Finding a time to change your name?

[GilliC]

The other day I downloaded the form to change my name back, just to see what it would involve. It turns out that it's pretty simple and straightforward, so I went ahead and filled it out. I also contacted the embassy and the social security office, and I should be able to take care of those in a single appointment (though it takes about 2 weeks to get an appointment to go to the embassy here). After that, the new passport should take about a week. So I was thinking I would just start working on all this now and get it out of the way.

But then I remembered that I have two international plane tickets booked for November and December in my current name. Maybe I could get the airline to change the name on the ticket, but that seems like a lot of hassle. Also, I assume I would need to get my residence visa changed and moved to my new passport so that I can get back into the country. And I need my Brazilian visa for the December trip, but that's in my current name (and current passport) as well.

I keep trying to remember how I managed to do this back when I got married. How did you manage this? Did you just set aside a block of time when you decided you would stay put until the paperwork was done? Or did you travel on a combination of documentation in both names?

Right now it seems like the simplest option is to wait until the beginning of next year and avoid booking anything new before the end of Feb. But waiting three more months for the name change is annoying, and I don't want to be forced to sit out any trips that come up in Jan/Feb.

[GilliC]

Sept 24, 2012 6:47:22 GMT -5 mintchocochip said:

I'd just wait until you have a block of time where you know you won't be traveling.

Yeah, that's my question! How do you schedule that block of time?

Honestly, if I move to Brazil without changing it, I don't know if I will ever be able to change it. Paperwork there is too slow and tedious.

The only reason that I want to change it back is that I might someday end up in another long-term relationship. I am not taking someone else's name again, and I feel like it would be weird to be walking around with some other guy's surname. Isn't that weird? Or am I just overreacting?

[heavenly]

I had the same issue where my Driver's License did not match my plane tickets my dad purchased for me under my new name. The DMV issued a letter for the airport with a photograph and a new picture for the one for a new Driver's License that has not yet arrived.

I would think the DMV and/or maybe the SSA office can issue a letter for the airport if needed.

[stephbfan]

I don't think its that hard to change names for tickets. Just contact the airline and see what they say. You are not changing your itinerary, its just your name.

I remember you are not in the US, right?

[GilliC]

No, I'm living in Norway.

In addition to the tickets, I'm not sure what I would need to do about my visas. My visa for Brazil is in my current name and current passport. Would bringing the old passport be enough, or would I need to get the visa transferred beforehand?

Likewise with my residency visa here. It's probably not as big an issue, since the Norwegian government would already have a record of the name change, but I don't know.

With two tickets and two visas to change, I'm thinking it makes sense to just plan to do it at the beginning of next year. If I figure out a schedule in advance, I should hopefully be able to minimize the time that would be too risky to book anything, and if something did come up, I could deal with it on a single-case basis.

[notatree]

I haven't changed my name with the passport office yet, is there a requirements after so many days you have to?

[stephbfan]

Sept 24, 2012 11:30:25 GMT -5 GilliC said:

No, I'm living in Norway.

With two tickets and two visas to change, I'm thinking it makes sense to just plan to do it at the beginning of next year.

I think this is the right thing to do.

I wasn't aware that American citizens were required to have a visa to go to Brazil.

[GilliC]

Yep. There is some promising talk that they might lift the visa requirement in the next few years, but it hasn't happened yet.

[sweetchix]

I told my attorney from the start that I want to go back to my maiden name. Some of it will be taken care of in court, not sure how much I'll have to do yet.