# Passport renwals, name changes



## cdn76 (Feb 28, 2011)

Please Someone help me??
The low down

Canadian citizen with current canadian passport and current I-94 in it

Married to US citizen and marriage certificate states my new last name as husbands last name

All of my identification currently has my maiden name because no one will help me start the process. Let me explain further.

Social Security Office will NOT channge my name because they require a drivers license, or employee ID, or passport with my married name printed on it.

DMV, Passport Canada, or my employer will NOT change my name unless they see it printed on my social security card. please refer to above.

Green card forms also ask for identification. I'm guessing with my married name. If I choose to go by that 

How do I go about this when there is absolutley no where to start? 

Also it turns out that on marriage certificate they put my maiden name as my "middle name" and husbands name as my last name.

Should I go to the county clerk's office and change it to the hyphenated last name that I wanted?
Someone at Passport Canada I spoke with stated that Canada "might" accept a municipal card like a library card with my married name on it at a form of ID. But looking on the library website, they require something printed in my married name as well. I can't win!! 

I need to renew my Canadian passport ASAP because i want to work on my green card application. 
Would it be easier to just keep my maiden name for now, and still have the marriage certificate state my last name as my husbands? 

Someone please help me??? :Cry::Cry: I have a huge headache!
Or at least please tell me that I'm not the only one going thru this, 
Thank you in advance


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Man, they have really changed over the years. Used to be in the US you could go by any name you wanted, as long as there was no intent to commit fraud. But I got caught up in the name change thing a few years ago, when US social security didn't want to change the name on my card from my old married name, 18 years after I got divorced and went back to using my maiden name.

I would start with the county clerk's office and get the marriage certificate to read the way you want it to read. Then use that to change something - like a credit card or a bank account. If you have an employee ID that can be a good place to start, as your employer is more likely to make the change however you like it. Once those new cards are issued, you can use them with the DMV and/or Social Security. It's sort of a daisy chain and it takes a while to make happen.

In the long run, it may just be easier to keep your maiden name for "official" purposes and just answer to your husband's last name as needed. But if it's not the way you want to do it, you should be able to change it.
Cheers,
Bev


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## cdn76 (Feb 28, 2011)

cdn76 said:


> Please Someone help me??
> The low down
> 
> Canadian citizen with current canadian passport and current I-94 in it
> ...




Thank you I will definitely give that a try.


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