Travel Documentation for a Resident of US

[javielee]

Hello All !!!
I am writing to you straight from my FOB here in Afghanistan and well I was wondering a couple of things regarding travel documentation...

When I go book for my reservation this October (for R&R with the wife!!), it reminds me that the name must match the passport due to airlines not accepting "name changes". However in my case, my wife JUST recently received her residency card. Her passport is from her home country of Nicaragua and it is in her maiden name. See where I am going here? I cannot change her passport name to our "married" name since it is from a different country, and I cannot obtain a US Passport since you have to be a US Citizen..

Am I reading the specifications wrong? or is it acceptable for her to fly with her Nicaraguan Passport yet also with her married name on the US Resident card?

Please advise, and thank you!

[jls8756]

I have no idea what the answer to your question is, but just wanted to thank you for your service to our country. You deserve a much earned vacation at Couples. What FOB are you at. My son in law was at Shank before going to Bagram. Thoughts and prayers are with you and all our brave soldiers.

[Beth]

When in doubt contact the airline. I don't think there would be any problem with the hotel.

[Coloradojuli]

Hi Javailee ~ First of all, thank you for serving our country. I am grateful to you for the sacrifice you have made for myself and my family.

I'm not sure how to answer your question. I'm pretty sure getting into Jamaica won't be a problem with just her passport as long as she doesn't need a Visa. He airline ticket will need to match the name on her passport. (I do at least know that.) Getting back into the States might be a different situation. I'd call the State Department or Embassy and find out the answer. Perhaps adding your marriage certificate to all of the documents might work, but I don't know.

[melody]

Can she get a new passport from Nicaragua? Are you the same fellow from the other passport thread? If so I didn't quite get the whole situation before. I would be really worried about someone not accepting two different names if you put her new name on her ticket and the old one on the passport. I did a search on this topic and found a few places that said the same thing.

I won't promise this is correct but this is what I found.

Book the ticket with the name on her passport because those must match for them to allow you to fly.

Bring the residency card and marriage certificate and any other marriage documents you might have. Depending on where you were married there might be some other marriage documents that I don't know about. Better to bring too much than too little.

When you are going through security you will need the ticket and passport so that is why those two much match. When you are in the immigration line you give them all of the documents as they will need her residency form to pull up all her info and then the marriage documents to prove the name change.

[redinthehead]

My DH who is a border patrol agent thinks you need to contact CBP (customs and border protection). He thinks that if you have all the forms you needed to get married with you should be okay..... but you never know. Better safe then sorry. And yes you are correct with names needing to macth on passport and ticket.

[sherrynchuck]

In re-reading your posts again and the responses here is a thought that came to me...some have suggested that you book the flight in the name on the passport so the name on the ticket matches that on the passport. Normally this would be the proper way to book the trip. However, am I correct in reading that you are already married? If so her name has already changed and you aren't traveling for 6 months yet. I think I'd be nervous taking advice to book a trip in "the wrong name", even thought this was her married name. In this climate I think I'd stick to booking properly. My answer on the other thread was to contact the government and ask...I'd still proceed that way to be sure as you have a more complicated situation that any of us are accustomed to dealing with. Also, if at all possible I'd recommend she update her passport just to avoid any confusion.

[dandj]

We are British and have to send out passports to a British Embassy in the USA for renewal. I would research where there is a Nicaraguan one and call there and ask. You may have to get a new one in her married name.

[jkbc]

Im over here with you except were goin in Aug...woulda been nice to have another person to talk to while away

[melody]

I would suggest NOT contacting the airline as they have a history of not telling people the correct information. They made a mistake on my ticket and it took me weeks to fix it. My last name was too long as I legally have two last names without a hyphen. They decided to remove one of the last names and said I would have no problems flying. What they meant was I would have no problem with THEM because they were going to notate my account. However, I knew for a fact that I would not be able to get through security. The TSA can't see their note and they really don't care if there are notes anyway. They kept telling me I would be fine but I asked if I would be able to get through security and they said they didn't know. They kept trying to avoid that question. Finally I did get them to correct it and when we traveled I asked the TSA guy who looked at my ticket if the other name would have been a problem and he said yes, they would not have been able to let me through. He also said the airlines have told other people the same thing about the ticket not needing to match the id (driver's license, passport, etc) and those people were turned away even though they had notes in their accounts too.

[javielee]

Hello all and thank you for your responses, I am the same guy and I'm sorry for that, I did double post (brand new to posting didn't know about the delay). Yes, this vacation would be AMAZING to have after being here for this amount of time (think dust dust dust, and sun, with dust flying in your face since you're near helos all day). But hey !!! Thank you all, I will begin searching for a Nicaraguan embassy to get her passport fixed. Appreciate you all thank you again!