Applying a new passport

[MademoiselleAmy 0]

I am a naturalized Canadian citizen. We are planning with my husband to travel outside the US when I obtain the GC.

My current passport is under my maiden name. I've been using my husband's last name in all documents and AOS

applications since I got married. Do I need to apply a new passport with my current legal name at the Canadian embassy? or I could present my passport with our marriage certificate and GC? I am afraid that I would not able to travel or reenter the US with the my name don't match with the Canadian passport and GC. I have now idea if I could be able to apply a new SIN card and citizenship card with current legal name change.

I would appreciate your inputs. Thank you and Merry Chirstmas to everyone.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If you passport is due to expire soon you can request a new passport in your married name. If your passport is relatively new, I would suggest not bothering to renew it until it gets closer to its expiry date. Carry a copy of your marriage certificate in your passport and you shouldn't have a problem. For trouble free international travelling though, be sure to book any airline tickets in the name that is in your passport.

You can't renew passports at the Consulate. There are actually new rules for renewing Canadian passports from the US. There is a thread on this forum telling all about it. Here is the link: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=167865

You can apply for a corrected SSN by providing them with your marriage certificate. I don't know about your Canadian citizenship card. I would keep it in your maiden name - it is kind of like your birth certificate and reflects your name at the time of the event. Your marriage certificate will always indicate the name change.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Kathryn41

[antda 13]

Hi MadamoiselleAmy,

Similarly, I'm a naturalized Canadian citizen, and am in the US too, so I'll try to answer your questions/concerns here, based on my experiences:

-Likewise, my current (and soon to expire) Canadian passport is in my maiden last name, and all of my other documents (such as my US Green Card) and identification information is in my married name, which I've used ever since I've been married and have been living here in the USA

-Unfortunately, you cannot apply for a new passport at the Canadian embassy. I actually asked there in-person at the Canadian Embassy in Buffalo, NY, but they turned me away, saying they don't do such. Instead, you would have to go in-person to a Canadian passport office in Canada or apply for a new passport by mail to Canada from the USA.

-In 2007 (at the Passport Canada office in St.Catherine's, ON) I added the $20 "married surname notation" in my maiden name Canadian passport, so name-wise that it would correspond with my US Green Card and other documents/identification in my married last name. However, Passport Canada doesn't offer that option anymore, as after June 2007 Passport Canada stopped issuing this notation to married women. As well, that "married surname notation" is only valid as a "notation", as it is not in a machine-readable format, and therefore any travel bookings/reservations must still be made in the original "maiden name" in machine-readable format which the passport was issued in.

-Therefore, if one needs to travel internationally with their married last name, they would have to re-apply all over again for a new Canadian passport...(using the 'difficult' general application process forms, as the simplified application process forms cannot be used for married name changes)...grrr....For more information as to applying for a Canadian passport read here: http://www.ppt.gc.ca/index.aspx?lang=eng

-As for travelling between the US and Canada for land crossings, I have shown border officials the following documents/identifications: Canadian Passport (maiden name, but with married name notation), US Green Card (married name), US Driver's license (married name). Also, I keep a photocopy of my marriage certificate with me (though they haven't asked for that, but have that handy just in case they do ask). And as well, I keep my very outdated original Canadian Citizenship/Naturalization card with me (though they haven't asked for that either).

-As for moving, government-wise in Canada I only notified Revenue Canada/Elections Canada (with the "final tax return", and to protect myself from any tax fraud), and Passport Canada (when they added my married name to my passport). I didn't notify the Social Insurance (Human Resources Canada, I think) as I didn't need a new social insurance card and I wouldn't be working in Canada, nor did I notify OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance) as my card already expired, not did I notify the MTO (Ministry of Transportation Ontario) as my license was transfered and destroyed here by the DMV. I also closed up my Canadian bank account in Canada. Anyone else I need to notify, I can't think of, government-wise and financial-wise that I should notify, and haven't done such.

-As for the Canadian Citizenship/Naturalization Card, believe it or not, I actually looked into renewing this, while I was in Canada, as I thought that I needed an "updated" one (lol..I don't think a photo of me when I was a very young child was going to suffice as "current" identification for US border crossings). From what I read, a couple of years ago, the process for replacing/renewing a Canadian Citizenship Card is not that simple, as it is even more complicated than applying/re-applying for a Canadian passport. At the time, I opted to apply for a Canadian passport instead of updating/renewing my Citizenship/Naturalization Card, which was a lot easier to do (lol..if you can call that easy, that is). However, if you are still inclined to update your Canadian Citizenship Card, you can read more about the application process for that here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/a...s/CIT0006E4.asp

Funny how Birth Certificates are easy to replace, yet a Canadian Citizenship/Naturalization Card is harder to replace (lol..the same theory goes for American Citizenship/Naturalization Certificates too)!

-Yeah, it is too bad not to have a Canadian Birth Certificate. Lol..you wouldn't believe how much trouble I have explaining that "I'm Canadian" (instead associated to my birth country, which I have no ties at all to), and then having to carry my Canadian passport and/or Canadian citizenship card with me to prove such when need be! Oh well, later on I'll be "Dual Canadian and American", so hopefully that will help me on both sides for future Canada/US border crossings and for other issues here too.

-Since you indicated that you were a Naturalized Canadian Citizen, I assume that you also have another "Birth Country", which you may or may not still have citizenship of. If you still have citizenship privillages to that birth country, maybe you can apply for a new married name passport from that other country instead, and travel with that other passport instead of a Canadian one?

Hope this post reply helps, MademoiselleAmy. Good luck with the rest of your immigration journey!

Ant (Naturalized Canadian Citizen, Soon to be American...)

I am a naturalized Canadian citizen. We are planning with my husband to travel outside the US when I obtain the GC. My current passport is under my maiden name. I've been using my husband's last name in all documents and AOS applications since I got married. Do I need to apply a new passport with my current legal name at the Canadian embassy?

or I could present my passport with our marriage certificate and GC? I am afraid that I would not able to travel or reenter the US with the my name don't match with the Canadian passport and GC. I have now idea if I could be able to apply a new SIN card and citizenship card with current legal name change.

I would appreciate your inputs. Thank you and Merry Chirstmas to everyone.

[Krikit 1,163]

Hi Amy. Ditto to what Kathryn and Ant have said. Don't worry about re-entering the US with your passport and GC in different names. If you cross by land they only want to see your GC. If you cross by air your passport has the visa in it with the petitioner's name which matches your own. Plus, the GC has all the data in it as well. My passport is in my former name as well, and I've never had a problem at any land or air POE. I do carry a copy of our marriage certificate just in case, but, like Ant, have never been asked for it.