GoodGirl_J

Hi,

I have a question about getting a passport after you marry a USC....

Do all of you get your new passport right after you are married and before you AOS interview? How do you manage the timeline?

I got married in October 2003 to a USC and it looks like my AOS can be in Denver within the next two months or so. There is no way I can get a new passport with my married name by that time. If I apply for my new passport through the embassy of my country, it will take at least 5 months till my marriage is recorded in my home country (I got married here in the US) and till my new passport makes it back here.

Another thing is...my current passport expires in February 2005..
My question is: Will I get some kind of a stamp in my passport?
What if it is still a passport with my maiden name? Will they need to wait and put the stamp in the new one that shows my married name?

I'm really perplexed on how to make the change. Can anyone tell me how to do it?

Thanks a lot, guys.

YtsejaM

At your AOS interview (if they approve you) they will put an I-551 stamp in your passport, but this is needed only if you don't have your PR card. Once you get your PR card, you need not show them the I-551 stamp to prove your status.

With that said, I would start the process to get your name changed on the passport now. If you don't get it before your AOS interview, then they'll stamp your current passport (even if it has your maiden name on it). Once you get your new passport, you can take that to a USCIS office and get it stamped, if you desire.

AlisonPA

I got married in December 2003 and got my new passport in February. Are you British? If so you will be able to get a new UK passport in about 2 weeks - they are very quick at the UK Embassy in Washington. I didn't want to go through any problems with my passport being in my previous surname.

GoodGirl_J

Thanks for your reply. Does the PR card come in the mail after the AOS interview if you are approved?

GoodGirl_J

Nope, I'm from Slovakia and on my embassy's website is a note that the process can take up to 3 months. :-(

YtsejaM

Yes. But don't ask how long it takes to arrive once you are approved.

katesuiter1

I'll second that. They processed mine in just over a week. I filed for AOS just using my marriage cert as proof of name change, as I wanted to keep my passport until everything had settled down. I filed for a name change on my passport, and they called me a few days after saying that they'd made a mistake and charged my account with the cost of a slightly more expensive new 10 yr passport. Did I still just want the name change or did I want a new one? I said they might as well go and send me a new one so I don't have to worry about renewing it again in 3 yrs. They sent my old one back to me at the same time with the corner cut off to make it invalid, and my K1 visa and I-94 were also still intact inside.

Kate. xxx

AlisonPA

They are exceptionally good I thought - they rang me too. My application would have been done in a week if the London passport office hadn't stuffed up! I damaged my passport shortly before I was due to take a holiday and had to queue up at the passport office in London to get a new one in 1998. so I got a new one and the old one back with the corner cut off. Obviously when I applied for the new passport this February I sent just the passport that was still current. They rang me to tell me that on the passport records I had two passports. The one that I had the corner cut off of hadn't been cancelled in London so I had to send that back. Bit annoyed at having to fork out for two Fedex packages but they went ahead with my new passport and just waited to receive the other one and returned it immediately. They are indeed a very human group of people.

katesuiter1

The famous Brit etiquette!!!

Kate. xxxxxxx

AlisonPA

Well actually it surprised me cos they we can be terribly unhelpful people when we want to be and most civil servants I have ever come across are just that!

Hypertweeky

Why don't you apply for your new passport within the US?
It is faster than having your paperwork back and forth from overseas!
http://www.slovakembassy-us.org/
By the way my passport expires on March 2005, arg!!!

Hypertweeky

Humans?? No way!!

Marjeta

I have my passport with my maiden name in it and I'm not planning on getting a new one any time soon (is valid until 2011). I used it for my AOS interview without problems.

GoodGirl_J

Hypertweeky,

I can apply for the passport through my embassy, but they still need to send the request to Slovakia, because our passports are issued by the Police....

:-)

Steffi

I always find it weird how they can't keep things consistent...like they put your new name on your marriage certificate, whereas on mine they used my old name. But anyway. *L*