Family Name change (before or after citizenship) ?

[b52shot]

Hi everyone,

In few months myself and my family will be eligible to apply for citizenship. My wife still holds her maiden name officially and haven't changed her last name yet. We were wondering, when is a good time to change her last name, right now or after we get our citizenship ?

If now, is our marriage certificate which was issued overseas from our church good enough ? or are there special requirements for marriage certificates?

As per cic, marriage certificate is required:
Name change

Consult the information below to determine the documents that are to be included with your application.

If you have legally changed your name within Canada

Then you must submit a copy of the change of name document issued by a Canadian province or territory, or by the appropriate foreign-state authority. The document must show both your previous and amended names.

The following documents are accepted:

Legal change of name document
Amended birth certificate
Court order specifying name change
Adoption order
The following documents are accepted for changes to family name only:

Marriage certificate
Divorce decree
Registration or declaration of union issued by civil authorities
Revocation of declaration or annulment of union issued by civil authorities
Registration for common-law relationship, in provinces that permit changes of name for common-law relationships under their provincial/territorial law

 

[alphazip]

You don't say what province you're in, but the first thing your wife should do is get ID (driver's licence and health card) in her married name. Here are the instructions for Ontario:

https://www.ontario.ca/faq/what-documents-do-i-need-bring-change-name-my-drivers-licence
https://www.ontario.ca/faq/how-do-i-change-my-name-my-health-card

 

[Lux et Veritas]

Technically it shouldn't matter when you change your name legally.

Having said that, in practice I've been told it's better to do so after you get the citizenship simply to avoid any issues that could stall your application. It's happened to a friend of mine and she now wished she'd waited and change the name afterwards. My 2 cents

 

[steaky]

Why does it matter if your wife holds her maiden name officially and not changed her last name? Are there benefits in doing so?

 

[badpusacat]

I know someone who did not change her maiden name after getting married (no plans of doing so) and now, she is a citizen.

 

[alphazip]

I know someone who did not change her maiden name after getting married (no plans of doing so) and now, she is a citizen.

Obviously, a woman (or man) doesn't have to change her/his name after getting married. In this case, though, I assume that the wife wants to take the husband's name. If she doesn't, she doesn't have to do anything. However, if she wants to, and they won't be applying for citizenship for a few months, I would suggest changing the name now. If it's as simple as showing their marriage certificate at a Service Ontario office, why wait? If, on the other hand, their non-Canadian marriage licence isn't accepted for some reason, and a LEGAL name change has to be applied for, then they may want to wait to apply for the name change OR to apply for citizenship.

 

[stargazerlilly]

Hi b52shot,

My immigration papers,my COPR since we weren't married when I got into Canada initially( we got married here) as well as my citizenship cert are in my maiden name (as CIC went with what is written in my COPR).....BUT ALL my Canadian (gov't) issued IDs (healthcard,DL, SIN and yes even my Canadian passport) are all in my married name. Everyone is right,it as simple as showing a marriage license if a woman opt to use her husband's last name after marriage.

Name change before or even after citizenship is not hard to do. Some would say it's better to do it before,as it requires less paperwork....but in my case....it's mainly showing any institution our marriage license even after taking my oath of citizenship.

 

[b52shot]

Thanks everyone for your input.
To answer some of your questions:
I live in Ontario
All of my wife's papers are with her maiden name (CORP, PR card, Health card, driver license, current foreign passport etc).
I do realize it doesn't make a difference and that its not a requirement, She just wanted to have the same last name as me and the kids.. and I wondered if its worth it cost-wise and process-wise and whether its easier now or later.

 

[alphazip]

Thanks everyone for your input.
To answer some of your questions:
I live in Ontario
All of my wife's papers are with her maiden name (CORP, PR card, Health card, driver license, current foreign passport etc).
I do realize it doesn't make a difference and that its not a requirement, She just wanted to have the same last name as me and the kids.. and I wondered if its worth it cost-wise and process-wise and whether its easier now or later.

Since it is extremely common (except in Quebec) for a wife to take her husband's surname, and Service Ontario (as far as I know) charges nothing to make the change, that would seem to be the preferred course of action. Some people are under the mistaken impression that a person has to apply for a legal name change. That is not necessary for a wife to take her husband's name...or, in fact, for a husband to take his wife's.

 

[paw339]

From our experience it was easy to change the name prior to obtaining citizenship. We just filled the citizenship form in stating that there had been a name change. What is needed was a federal or provincial ID in the requested new name. Foreign passports etc just didn't seem to count even though on the website they should suffice as far as I can tell.

 

[EstherBarros]

Hi,

I chose to change all of my documentation (PR card, all government IDs, passport from home country) BEFORE applying for citizenship. I thought it would be more straightforward, especially because I wanted my citizenship certificate to be in my new name, not old.
I believe the name on the citizenship certificate will be the same as your PR card/Passport, so if these aren't updated, old name will show up on it.

 

[shwetasobti]

i have a question. my wife she just a citizenship and she is in process of applying for canadian passport. but the thing is she wants to add my last name with her name. she will keep her first and last name but will add my last name. on her citizenship certificate it only says her first and last name. so to apply for passport how should we proceed. we live in alberta