Wedding Passports--get ''em now

[musey]

Hey soon-to-be-honeymooners!

I just got home from the post office where I applied for my new passport. I just wanted to let you all know that the postal worker who was helping me said that the turnover time was expected to shoot up (to 7-9 weeks) within the next month for a variety of reasons, but it''s at 2-3 weeks right now.

I thought it might be helpful to those of you planning international honeymoons, if you don''t yet have your passports!

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks for the heads-up Musey!

 

[VRBeauty]

Musey:

I had to seek out your thread to say merci beaucoup.

Your advice to take advantage of short passport wait times encouraged me to get off my duff and get those (ugh!) passport photos taken. I submitted my passport renewal application on the a week ago Monday (ten days after your post... it took that long to come to grips with the new photos

) ... and my new passport was waiting in my mailbox when I got home tonight!

I'm not honeymoon-bound, but I do expect to put my new passport to good come July. Paris, here I come!

 

[Harleigh]

Hi MINIMS!!!

How exciting! How long will you be in Paris? I can''t wait to hear all about it!

 

[VRBeauty]

Hi Harleigh!

I''ll be in Europe for three weeks, and will probably spend two weeks of that time in Paris. I''m so excited about this -- I''ve never been to Paris, plus I really, really, need a good vacation!

Anyhow, I''d second and third Musey''s advice to anyone who''s been putting off getting a passport. I got my pasport renewed in less than nine days... this is the time to send in that application! You never know when you might have the opportunity to use a passport, and nobody you care about is going to see that photo (

) anyway!

End of speech.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 5/22/2008 1:54:43 AM
Author: Harleigh
Hi MINIMS!!!

How exciting! How long will you be in Paris? I can''t wait to hear all about it!

Ditto! I''ve never been to Europe!

 

[Pandora II]

I can''t believe it.

I just called the UK Passport Office.

My passport is good until 2015 as I only renewed it in 2005. If I want to change my name on it I have to pay $150.

Or, I can keep it in my maiden name, but all flights etc will have to be booked as ''Miss'' as that is on my passport.

Does anyone know what the situation is if you have kids who have their father''s name but your passport has a different surname - does this cause problems?

 

[Delster]

Pandora I'm in the same boat. My passport expires next year and I have to renew it for ten years at a cost of €75 (plus another €12 for the swift application option if I choose it - so they'll do it within 10 days instead of a month). So that's about $140 all told. Ugh!

The ten year passport is the only option for anyone aged between 18 and 65. So if I get married within the next ten years and want to add BF's name to mine, I'll have to pay for a whole new ten year passport. There used to be a three year option, I don't know why they got rid of it. At least mine doesn't designate me as Miss / Ms / Mrs.

To answer your question about children's names, I don't imagine you'd have any difficulties once you explain it. I'm sure they come across that situation regularly. If you wanted to be extra sure you could photocopy their birth certs and just slip those into the passports as well?

ETA - I just noticed something odd on my passport. After 'surname' it has '(1)' and after 'forenames' it has '(2)'. So I can have both my forenames on there but I'm only allowed one surname? Must suss this out!

 

[sumbride]

Date: 5/22/2008 10:43:10 AM
Author: Pandora II
I can''t believe it.
I just called the UK Passport Office.

My passport is good until 2015 as I only renewed it in 2005. If I want to change my name on it I have to pay $150.

Or, I can keep it in my maiden name, but all flights etc will have to be booked as ''Miss'' as that is on my passport.

Does anyone know what the situation is if you have kids who have their father''s name but your passport has a different surname - does this cause problems?

I''ve heard it can and it''s best to travel with a copy of the birth certificates. Of course, much of Europe doesn''t change their surnames, right? So maybe it''s just in the US where it can be a big deal.

I had to renew my passport when I changed my name. I had about a year, maybe two left on mine and I had to pay for a renewal. Kind of annoyed me, but I didn''t want to hassle with the different name thing. I was just glad it wasn''t brand new.

 

[Cleopatra]

That''s so strange....I got my very first passport in February and I told them that I was getting married in August - they gave me forms to file once I get married - I fill out the forms, send in a copy of my marriage liscence and I get a new passport - i have to do this within a year of getting married and it''s free....

 

[sumbride]

Date: 5/22/2008 10:52:39 AM
Author: Cleopatra
That''s so strange....I got my very first passport in February and I told them that I was getting married in August - they gave me forms to file once I get married - I fill out the forms, send in a copy of my marriage liscence and I get a new passport - i have to do this within a year of getting married and it''s free....

If it''s within a year or so of getting your passport, you just get a new page or something to put in. Mine was too old for that and it specifically said that I had to renew. I also had to send in a copy of my marriage license and new pictures, as well as the renewal form.

 

[Pandora II]

Sumbride, most of mainland Europe doesn't change their names, but the UK is only 'sort of' European. We're much closer to the USA in most of our customs and traditions.

E-rings etc are just as common here as they are in the US - although coloured stones are MUCH more common.


The other thing that really annoys me about the passport thing is that I specifically renewed mine when I did so that I didn't have to have the biometric data on mine. I take a political stance that I don't like the idea of being 'tagged' by the government, in the same way as I am prepared to go to jail before I will have an ID card (there will be rather a lot of us so they'll have to build some new prisons - all 73,000 members of my political party for starters!).

If I now renew I have to have the biometrics grrrrrrr.

 

[eaglesgal]

My passport expired 2 weeks ago. I filled out the renewal form, but am waiting for a "good hair day" before I go to get my photos. I don''t want to have to look at some crazy wind-blown ''do for the next 10 years!

I didn''t really want to pay again for a new passport once I change my name, so I''ll have to look into what pp said. I''ll be married within the year. Otherwise, I may just travel using my maiden name.

 

[julybride]

Date: 5/22/2008 10:56:06 AM
Author: sumbride

Date: 5/22/2008 10:52:39 AM
Author: Cleopatra
That''s so strange....I got my very first passport in February and I told them that I was getting married in August - they gave me forms to file once I get married - I fill out the forms, send in a copy of my marriage liscence and I get a new passport - i have to do this within a year of getting married and it''s free....

If it''s within a year or so of getting your passport, you just get a new page or something to put in. Mine was too old for that and it specifically said that I had to renew. I also had to send in a copy of my marriage license and new pictures, as well as the renewal form.

True - In the US you can change your name for free if it is within one year of recieving your passport. You mail a copy of your marriage license, two new 2x2" pictures, and your current passport. They will send you a new passport with your new name change and will return your marriage license and old passport (which they will stamp as cancelled). I''m familiar with this as I just did this two weeks ago. I sent it on May 9th and recieved my new passport on May 19th. Very fast return!

If you are not able to do this within one year, you must repay the application fees for a new passport.