April International Insurance

[thaitot]

I am marrieed to a Thai lady we will be returning to Thailand for the first time since.

She came in on a k-1 visa to the USA we were married she now has a green card but is not yet a US citizen everything in in order.

My question is she holds a Thai Passport. Here green card is in her new last name the same as mine. I need to make travel arangements do I make them as her Passport would read or her correct new name as on her green card reads Thanks

[mania]

You need to sort that out first

Awhile back you could go and we ( my wife and I did )

but Now with the new travel restrictions that went into place last January or August?

You need to have the same name on all documents and ID's to get through to boarding in the US.

In fact to buy a ticket out of the country you need your passport to match the ticket. She will need her passport to match her green card name. For her passport to match she will need her Thai ID card to show the new name

Sadly it is not easy to do from the US but can be done.

You need to contact the Royal Thai Consulate in the US

www.thai-la.net/index-eng.htm

They usually go state to state once a year and arrange this fix.

If you need it sooner you need to contact them.We were lucky we had already done the ID card on a previous trip.

So we only had to do the passport through the consulate to go on our next trip after the new rules had passed.

Anyway just call the consulate and get it going. Since you did a K1 your no stranger to paper work

Good Luck

Edited September 9, 2010 by mania

[zippydedodah]

Hmmm... i see things a little differently... but that doesn't mean i am right.

To board the plane, yes, your passport must match your ticket name...

to enter US immigration, you have to have your green card... two different matters.

i think that as long as your documents are in order and up to date, you should not have a problem...again.. making the ticket the same name as passport.

we had a different issue, with my wifes Thai national ID card... but we just came to thailand and went to her amphur and got it changed... all kinds

of little things to think about, once you go changing names

[mania]

Well yes we use to do it like that too Until about a year ago when it all changed. When is the last time you tried to buy a international ticket zippy? because after august last year it cannot be done in the US. We tried China Air, Korean Air, and Japan Air None would sell the ticket. Also if you look at the consulate page I linked you will see the whole new E passport deal. As far as I know that all started after. But you could be right. All i know is they would not sell us a ticket unless it all matched. They said the reason was the new rules and to board you need your ID & passport & ticket to all match. It may have changed?

[zippydedodah]

hmm... well, since my wife went to USA 6 yrs ago, her USA id, passport and ticket all matched... since she got her green card in married name.

i can't remember if they have always asked us for a separate ID, other than her passport, since we have not travelled since coming to thailand one year ago.

IF that is the case, and she (the OPs wife) needs matching ID.. it just might be easier to get a state ID card in her married name, than wait for all the consulate stuff. Usually a state ID card can be issued in less than 30 days...

whereas, anytime you are dealing with a consulate, if it hits a snag... no telling how long it might take

Edited September 9, 2010 by zippydedodah

[mania]

I know it was a real pain for us. But perhaps it has changed now? I do not know. The problem was they claimed the green card would be looked at when leaving because of course it was past the 6 month allowed in the passport entry into the US stamp. But if the green card did not match the passport/ticket no go. Even though it is quite obvious it is the same person. The joys of the Patriot act? We actually had a warning the year before from China airlines telling us the law was coming so to be sure & fix my wife's papers. We intended to do just that in Chiang Mai & did in fact do her Thai ID card to her new name. But when we went to do the passport we left it too close to out last day & as luck would have it the passport office closed down due to red demonstrations that year. So back in the US the LA consulate did it for us & that took a few weeks. I am not sure how long it would have taken if we did not already have the Thai ID done? But to the OP I would just dive into it. There must be a fix for it or all folks like our wives would be trapped in the US until they got US citizenship. There must be a way to fix it with the LA Thai Consulate

[zippydedodah]

hmmm.. never heard of the green card being looked at when LEAVING USA... just when returning. This is by the airlines, correct?

My sense was, that they would let you spend the money on a round trip ticket and not care about looking at your ability to re-enter USA, cuz they do that on the return leg.

If you have a problem (expired green card, or name confusion, whatever), well, that is your problem and you have to fix it before being allowed to board, coming back.

In fact, my wife boarded a flight leaving USA and her thai passport was expiring in less than 6 month of our return ticket. They did not bother to mention it to us... instead, when we went to check-in, in BKK,

at that point they told us that she needed 6 months on her thai passport, even though she had a green card. So we had to stay on an extra week while we got her passport renewed in thailand.

[mania]

Yes i know it sounds odd that the green card would matter at all but, Think of it this way, Your leaving the US but not on a US passport. So of course the first action is to verify your not an overstay. The way they do that is look at your passport for the entry stamp. A K-1 will be over the 6 month stay but will have a green card to explain it is legal & an adjustment of status. I guess that is when it will be brought up that the passport that the ticket is named under does not match the green card name. Pretty silly in my opinion but they make a lot of silly rules post 9-11

[uptoyoumyfriend]

people here make it too complicated-

the airline ticket has to match the passport name-she will enter thailand on her thai passport.

she has to take the greencard along to board the plane on the way back in lieu of a visa and to enter the united states.

theoretically you do not even need the passport for that just the greencard but they like to look at it any way , the us customs that is.

[zippydedodah]

people here make it too complicated-

the airline ticket has to match the passport name-she will enter thailand on her thai passport.

she has to take the greencard along to board the plane on the way back in lieu of a visa and to enter the united states.

theoretically you do not even need the passport for that just the greencard but they like to look at it any way , the us customs that is.

i thought that is what we are saying... minus the passport part. Never heard of anyone getting on a plane without a passport from SOME country...

but hey, anything is possible, maybe....

[mania]

I agree that folks here sure did make it too complicated for us too

  When they would not sell us a ticket claiming we may not be allowed to board. That was China Air after which we asked Japan Air and Korean all same answer. Maybe they were just ticket agents that did not know better?

Then we also had to fly to where the LA consulate was doing the passport fixes locally. They did visit our state but it was still a plane ride away (large State ). Then we had to wait 6 weeks to get it back.  Also wonder why then was the LA consulate doing all that work if it was not needed? But Yes that was complicated. 

Perhaps uptoyou has flown out of the US recently under this example where his wife's green card and passport did not match and perhaps it has now been relaxed?  I hope so because the whole thing was silly to me. I would think a simple copy of the marriage certificate should suffice at boarding, and maybe it would?. Then it would be easy to fix the passport/ID name in LOS during the trip.  Anyway good luck OP hope it is an easy fix for you.

Edited September 9, 2010 by mania

[thaitot]

I guess I will need to make some phone calls to Us Immigration and the thai consulate here in the US just to be shure. I was hoping the gentleman for the US embassy that sometimes answers posts here would chime in.

She does have a Id for the state we live in that is current and in our married name Her Thai visa is good for a few more years Her Thai Id is current and has the new smart card.

Her green card is good thru next July that is when our next apointment at the Us Immigration of will be in our jurisdiction to take the next step in the visa process This does make me think so I greatly appreciate the posts.