You can and should go ahead and get your passport going if your trip is for late in March. They only take about 5 weeks total to issue a new one. You only need fill out the D82 forms (i think those are the right numbers) and include your marriage certificate the fee and your passport. You can send them directly to the PA address that is listed as you are in Canada and they WILL send your new passport to your address along with your old one with a couple holes punched in it to 'void' it. It is however still useful in that you can use it to identify yourself for your tickets for travel. Of course, you always have the option of paying the extra fee for expedited processing as well.
Check this link out mon ami!
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/renew.html
I'm getting pretty decent at writing in French, A71...it's "mon amie," since I'm a woman.
Ha! Anyhow, thanks for the info! I didn't know they give you the old passport back. If that's the case...hmmm, may need to jump on this one soon. If I can get my passport in my married name, and then get a new PR card in my married name, I can probably get my license in my married name here.
Tomorisu, thanks for the info, my Québecoise buddy!
BeShoo said:
They will not issue a Quebec driver's license until you get a PR, so I'm assuming that's when the time limit starts. This is a problem for me, because my common-law partner has been staying with me in Quebec while we prepare the PR application and wait for processing, and my car insurance company will not allow him to drive my car based on his Florida license. They did put him on for 6 months, but after that, they put a rider on my policy that says he is not covered anymore.
Keep in mind that you cannot change your name to your husband's name just because you got married in Quebec. You need a good reason to change your name and getting married is not considered sufficient. It's been this way for years now and people have fought it and lost. In the case I'm thinking of, someone with a French-sounding name tried to change it in court to her husband's name and was refused. It your family name is something embarrassing or too hard for Quebec people to pronounce, you'd be fine.
Ugh, BeShoo, that sucks about the insurance issue! We have Belair Direct, and we haven't had any issues with them. I'm insured on our vehicles on my U.S driver's license and have been since we arrived in July 2012. Might want to check them out?
I know alllllllll about the name issues, lol! I've learned that while, yes, it is the "law" here that you must use your birth name for everything, that "law" is very flexible depending on which human you talk to on which day. Let's say my name was Anna Becca Carter at birth (ABC). And I use my middle name, so I usually went by Becca Carter (BC). Then I married my husband, Mr. Downey. I changed my named to Anna Becca Downey (ABD) after the marriage. We had to travel to Canada right after we were married, and then we moved a month and a half later, so I never changed my passport from ABC to ABD, though all of my other information was changed (social security card, driver's license, etc.).
So...we arrived here in Québec. We opened a joint bank account for me and the hubby, on which I'm listed as just BD (the name I use exclusively in any day-to-day life). Middle name plus married last name. We filed our taxes under BD, so according to Revenue Canada and Revenu Québec, I'm BD. I have a couple of photo IDs through the military (hubby is military) that use the name ABD, which is my legal name in the U.S. My passport still says ABC, since I never changed it, so that's the name that is on my PR card. I've registered for and started taking French courses through MICC (Québec's immigration offices). My name at the school started as ABC, but after discussing the name issue with the people in charge of the program, my school photo ID lists me as BCD (middle name, maiden name, married name). I get a small allowance in conjunction with the French program. Those checks from MICC come to me in the name ABCD. My SIN card is under ABC, but if I'd had my married name on my passport, she would have used the name ABD on request. My health card also states ABC, and they seemed less flexible on that one.
It's a large pain in the rump, but I fully expect, within the next few years, to have my married name on everything except perhaps my health card and perhaps my SIN card. I don't care if they use ABD or BCD or even ABCD, but I want that D on there.
As for married not being a good enough reason to change your name in Québec, the "law" does state that. It further states that using a name other than your birth name for a period of more than five years IS a good enough reason to request the change. I've only been married not quite two years, but having D all over a bunch of my documentation will help me show, eventually, that I use the name ABD exclusively, and I should be able to make the change.
Confusing enough? I keep waiting for the first time I go somewhere and am listed as AC only, when I have an ID (like my U.S. driver's license) that says BD only, and try to talk my way through that one! And in French, at that! :-D
