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Married name on Canadian Passport

antonette28

Full Member
Mar 17, 2016
41
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Hi,

Your help is appreciated.

After your oath you will receive you certificate. Then next step is to apply for yiur passport.

When applying passport, can you request for your married name on your passport? Providing the marriage certificate from philippines.?

Or should I change first my IDs like SIn, heath care card, driver's license? Please advise i need your help, you might have experienced this. After my oath I would like to use My married name in my passport.
Thanks.
 

Freckle

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Mar 13, 2013
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First, you need to apply for a new Canadian Citizneship Certificate that will have your new name on it. You'll need to send to IRCC your previous Canadian Citizenship along with the documents that prove your change of name.
 

screech339

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First, you need to apply for a new Canadian Citizneship Certificate that will have your new name on it. You'll need to send to IRCC your previous Canadian Citizenship along with the documents that prove your change of name.
What you are suggesting is for those with legal name change. This is not the case with the OP. You can have your passport list your marriage name without doing the legal name change route. The OP would likely need to change DL and Health card and possibly SIN to marriage name first before allowing marriage name in passport.
 

Freckle

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What you are suggesting is for those with legal name change. This is not the case with the OP. You can have your passport list your marriage name without doing the legal name change route. The OP would likely need to change DL and Health card and possibly SIN to marriage name first before allowing marriage name in passport.
If I want go back to my maiden name after a divorce do I need to go through the legal name change route?
 

screech339

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If I want go back to my maiden name after a divorce do I need to go through the legal name change route?
No. Just show your original documents with maiden name along with divorce papers.

The original documents (COPR and Canadian citizenship certificate) would be equivalent of having your own Canadian birth certificate. You only need to show marriage certificate if you want your marriage last name shown on your DL, Health Card, SIN and Passport. Most, if not all, provinces offer marriage name change for free on DL's and Health cards. Legal name change is like changing your original name, thus changing your Canadian citizenship certificate is required. If a Canadian born wanted to change name, the person go through a legal name change and get a new birth certificate with their new name on it. With that new birth certificate, the person has to reapply for all new IDs to reflect new name. This is not the case with OP. She is simply want to take on the marriage name.
 
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screech339

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Once my spouse obtains citizenship, we will then go through the process of changing her last name to the marriage name. Update DL, Health Card and SIN with her new marriage name. Once she obtained all the new IDs, she can then apply for passport with marriage name with citizenship certificate (maiden name listed) and marriage certificate together along with her new IDs. We had option to apply for citizenship under marriage name but it is not worth the hassle. It will only delay or add more aggravation to the process that is not needed.

I think it is the best route for everyone. If, in the event of a divorce or separation, the person can easily go back to her maiden name if she so desired. Not so easy to do with the legal name change. Apply and update citizenship certificate once again along with other IDs which cost time and money. Marriage name change on DL, Health cards are free. Legal name change is not. Cost $25 a card for Ontario for example.

My wife ran into trouble traveling in Europe. She was stopped and questioned at one of the borders due to her passport listing her maiden name being different from our children's passport last name (my last name). She didn't have the children's birth certificate proving she is the mother. Lucky for her, she had the notarized travel permission papers from me with her and they accepted it as her children since it listed her name as one of the parents.
 
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Freckle

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No. Just show your original documents with maiden name along with divorce papers.

The original documents (COPR and Canadian citizenship certificate) would be equivalent of having your own Canadian birth certificate. You only need to show marriage certificate if you want your marriage last name shown on your DL, Health Card, SIN and Passport. Most, if not all, provinces offer marriage name change for free on DL's and Health cards. Legal name change is like changing your original name, thus changing your Canadian citizenship certificate is required. If a Canadian born wanted to change name, the person go through a legal name change and get a new birth certificate with their new name on it. With that new birth certificate, the person has to reapply for all new IDs to reflect new name. This is not the case with OP. She is simply want to take on the marriage name.
Thanks, apparently I didn't know the difference between legal name change and changing back to maiden name.
 

screech339

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Thanks, apparently I didn't know the difference between legal name change and changing back to maiden name.
Taking on a marriage name is not the same as a legal name change. The first is based on a relationship. The second is based on actually changing of name regardless of relationship.
 
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Freckle

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Taking on a marriage name is not the same as a legal name change. The first is based on a relationship. The second is based on actually changing of name regardless of relationship.
So I called IRCC, went to Service Canada and called Passport services. If I want to revert to my maiden name I need to apply for a new citizenship certificate first before applying for a Canadian Passport.
 

screech339

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So I called IRCC, went to Service Canada and called Passport services. If I want to revert to my maiden name I need to apply for a new citizenship certificate first before applying for a Canadian Passport.
That doesn't make any sense. A person born in Canada would not need to change her birth certificate for a marriage name on her passport. She just provide a marriage certificate with birth certificate together, along with DL and Health card showing her marriage name. If she chooses to go back to her maiden name, she just show her original birth certificate with divorce papers. The principle should remain the same for those with Canadian certificate in their maiden name. For example. My mother has a marriage name on her passport and yet her birth certificate has her maiden name.
 
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screech339

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Apr 2, 2013
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Why do you want to change your married surname to your maiden surname? Which province do you live in?

In BC, the child's birth certificate will have mother's maiden name not the married surname.

Also, if you want to change the surname in your passport, you can simply show your marriage certificate and tell them that you want to revert to your maiden name. Please confirm first with passport canada for confirmation. I think there is no need to have your citizenship certificate changed. My wife still has her citizenship certificate in her maiden name and her canadian passport and all other ids have her married name.
Here is another quote. coolguysam's wife has maiden name in her citizenship certificate and her Canadian Passport and all other IDs are in her marriage name.

I think the problem lies with the CIC agents. They think changing the name on passport all requires legal name change which is not true. If I were you, I would print up the info on the link I provided below and show it to Passport Canada. They will see that there is a difference between relationship last name change from legal name change. You may get resistance from the agent. I suggest you stand your ground and don't let them force you to do a legal name change to put a marriage name on passport.
 
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screech339

VIP Member
Apr 2, 2013
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Job Offer........
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AOR Received.
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Med's Done....
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Interview........
17-06-2013
LANDED..........
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You will see in the link below that there is two ways to have name change. One is relationship marriage name, the other legal name change. At bottom, the only time you need to change your name on the certificate is if you do a legal name change. Which is not what you are doing if you are taking on a marriage name (relationship status). There is nowhere shown that you must do a legal name change on a Canadian certificate if one were to get married and want to take on marriage name.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/change-name.html

Name changes — Passports and travel documents

The surname (last name) and given names on your passport or travel document must be the same as the one on your birth certificate or Canadian citizenship certificate.

Caution about changing your name on a passport or other travel document
Be sure that you make all of your travel bookings, such as tickets and hotels, in the name that appears on your new passport.

If the name on the passport or travel document doesn't match your bookings, you could have issues such as:

  • countries not letting you in
  • travel companies not letting you board
This could happen even if you carry your marriage or civil partnership certificate with you.

Check with the consulate of the country you plan to visit or transit through, or your travel agent about your name change.

When you change your name on your passport, you must do the following:

You may ask for your given name to be slightly different on your passport or travel document by doing the following:

  • dropping given names
  • reversing given names
Other reasons you may need to change your name are:

  • change in relationship
  • legal name change
Change of surname (last name) due to relationship status change
You need to apply for a new passport when changing your surname (last name) following a relationship status change, such as marriage or divorce. You will need to include all the required documents for a new adult general application and pay the full fee.

You also need to include one or more of the following documents, depending on the situation:

  • marriage certificate(s)
  • common-law relationship certificate(s)
  • court order issued in or outside Canada, such as:
    • separation agreement
    • divorce order/judgment
  • certificate(s) to dissolve a registered common-law relationship
  • resumption of surname certificate(s)
These documents must:

  • show the surname (last name) you’re asking to have on your new passport
  • be in English or French (see translations)
Your guarantor doesn’t need to sign a copy of the documents listed above.

The identification you provide with your application will need to show your new surname (last name).

Legal name changes
You must apply for a new passport or travel document if you’ve changed your name legally. You need to include all the required documents for a new adult general application (adult travel document application for non-Canadians) and pay the full fees.

You will also need to include one of the following documents issued in your new name:

  • your Canadian birth certificate or
  • your Canadian citizenship certificate
 

screech339

VIP Member
Apr 2, 2013
7,876
547
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
14-08-2012
AOR Received.
20-11-2012
Med's Done....
18-07-2012
Interview........
17-06-2013
LANDED..........
17-06-2013
I agree, it doesn't make sense. I guess, now I have to go to vital statistics to change my driver license, and so on..
Just change the driver license and health card to your marriage name. Once you have that done, go apply for passport with your new IDs, along with marriage certificate to support last name change on passport.
 

antonette28

Full Member
Mar 17, 2016
41
3
What you are suggesting is for those with legal name change. This is not the case with the OP. You can have your passport list your marriage name without doing the legal name change route. The OP would likely need to change DL and Health card and possibly SIN to marriage name first before allowing marriage name in passport.
Thank you so much.
Please let me know if i understood it.

So after my oath and was given my citizenship certificate I can go to registry and change my last name to married name then go to service canada to change my SIN and my health care card then after acquiring all those new cards with married name then i can go apply for passport usig my married name,....

Please let me know if this is correct. By the way im using marriage certificate from philippines. Thanks.