Naturalization Name Change and International Travel

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Madison04

Registered Users (C)
I changed my first name during the naturalization application and had my oath today in a big stadium (and a big relax!). On the NC, I have the new name on it, but it doesn't say anything about my old name. I had this impression that they would give me a court order or something like that to show the switch, but I didn't get anything else other than the NC. Is this normal? I had to kick myself for not asking this at the end of the ceremony, but it was totally not in my mind because of all the hoopla and excitement.

I wouldn't have worried about this, had I not booked an international flight ticket several months ago using my old name. My question is, will I have any problem with the airport security and at the boarding gate because of this change, especially given the fact that I seemingly have nothing to tie my old name to my new one? Please let me know if you have any experience on this.

Thanks!
 
Yes, for international and domestic travel, you have problems. What you need to do, is to call your airline and request that your new name replace the old one, which I believe will cost you some money to do. If you don't do this, you won't be allowed to board and most likely, TSA will detain you while they do additional investigation on your person. You need to head to DMV, obtain a DL with your new name, take your certificate with you, SSA to update your SSN, and obtain a US passport. The travel requirement is that the name used to book the plane be the same one appearing on your passport, in this case you won't have the same name.
 
Madison04 said:
Is this normal?
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No, it is not normal. Along with your naturalisation certificate, you should have received a court decree authorising a name change. You need it to change your name with the DMV, SSA and, depending on your local post office, apply for the passport. You should contact the USCIS and tell them to get it for you.
 
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Oh, dear. Thanks guys!

Is it possible that they'll send the court order to me by mail later? We had a district judge presiding over the ceremony of 192 people and I didn't see anybody holding anything other than the NC. I'm thinking about an Infopass, but I doubt that will help at all since this should be a court issue instead of USCIS's. I'll be going to a regional passport agency Monday to get the same day passport since I'll be traveling in 2 weeks. From what I read on the web, the major airlines won't even take your money to change the name on a ticket. Why can't I use an ID with my old name to board the flight? I don't think I'll have any problem at the airport security since they won't even know that I had a name change. I'm more concern with the gate agent since they're supposed to check your passport, which in this case has my new name on it...
 
Madison04 said:
I'll be going to a regional passport agency Monday to get the same day passport since I'll be traveling in 2 weeks.
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That's good because passport centre employees are more knowledgeable and they should accept your naturalisation certificate as both the proof of citizenship and proof of identity. Post office clerks often do not accept naturalisation certificates as a form of ID (contrary to the passport agency rules) and require another piece of identification. In the latter case you would have a problem since all your IDs are in old name and post office clerks maybe very stubborn.
 
Madison04 said:
Oh, dear. Thanks guys! I'll be going to a regional passport agency Monday to get the same day passport since I'll be traveling in 2 weeks. From what I read on the web, the major airlines won't even take your money to change the name on a ticket. Why can't I use an ID with my old name to board the flight? I don't think I'll have any problem at the airport security since they won't even know that I had a name change. I'm more concern with the gate agent since they're supposed to check your passport, which in this case has my new name on it...
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If you want to be arrested for trying to board a plane without proper identification, then try what you are proposing. You are required by law to board the plane and produce identification matching what has been turned over to DHS for security background investigation. There is reason when you buy a plane, there is a warning in most airline website, "ensure that the name you use to buy the ticket matches your travel documentation, which is your passport". Since you seem to be flying abroad, your passport is the only documentation which the ticket agent for your airline is going to look at, which means you won't even be issued a boarding pass unless your name matches that which was used to purchase the ticket. I travel many thousands of miles annually, I have experience in dealing with these things. For example, my son has 3 names plus my last name, all appear on his passport, but the ticket has to initial both second and third names, but they put notes in their computers system for DHS to make sure I don't encounter problems. Ask your airline to change the name used to book the ticket, and use what will eventually appear on your US passport.
 
Was your name change just to take your spouse's last name? If yes, that would explain why they didn't give you a court order. You don't need that court order for that because you can show your marriage certificate instead.
 
Al Southner said:
If you want to be arrested for trying to board a plane without proper identification, then try what you are proposing. You are required by law to board the plane and produce identification matching what has been turned over to DHS for security background investigation. There is reason when you buy a plane, there is a warning in most airline website, "ensure that the name you use to buy the ticket matches your travel documentation, which is your passport". Since you seem to be flying abroad, your passport is the only documentation which the ticket agent for your airline is going to look at, which means you won't even be issued a boarding pass unless your name matches that which was used to purchase the ticket. I travel many thousands of miles annually, I have experience in dealing with these things. For example, my son has 3 names plus my last name, all appear on his passport, but the ticket has to initial both second and third names, but they put notes in their computers system for DHS to make sure I don't encounter problems. Ask your airline to change the name used to book the ticket, and use what will eventually appear on your US passport.
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What's the definition of a "proper identification"? I'm not saying that I'll be having fake IDs or things like that. I'll have my US passport with my new name, and my old passport with my old name. The old passport from my native country will, of course, have a cut corner or punctured holes on it after I go to the consulate to apply for a visa (they don't recognize dual citizenship). The old passport won't be valid for entering other countries, but isn't it something that has my biometrics there that can prove my old identity? --Well, anyway, I'll wait until I have my US passport--hopefully by the end of Monday--and then give the airline a call to see what my options are.

On the other hand, it's really weird that I didn't get anything from the judge to show the name change. Will see if I can talk to someone from the court (doubt it).

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
 
Would it help if I manage to get the court order showing the name change? According to Al Southner, it sounds like the only option is to change what is shown on the ticket and nothing else matters. If that's the case, then I'll just forget about the court order and focus on the airline. The name change instruction from SSA's website shows that, if no court order is available to show the old names changing into the new one, two separate IDs with biometric information (e.g. photo and birthday) showing yourself with both names will also work. That's why I was wondering why the US passport combined with my old passport wouldn't work in proving my identify.
 
I'm still trying to get the name changed by the airline. Basically, American Airline told me I could certainly use two passports to board the airplane as far as they're concerned, but they can't guarantee that the gate agents would always cooperate. Anyway, here is a quick update on the court order thing in case someone experiences the same thing in the future:

At least in Wisconsin, they don't issue the name change court order at the naturalization ceremony. USCIS will forward all those "Petition for Name Change" forms to the federal district court in about a week. The court signs them and sends them back to USCIS, who will then mail them out to those who requested name changes, which can take as long as two months to complete. If one wants to get a copy of the court order earlier, then he/she can come to the court for a certified copy after the court receives them one week after naturalization.

BTW, I got my passport yesterday from Chicago regional passport agency. Even they asked for the court order, but accepted the NC and my old passport as proof of the name change.
 
Madison04 said:
I'm still trying to get the name changed by the airline. Basically, American Airline told me I could certainly use two passports to board the airplane as far as they're concerned, but they can't guarantee that the gate agents would always cooperate. Anyway, here is a quick update on the court order thing in case someone experiences the same thing in the future:

At least in Wisconsin, they don't issue the name change court order at the naturalization ceremony. USCIS will forward all those "Petition for Name Change" forms to the federal district court in about a week. The court signs them and sends them back to USCIS, who will then mail them out to those who requested name changes, which can take as long as two months to complete. If one wants to get a copy of the court order earlier, then he/she can come to the court for a certified copy after the court receives them one week after naturalization.
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Madison,

I wouldn't listen to American Airlines customer service representative, they are as clueless as they come. Have you ever lost a luggage while flying on any airline? Do you know how many answers you receive from different people in the same office? I would venture to say, about ten thousands. As such, what you have to focus on is changing the name used to reserve the ticket, which will correspond with what is on your US passport as required by DHS. Your foreign passport won't matter to security officials, let alone the airline agent checking you at the ticket counter. I was trying to find you the official policy from DHS, but I am having difficulties in locating it, will attempt to find again and post it for your benefit. Airlines officials take their orders from DHS, so don't put stock in anything that they tell you about security.
 
Thanks for the help, Al Southner. I was kicked back and forth between my travel agent and AA, and eventually they reissued me a ticket with my new name and charged me $125 for that. Not too bad given how greedy airlines are becoming these days.
 
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