in the meantime.

I guess I should make the following disclaimer ...

The above is a description of my experiences when flying with American Airlines to/from either Gatwick/Heathrow - DFW only. You should probably call the relevant airline yourself and then make a decision for yourself!

Happy journeys!

Agreed. It depends on the airline. I have seen what happens when someone's passport does not match their ticket, and it was quite stressful as to whether my family member would be able to have it changed in time to board the flight with the rest of us. Not a pretty sight.

I have never had to show my passport when returning to the US.... they only want to see my Greencard... I always have my UK passport in my hand but when I have offered it along with my greencard the officer has always just taken the greencard.... this has happened in Boston and NY JFK and Newark....


Kez

Hmmm...Bruce had to show GC and passport coming back into JFK from Amsterdam 2 months ago. He said it was super quick though, just a glance at it, didn't scan it or anything, and they were more interested in seeing his GC.

Just as an aside on the whole name-match-up-thingy: my mother-in-law (UKC) flew over from London with us to come to our wedding in Vermont back in 2006. I booked all of our tickets together, and I booked her ticket in what I *thought* was her legal last name -- I have only ever her known her as (for example) Jessica Jones, which is her maiden and stage name. It turns out that legally her last name is actually the same as my husband's, and I didn't discover this blooper until we were on the plane, and I was helping her fill out her I-94W! I had her passport in my hand, and when I saw her last name I was like:

The check-in people at Gatwick hadn't made an issue of it, nor the security people, not anybody. But we were all bricking it when we got to JFK (well, my MIL not so much because she's one of life's chilled out, happy people!). Were the IOs going to make an issue of it and deny her entry to the US, just days before her son's wedding?

Nobody mentioned anything. Not at immigration, not on the way back to Britain. Weird.

@ bolded bit. Wow. That was a lucky break. I would have been bricking it too.

It's one of my faves! I can slip it by Americans* all the time without them having any idea what I'm talking about.

*I mean, my fellow Americans.

That actually made me Laugh Out Loud hahahahah

Maybe i look shady lol............cos every time they wanted my GC & passport stamped it every time too maybe it is the POS mine has always been Chicago!!......or maybe i realy do look shady!!


maybe cos its a conditional GC i have??.......hmmmm i wonder what the (ARC) he wrote on the date stamp means!!!(in my passport!!).not just this time but the last 3 times!!

WOW... that's a lot of infos, thank you guys for sharing this and your experience with me... I will call the airline though I think, just to make sure... Oh, and I think I'm not even gonna get a new passport, it's good for 4 more years and if it doesn't matter if it's a different name than on the GC (as long as I have my marriage certificet) I'll save myself some money and some stress ( @ Tex'n'Brit)

Thanks again to everybody!!!!!