What documentation does my Russian spouse use to return to Russia and return to the US?

Her SS card has her maiden name.
Her Driver's License has her married name.
Her International Passport has her maiden name.
Her GC has her married name.
Her Internal Russian Passport has her maiden name.

I guess I am confused about which documents she needs to leave the US and then get into Russia. Then, leave Russia and then get into the US.

Thanks for any help. I thought I had read in the past there was a problem with the two different last names on the documents.

Have a great day.

John

You can enter Russia only using Russian documents. Therefore she will need her international passport with her maiden name. Thus it is recommended that you buy airline tickets in her maiden name.
To return to the US you need to show your Russian passport to the exit border patrol in Russia and an American entry document i.e. valid visa, green card, refugee stamp, I-551 stamp or US passport to the airline officials and then do the same at the Point of Entry officers in the US.
The only known problems occur in Russia because a Russian official who is working for Aeroflot will refuse to recognize a Russian Passport with one name and a US entry document in another name. To ease your worries some, like myself have requested the Russian consulate to make an amendment to the Russian Passport indicating that this passport holder also goes by the following married name.
AK has had more success by even getting the Seattle Russian consulate to change the entire Russian passport into the married name. San Francisco Russian Consulate refused to do the latter, claiming it must be done in Russia through the internal passport first.
But 9 out of 10 you will be fine with the documents you listed. As the folks in the Canadian or European forums point out, you should bring your marriage certificate to point out the name change. That might pass muster in civilized Western Countries, but in Russia, a US marriage certificate is worth as much as a piece of toilet paper. Unless it is appostiled and certified by a Russian consulate here in the US.

If your wife has difficulties leaving Russia, perhaps you could help her re-route her itinerary back home through Helsinki or Kiev. There's no problem for Russians to go through FSU states, and Kiev exit people, as I understand it, won't hassle Russians.

As Sat has said as well, don't worry too much. You can always re-route your trip through Finland and all will be fine.

Russian Passport to leave.
GC and Russian passport to come back.

My wife never changed her name on her GC, which makes it a non-issue.

Hi John
Anna left on Wednesday for peter we had our interview on Tuesday and asked them to stamp her passport.
We asked the interviewer and was told to make sure she takes a copy of the marriage cert with her.

I let U know how it goes in 2 weeks when she returns.

The clerks and the aiports counter never saw the stamp before and we waited about 15 minutes for them to check with the supervisor's supervisor.

Well, the SS card and driver's license are not travel documents. So you can exclude those.

To leave the US, she probably does not have to show anything. I've never been asked to present paperwork when leaving the US by air, except when flying to Canada. At most, she will need to present paperwork showing she can enter the country of her final destination. The Russian passport will do that trick. No one in the U.S. is going to concern themselves with whether or not she can return to the U.S.

To enter Russia, authorities there will only want to see her Russian international passport.

To leave Russia, they will want to see her passport at passport control. They MAY (but unlikely) want to see a plane ticket, visa, or other entry document. The airline people will of course want to see a ticket, and probably some entry document, such as an AP document, GC, U.S. passport, $100 bill, or some other such thing. Some people have reported issues with the airline ticket not matching the name on the travel document, not matching the name on the GC. You mileage may vary. Get there early.

Cheers!
AKDiver

p.s.: just another reason why it's crazy for people to change names just because they get married

when I traveled to Russia i had International passport(it was expired and i intended to renew it in russia),Travel Document(i still green card pending) and I had Marriage sertificate ...So I wanted to renew my international passport and have a married last name in it but I couldn't...because my marriage sertificate was without Apostile(so on Russian Federation it's not valid without Apostil),Also my Travel Doc was on my married name and i needed marriage sertificate with apostile when i came back...my husband sent this apostil through DHL

AK
My wife was held up at Phila airport for her DEPARTURE counter person needed to verify the she was here legally.
I don't understand it either. But when I questioned her I was told they would be fined???


John

That's a new one. Well, easy answer, "no, I'm here illegally, and I feel so bad about it, so I am leaving now. See you!"

Sorry to resurrect an old topic but my now wife is worried about this since we plan on traveling back to Russia to visit her family and such. I was reading the US state department site and they will not Appostilied a state issued certificate (ie a marriage certificate) so can you please enlighten me as what you are suggesting here? The way I read the rules on this process is that it is for federal issued documents only. Help me understand this please.

I am trying to get Anna to call the Russian consulate to have an adendum added to her International passport with an AKA but was interested in what you said above and was hopeing for some clarification.

Thanks,
Paul

Maybe you missed this...

http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/h...issues_562.html

"Documents issued in one country which need to be used in another country must be "authenticated" or "legalized" before they can be recognized as valid in the foreign country. This is a process in which various seals are placed on the document. Such documents range from powers of attorney, affidavits, birth, death and marriages records, incorporation papers, deeds, patent applications, home studies and other legal papers. The number and type of authentication certificates you will need to obtain depend on the nature of the document and whether or not the foreign country is a party to the multilateral treaty on "legalization" of documents. (A) If your document is intended for use in a country which is a party to a treaty called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents ("Hague Legalization Convention") (countries listed below), obtaining a special "apostille" certificate is generally all that is required."

Thanks that helps quite a bit. Not sure why information is so spread out on that site but your findings are most appreciated.

Paul and Anna

I didn't realize this was from a page regarding abduction!!! But the info is the same and accurate.

Thanks for all the good information.

I presume that she will need to get her airline ticket in her maiden name which will match her International Passport. When she leaves the US, she would have to show only her International Passport for identification.

On her return, her International Passport will match her ticket and she would be able to leave Russia.

Upon entering the US, she would have to show her International Passport, her Marriage License, and her Green Card.

I would think this should get her to Russia and back home again withou a problem.

I will take our Marriage License to the Secretary of State's office and have the correct stamps put on it (apostile).

That is not enough for Russian officials. Without the translation and Russian consulate certification it is still worth as much as a piece of toilet paper.

I have finally gotten my wife an airline ticket to return to Russia. I got it in her maiden name which is on her Russian Passport. I have an Apostille from the State's Secretary of State on both our Certified Marriage License and the Russian Translation of our Marriage License.

I am going to send my wife's Russian Passport to the Russian Embassy and pay them $20 to add my wife's married name to her Passport.

They will certify that the Russian Translation of our Marriage License is a true translation for and additional $30.

Do I need to have the the Russian Embassy certify the Russian Translation of our Marriage License is a true translation? I presume they will stamp it with something.

Thanks for everyone's help. Have a great day.

John

PS: The Russian Embassy in Houston said they can issue a new passport to my wife when her passport expires next year. It will be in her maiden name. I will have to pay another $20 to have her married name added to the new passport. They only way to get my wife a Russian passport in her married name is for her to do it in Russia. I don't really understand this. That can take a few months.

They amendment took about 2 weeks. Instructions are on the consulates web site.

The Russian embassy in DC is SLOW! To renew my wife's passport and add the amendment will take about six months they told us. We sent it off in March, and two weeks ago they called us with some questions. It seems they are finally working on it. They scolded my wife because she had dropped her registration in Russia when she left but did not register with the embassy here (propiska). Sent off some more copies from her internal passport and we hope everything will be finished in a few months.

I can just imagine the look on the face of the people after that one.

Other things
"I forgot to turn off the iron the last time I left and I can back to turn it off"

I sent my wife's passport to the Russian Embassy in Houston along with $20 to have her married name added to her passport. It was there on Monday and I had it back on Tuesday. Very fast. I used FedEx Express 2-3 day.

All they did was handwrite on a page in the passport:
"Matrimonial Name of the Bearer is:
Last name, First name
Someone's Signature and then a Russian Seal Stamp"

I have the tickets in my wife's maiden name. She will her passport, our Marriage License in English and the Russian translated copy. Both documents have the Secretary of State's Apostille. She will also take her Green Card.

I did not pay the additional $30 for the Russian Translation of our Marriage License to be a true translation.

I do hope this will be sufficient and there will not be any problems. I do want my wife back home from her trip. She is leaving 27 August and returning 26 September.

Thank every one for their help. I will report back after the trip is complete.

Have a great day.

John and Ludmila

You shouldn't have any problems. But if you truly wanted to use the marriage certificate for some official purpose in Russia, you are at the mercy of the ZAGS people if they want to accept it without the consulate certification. Since technically it is still out of compliance with the Hague Convention. Although I am not 100% sure about that!
http://www.rusconshouston.org/document_legalization.htm
However, on a second read, it appears that the translation is what requires the consulate certification.
http://www.rusconshouston.org/translation_of_documents.htm