Need an Idea for a Document to Renew Russian Passport

[Neonred 4,215]

A few years after my wife arrived her Russian passport was expiring.  We were able to renew it through the embassy in DC but it took about 6 months.  At that time renewals were valid for 5 years.  Five years later my wife decided she wanted to go to Russia to renew it because it could be done there in a matter of days.  When we were ready to book the trip I noticed that her passport had just recently expired.  A call to the embassy informed us she would NOT be allowed to enter Russia on an expired passport.  Not only had her international passport expired but also her internal passport.    

 

We sent off to the embassy to get her international passport renewed, but they needed additional information and money of course.  In short they were never able to renew her passport saying they could not determine that she was a Russian citizen!

 

Since she had her US passport we kind of just gave up on the Russian one.  Now her mother is turning 80 and she worries one day soon she may need to travel to Russia, so she is again pursuing the renewal but this time has enlisted the help of someone that does this sort of thing for a fee.

 

Now comes the part we need help with.  Of course when we married she took my last name but in our state as in most others there is no written indication of the new  last name on the marriage certificate. And of course at naturalization she changed her first name to a less Russian sounding name.

 

What we need is some solid document that shows the new last name after marriage.  Of course they can't just accept that it is normal policy based on marriage.  They need a document that spells out her new last name.  I tried telling my wife it would be so easy to get the Russian passport in her old last name, but her stubborn nature won't accept that.  The person we are working with wants us to go to the county courthouse and do another name change in front of the judge to prove the new last name.  More paperwork and another $400+   Seems like there should be an easier way, but I don't know.

 

Any ideas?  

 

Thanks for your help.

 

[Lemonslice 5,441]

3 hours ago, Neonred said:

A few years after my wife arrived her Russian passport was expiring.  We were able to renew it through the embassy in DC but it took about 6 months.  At that time renewals were valid for 5 years.  Five years later my wife decided she wanted to go to Russia to renew it because it could be done there in a matter of days.  When we were ready to book the trip I noticed that her passport had just recently expired.  A call to the embassy informed us she would NOT be allowed to enter Russia on an expired passport.  Not only had her international passport expired but also her internal passport.    

 

We sent off to the embassy to get her international passport renewed, but they needed additional information and money of course.  In short they were never able to renew her passport saying they could not determine that she was a Russian citizen!

 

Since she had her US passport we kind of just gave up on the Russian one.  Now her mother is turning 80 and she worries one day soon she may need to travel to Russia, so she is again pursuing the renewal but this time has enlisted the help of someone that does this sort of thing for a fee.

 

Now comes the part we need help with.  Of course when we married she took my last name but in our state as in most others there is no written indication of the new  last name on the marriage certificate. And of course at naturalization she changed her first name to a less Russian sounding name.

 

What we need is some solid document that shows the new last name after marriage.  Of course they can't just accept that it is normal policy based on marriage.  They need a document that spells out her new last name.  I tried telling my wife it would be so easy to get the Russian passport in her old last name, but her stubborn nature won't accept that.  The person we are working with wants us to go to the county courthouse and do another name change in front of the judge to prove the new last name.  More paperwork and another $400+   Seems like there should be an easier way, but I don't know.

 

Any ideas?  

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Could you print the state law (about being able to take the other spouse's last name after marriage) and then have a copy stamped by a notary public?  [I know that stamp is kind of worthless, but older countries seem to love stamps and all - I did something similar in another situation].   

 

Could also reach out to the vital statistics office to see if they have any document to attach to your marriage certificate.  Sometimes state certificate have an annotation about names (but not county ones).  

 

Good luck.  

[Dashinka 26,708]

We briefly looked into this when we got married as our locale in MI also has a similar marriage certificate.  One option we thought of was to formally request a name change during the N400 process, but that seemed like it would not work as in the eyes of USCIS my wife’s family name was already legally changed.  Another option was to request a legal name change through a court with that associated expense.  We did not explore it further as my wife has traveled back and forth frequently and renewed her passport in country during one of those trips.  I need to ask her about her internal passport, but I believe that is still valid.  

 

The comments by the Russian consulate is amazing where they say they cannot determine if she is a Russian citizen simply because some document has expired.